Femmes, Creations & Production 2014 - Innovation and Quality

This 9th edition of Femmes, Creation & Production was held at Hotel Montana over the weekend. The event, an initiative of Femme en Democratie, was created to promote women owned businesses while showcasing the country's rich artisan talent and culture.  About 60 exhibitors from the areas of fashion, interior design, agri-business; and for the first time, literature. This year's theme, "Innovation and Quality"

The event kicked off with a cocktail reception on Friday night at Hotel Montana, complete with runway shows from Miko Guillaume, Tmel Collection, Kafedore, Christelle Paul and others.

Among the usual designers that show at Haiti Fashion Week and other prominent fairs throughout the year, it was exciting to see some new faces and talent.  I personally was pleasantly surprised to see so many vendors still doing traditional crafts such as crochet and embroidery, which were always a very important part of Haitian culture, but have been slowly dying.

It was also interesting to see the many women-owned agri-businesses.  There were several tables filled with fruits turned into preserve; and herbs turned into fresh spices.  Haiti is a land full of natural resources, it was refreshing to see some of the new creative an innovative ways that people are finally capitalizing on it.

Sen Soley

Creation Doree

Altagrace Collection

Tipik Creations

Veve Collection

Pascal Theard Collection  

Emme by Myrielle Pierre

The only drawback I would say, was the venue itself.  Hotel Montana sustained major damages during the earthquake of 2010, and it was very questionable whether or not it would be able to hold such an event. Event organizers did try to compensate for the limited infrastructure by having exhibitors placed in and out doors depending on their category and by providing a site map.  The booths were so close together, traffic between the vendors was tight and a bit confusing, making it difficult to find what you were looking for.  The question of parking was also a big issue.  Again, in anticipation of this, event goers were asked to park about  5 miles away, at Cercle Bellevue where shuttles transported people to and from the venue. This was a bit tiring, especially after walking all over Montana.

All in all, I would say that Femmes, Creation, Production was a success.  Both days of the event were jammed packed with a constant flow of people.  Artisans and designers were able to showcase their work to a large public which they may not have been able to reach otherwise.  They were also able to receive immediate feedback and to interact with their consumer directly.

To learn more about Femme en Democratie and their other initiatives,and how you can get involved, check out their website at http://fed.org.ht/ 

To learn more about Femmes, Creation & Production, check them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/femmes.creation.et.production 

For VIDEOS of the event, check out H Mystique on YouTube! 

By 

MYSTIQUE 

ALSO AT: 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/H-Mystique-Boutique/221088014681234

https://twitter.com/h_mystique 

http://pinterest.com/hmystique/ 

http://instagram.com/hmystique    

Related Items Christelle Paul Creation & Production Creation Doree Femme en Democratie Femmes Hotel Montana Kafedore Miko Guillaume Myrielle Pierre Pascal Theard Collection Tmel Collection Veve Collection