Belizean making waves in Caribbean Fashion Design Competition

Rebecca Stirm

Belizean, Rebecca Stirm of Roaring Creek is hitting it big in a Caribbean fashion designer show. Stirm, who heard about the reality series through a friend, auditioned and was accepted as one of the competitors vying for three million Jamaican dollars or over thirty thousand U.S dollars in prizes including the opportunity to show at London Fashion Week. The series features participants from across the Caribbean including Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Barbados and Jamaica. To date two episodes have aired. In the second challenge, where a winning design was selected, the participants had only twenty U.S dollars and limited time to create a winning piece. Stirm won that challenge with rave reviews. News Five Andrea Polanco reports:

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

Nineteen-year old Rebecca Stirm’s dream for fashion design started at home and has since mushroomed into a career:

Rebecca Stirm, Fashion Designer

“Well when I was probably about maybe four, I started sewing. My mom used to let me have needles and thread from really, really young and I would always be sewing things from socks and stuff for dolls and as it progressed, I started sewing my own clothing and teach myself how to sew and then I started to sew for other people and just recently over the last two and a half years it turned into a little business for me and a little bit more of a career.”

The talent and passion for the craft has since propelled her on a regional stage.  She is one of the competitors in a Caribbean fashion designer reality series called Mission Catwalk. They have since filmed a several episodes. The first was no easy task, but she met the challenge:

Rebecca Stirm

“Oh my goodness, well at first when they took us to the Hope Gardens I was thinking that they would make us make something out of leaves; we’re all like freaking out. But when they walked out in those nightgowns, oh god, and then when they told us thirty minutes, oh god. That was stress and then like I didn’t get any trimmings or anything. I just had the scissors and the needle and just started cutting. It was rush, like as you started thirty minutes was done. It was so fast; everyone was worried about getting eliminated that day.”

In the second episode they were tasked to make a cultural piece that incorporate aspects of independence. It was the first challenge where a winner was declared. Stirm took the top spot with a mayan-mestizo inspired piece:

Rebecca Stirm

“We had to draw from our cultures and stuff so those were the two main cultures that I pulled from. I thought they would flow really well together in a really umph type dress on the way on the runway. So I kinda pull pieces from each culture to create the look that I wanted on the runway.”

Andrea Polanco

“Were you surprised to be named the winner of that challenge?”

Rebecca Stirm

“Oh yeah because a lot of them are really good. A lot of them are on very similar levels. I thought that Janel Jolly was gonna win. I was very sure and I did not expect that at all and I was so excited. My face like all lit up and stepped on my models dress and almost tripped. It was so exciting.”

Andrea Polanco

“What do you expect will be played out for the remainder of the show?”

Rebecca Stirm

“Ummm. You guys just have to see. You’ll have to watch the show.”

Andrea Polanco

“Will it be even more fun or challenging?”

Rebecca Stirm

“Of course. I know things are going to get heated and people will get eliminated. Even close friends will get eliminated like it’s gonna get down to some really exciting, sad, tough and rough stuff.”

And in just a short time Stirm has left an indelible mark on the panel, so much so that she has been invited to Caribbean Fashion Week:

Rebecca Stirm

“The judges after the show encouraged me to do Caribbean Fashion Week to do my line and get more exposure after the show. That’s why I registered and all and I will be in Jamaica at the same time for the show so I don’t have to spend on an extra ticket and everything. And also, one other thing, I am looking for sponsorship right now for Caribbean Fashion Week so if you are interested in helping me to get to Caribbean Fashion Week, the registration fee is two thousand U.S and so it’s gonna be really expensive for me to take my collection there so I am in desperate need for any kind of support that I can get.”

Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.

Stirm is set to return to Kingston Jamaica next month to film the final episode of the show, where three finalists will compete for the opportunity to participate in London Fashion Week. If you want to watch the show you can log on to www.televisionjamaica.com. If you’d like to be a sponsor for Stirm’s debut in the Caribbean Fashion Week, you can send her an email at rebeccastirm@gmail.com