St. Lucian roots Designer featured in AFWT 2019

Kyle Gervacy, a fashion designer of St. Lucian origin, thrilled patrons at African Fashion Week Toronto (AFWT) with his cutting edge male, female and unisex fashion collection for 2019.

African Fashion Week Toronto is four day fashion industry event staged in Toronto and is now in its 7th year.

Gervacy, who is also a past AFWT Student Designer winner, was featured at a special show, unveiling the new collections of past Student Designer winners including, Nkywale, ZnaK, Avril by Wk, Phresh Empire.  Gervacy’s designs, which have garnered steady fan and critic appreciation, are recognizable for their signature bold patterns, Asian-influenced forms and original draping. His collection, this year in particular, showed innovation in male clothing, which prompted spontaneous applause from the audience.

Gervacy describes his new collection as a reflection of his alter-ego, “Kadeem”, which represents the introverted side of his nature.

“ Kyle and Kadeem are both my names, and they are different sides of my personality, so the inspiration for the collection is my rebirth. I love Asian fashion and African culture so I blended those things to create the Kyle Gervacy aesthetic, but so much has happened in my life this last year, I wanted to create a line that shows my re-birth; letting the past go and looking forward to the future.” Gervacy explained. He added that his showcase in AFWT 2019 is a preview of a complete collection that he will showcase in the Fall.

The Week concluded with the African Fashion Industry Awards, where a number of notables in the international fashion industry were recognized, including Ruth E. Carter, Costume Director for The Black Panther film, and Nigerian Princess Modupe Ozolua.