I sat down with Josveek Huligar at Sotheby’s International in The Valley on February 12th, 2014 to discuss the latest on the upcoming and first ever Anguilla Fashion Expo. There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the Exposition and I got an idea of where it is heading.
The Anguilla Fashion Expo can best be described as a dream marketing and publicity oppoprtunity for fashion designers, models and photographers from all over the world to come and showcase their talents and learn new skills.
The Expo is a three-day event that will cover workshops on February 28th, a fashion show on commercial print modelling, exhibits and a beach party on in March 1st, and a runway fashion show on March 2nd at Paradise Cove.
Co-owner and operator of Anguilla Access, Josveek Huligar, has a background in social media and marketing and is working in collaboration with his assitanant, Julian Hodge, and Mr. Daniel Coldman. The Expo has been advertised for months in The Anguillian. When asked about the Fashion Expo, Josveek Huligar said, “I got St. Martin involved and I got eighteen people from St. Kitts involved. They are not involved financially but there are people coming in to make sure that there are vendors and that…there are models taking part.”
Mr. Huligar has had to wait his turn on sponsorship from the Anguilla Department of Youth and Culture which had informed him of the tight budget they had this year. To make his dream a reality, Mr. Huligar took money out of pocket to invest in the Expo and has bartered and asked favors from locals and others on neighbouring islands. “I’m actually asking local bands to donate their spare time to come and actually play for the beach party. There are some that know me and appreciate the exposure that I gave them in the past and are willing to say ‘I’ll do this for you because you have done x, y and z for us,”’ said Mr. Huligar.
Regardless of what happens, the Fashion Expo will go on and it has reached a point of no return with deposits already in place for the event. The Anguilla Great House and La Vue have sponsored the Fashion Expo. Da’Vida, Iries Life, Sotheby’s International, Anguilla Aluminum and Ken Barbecue are also sponsors through their sponsorship with Anguilla Access.
Luciena Barros, wife of Matt Damon an experienced host, was recently at the Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week and will be the host of the Anguilla Fashion Expo this year. Mr. Huligar describes her as a giving, down to earth Christian woman, who would help him to at least make back what he put into the event. You can find out more in depth information about the workshops, the sponsors and the fashion shows at http://anguillaexpo.com.
Articles by Josharmond McKinson-Romney
