Days after the controversial jaw-dropping fashion show at the Trinity Cathedral in Port-of-Spain, another church held a fund-raising tea and fashion show.
But, the show was not held on the church premises and did not include scantily-clad models.
Instead, the Susamachar Presbyterian Church in San Fernando held its annual fashion show at Imani Hall, Omardeen's Building, Cipero Street, San Fernando. Models from the House of Jacqui and even the church members paraded mostly conservative pieces Saturday.
Speaking with Guardian Media, Rev Kendrick Sooknarine said the tea and fashion show was an annual event hosted by the church to raise funds for church repairs. He said this show was specifically being held to raise funds to fix the roof of the church, which is likely to cost between $2 to $3 million.
Commenting on last week’s fashion show at the Anglican Church, he said a church was not the place for a fashion show. "I believe that it was not bad per se that they had a fashion show, we’ve always had fashion shows, but it is that you had the fashion show within a space that was considered to be sacred."
He said the designer and the church administration ought to have known that they were “putting the wrong thing in that space." However, he said that the combination of the sacred and profane might get a designer excited because the contrast would stimulate interest and attract people to the event. Last week, members of the public expressed outrage when photos of models wearing revealing and sexy designs inside the Anglican Church during StyleWeek Port-of-Spain began surfacing. The Anglican Church has since issued a public apology and explained the designers had breached their guidelines. Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley condemned the event and promised an investigation would be launched. He said appropriate measures would be taken to ensure that does not happen again.
