Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

“A very important aspect of being a model is convincing designers to hire you. This is a very important function of a young model’s career and the young lady who nails this and develops this skill will have the kind of career every girl wants.”

This advice from host Wendy Fitzwilliam began Week Six of Caribbean’s Next Top Model, where the models’ challenge was to go and see (go-see) three designers, who would judge them on their appearance, their portfolio/lookbook and their walk.

The challenge also meant the girls had to work in three teams, comprised of Linda (Puerto Rico) and Kittisha (Grenada), Sydney (Cayman Islands) and Lia (T&T), and finally Yugge (St. Vincent & the Grenadines), Ayanna (St. Lucia) and Nicoya (Antigua & Barbuda). This was frustrating for some of the girls from the get-go, especially Yugge.
Following the go-sees, Fitzwilliam relayed the feedback from the designers to the models. Several of the girls were criticized about their walk, including Ayanna, Nicoy and Yugge. Lia was told she had strong eyes and facial expressions, and an amazing walk. Fitzwilliam was also glad to hear that Kittisha had overcome her shyness to model a revealing swimsuit. The designers said they loved Linda’s walk and eagerness. No-one had anything negative to say about Lia, Sydney or Linda, which Fitzwilliam said was amazing, and Linda won the challenge.
The girls finally got to go out and party, which they’d been trying to do since they got to Barbados, and Ayanna said she ‘got on’ and was the life of the party. They certainly looked like they had fun!
The next morning’s Wendy Mail was “Basilisk, Baubles and Bling.’ The girls went to the Flower Forest to be photographed wearing Hollywood designer Charlie Lapson’s jewelry, along with a surprise guest… a snake! Lia, Yugge, Ayanna, Sydney and Kittisha were able to complete their photoshoots quickly. However, Linda screamed and broke down, and Nicoya had a similar reaction. Linda’s prize for winning the go-see challenge was a rose-gold jewellery set from the designer.
Lapson said although the girls were nervous, he thought they did the shoot with their hearts. “The most important thing is I wanted to see something beautiful and different. I have to pick one as the best of the best for my catalog. There was a girl who became a piece of bamboo herself and became the snake, while some of the girls froze.”
The judging panel consisted of Fitzwilliam, Richard Young, resident photographer Pedro Virgil and Lapson. Lapson said when Linda was fantastic and special without the snake, but the nervousness with the snake kept her from being her. Young complimented Lia on her shot, but Virgil said he expected more from her. Fitzwilliam and Lapson complimented Kittisha on her photo, calling it trés chic and really creative.
Young said Yugge was stepping up her game. Ayanna’s photo was not well received by the judges, with Fitzwilliam calling it vacant. Virgil said Nicoya’s photo was magical and seemed like a reward for the hard work being put in. Fitzwilliam compared Sydney to Kate Moss, saying she never knew what she was going to get, but when she got it, she loved it.
Photo of the week went to Nicoya, followed by Kittisha, Sydney, Yugge and Linda. The bottom two were Lia and Ayanna. Fitzwilliam said they had both been consistent throughout the competition, but in the end, Lia was sent home.
Stay tuned for next week’s episode, as the six remaining models are taught about taking creative direction and at least one model attempts to take charge of her photo shoot.