This Sidewalk Fashion Show Brought Caribbean Designers to Downtown New York

With glitter and paint from the West Indian Day Parade celebrations still fresh on the streets in Brooklyn, Michelene Auguste, the Trinidadian model and owner of Dem Vintage, staged a sidewalk runway show Tuesday evening just across the bridge in Chinatown. “A lot of my friends are Caribbean, so they were at all the parties,” said Auguste, who skipped the annual Labor Day festivities to focus on bringing Dem’s runway ambitions to life. “They were all asking me, ‘Are you coming out?’”

Expanding on the store’s premise of curated vintage, Auguste invited a crew of designers from her homeland for the show. Standout looks from the event, which was held guerilla-style on the sidewalk, included a billowing, black feathered evening dressing from Claudia Pegus, Anya Ayoung-Chee’s wax-print pants and crop tops, and handmade jewelry from Coco Vintage Jewelry, all of which was mixed and matched with clutch vintage finds from the shop—think Roberto Cavalli animal-print denim from the ’90s and ’80s kitten heels. “At first when we were styling the show, we thought that every look was doing a little too much,” Auguste said laughing. “But that’s how I grew up! I wanted to stay true to my culture and show a mix of the NYC-downtown look, [and] that you can mix these prints in so many ways.” Part of a limited-edition capsule of her own, the hand-painted workwear pants and silk dresses were created with the help of Auguste’s partner, artist Jordan Sullivan.

Beaming from the curbside front row was Gabrielle Elizabeth Roth, Auguste’s mother who flew up from Trinidad to support her daughter. “From a young child, she showed an interest in fashion,” Roth said. “She was always dressing in my clothes and walking in my shoes.”

For the show’s soundtrack, Auguste turned to Kareem Thompson, the steelpan musician who frequently pops up at Dem for sidewalk sets. Vibes were strong even after the final bow, with models dancing along the impromptu runway. Friends and family were swaying to the beat, too, spilling out onto the streets as they sipped on delicious coconut rum cocktails. The entire scene felt closer to a Trinidadian lime—local parlance for a hang—than your traditional fashion soirée, where editors and buyers typically rush on to the next event on their jam-packed agendas. With its relaxed pace and convivial energy, Dem injected a cool island breeziness into the idea of a show, easing us all into the week of fashion frenzy ahead.