Attorney Sanford Rubenstein was in Kingston, Jamaica as a specially invited guest and chief judge for SAINT International’s Avant Garde Designer of the Year competition. The competition will take place on March 16th, 2013. Deiwght Peters President and CEO of SAINT International Ltd. the Caribbean’s leading Model Management Company states: “Rubenstein is a friend of SAINT and a sartorial connoisseur; he is a keen participant in high fashion and loves to identify the next trend. His global travels and access to the high fashion and entertainment industry makes him an astute chief judge for the contest,” Peters further explains.

“Undoubtedly such a coup brings an international profile to our Jamaican design talent who will be vying for the coveted title.”

Globally, the trend for celebrity judges at fashion design competitions is quite de riguer. The widely held view is that it adds credibility and prestige to the event. Now SAINT Boss Deiwght Peters is pulling out all the stops to ensure unprecedented prestige for the 2013 staging of the Jamaica Avant Garde Designer of the Year competition set for the Courtleigh Auditorium on March 16. SKYY VODKA has been names presenting sponsor and will be offering the winner a cash prize of $50,000.

Now in its ninth year, the Jamaican Avant Garde Designer of the Year Competition is the longest running design competition in the English speaking Caribbean. The anticipated creative showdown was created by SAINT CEO Deiwght Peters as a platform for Jamaican design talent to be acknowledged and rewarded for their ability to extend beyond the threshold of their creative capacities.

Winners of the past have now established themselves among the creative power-players in Jamaica and beyond. These include the first winner Mikayla who is now a fashion power player in Toronto Canada. Dexter Pottinger, REVE (Tessa and Duane Bennett), Yola Gray, Gregory Williams, have all copped the coveted title and use it as leverage for their brand expansion.