By VERDEL BISHOP Thursday, July 26 2012

Tribe’s 14-section 2013 presentation, Butterflies Beasts Bacchanal, which was launched at the Queen’s Park Savannah Saturday night, gave many of their faithful followers and countless others a glimpse of the talent of 13 local designers.

Speaking at the launch, Tribe’s band leader, Dean Ackin said the design team studied the character portrayals of greats like Harold Saldenah, George Bailey and Peter Minshall. Ackin lauded the designers who he said have engineered costumes that are spectacular, distinctive and with a cohesive aesthetic that tells the colourful and glamorous story of butterflies and beasts.

Tribe has utilised the skills of veteran fashion designers the likes of Peter Elias, Project Runway winner Anya Ayoung Chee and up and coming designers Maria Elena Jute and Nina Alcantara from The ela Design Company among others to develop the presentation Butterflies Beasts and Bacchanal in a move that demonstrates that more and more fashion designers are taking on the mantle of mas making and are widening their focus from the runway to the road.

Speaking about her presentation at Tribe’s band launch, Ayoung Chee said there is much potential for cohesion between the fashion industry and the mas industry. She said while the fashion industry has struggled over the last decade to produce in high quantities for local and overseas markets, designers are able to do so annually for Carnival. “There is naturally a connection between our vibrant mas and fashion. As a fashion designer, Trinidad and Tobago continues to be a fantastic source of inspiration for my work. The energy of our people and our unique multicultural society play a critical role in both my designs for fashion and Carnival costumes,” Ayoung Chee said.

Butterflies Beasts Bacchanal, showcased a flutter of sultry butterflies some with large, realistic- looking wings in a variety of hues which were a hit with many fans who after a week of teasers, couldn’t wait to see what Tribe had to offer for 2013. The costumes were beautiful and colourful, glitzy and glamorous.

The butterflies featured some interesting colour combinations with hues of purple, orange and green, white and silver, teal and red, aqua and coral, pink, yellow and black, marigold and teal and red. The head pieces were magnificent, the costumes well designed, sexy and very appealing and full of the wonderful glitz which female masqueraders could appreciate.

However, not all butterflies are created equal as the colours on some of the wings were muted and not as vibrant as rest of the costumes.

The beasts’ costumes portrayed by the men were designed by Gina Maingot and Kirk Jaimungal. These costumes looked less like beasts and more like tame dragons. Although well designed, the costumes lacked the fierceness that one would associate with a beast. However, costumes were just as colourful as their female counterparts and in some instances, quite unique.

Come Carnival 2013, according to band leader Ackin, in the kingdom of bacchanal, Butterflies Beasts and Bacchanal will reign.