Poughkeepsie - Christy Cappillino was living her dream Saturday night at Poughkeepsie’s Ciboney Cafe.
For most of her life, the Poughkeepsie resident Cappillino aspired to walk down the runway, clad in heels and glamorous garb.
Unfortunately, she never got up the nerve, allowing her fears of "putting herself out there" to interfere with her modeling career.
However, all those delays came to a screeching halt when she hooked up with Bakari Adeyemi, who heads a local entertainment company, Blue Ice. Cappillino got her first modeling break.
"I am just so motivated to be here tonight to model because I want so badly to now do it full-time," said an excited Cappillino just prior to Saturday’s clothing extravaganza. "I hope by doing this I am able to inspire other girls to start doing it earlier, just as I wished I had."
Several local female models joined Cappillino on the Ciboney Cafe stage. Each was intricately adorned by seven different New York City- based designers. Their clothing lines ranged from; High Fashion, to Couture, to Urban all the way to Casual. One of those designers was Brooklyn-based Ty-Juana Flores, originally from Panama. Specializing in contemporary style attire, specifically dresses, Flores has been in the clothes designing business for the past eight years. She loves every minute of her work.
"Mostly, I enjoy the creative part; I try to put a little piece of me in everything I make," said Flores. "The challenge is finding a dress for a woman she can’t find anywhere else; I just love making women look beautiful."
Plenty of those beauties lit up the stage Saturday night thanks to the around-the-clock efforts of Adeyemi. His five year old Blue Ice enterprise, boasts about 30 models, who chiefly range in age from 18-25. They come from such locales as; Poughkeepsie, Albany, Troy and New York City. Still more are located in Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Their work has appeared in big runway fashion shows, magazines and music videos. As for Saturday’s event, it was the first local fashion show that exclusively featured Blue Ice Models.
"Preparation for this show involved a lot of work, and the key is always to make everything just right," reflected Adeyemi, as he took another telephone call. "The show must go on no matter what, and that is the challenge; luckily, with this show everything fell right into place."
For local Newburgh model Artie Williams, who stands 5’ 8" and has done over 40 modeling shows, Saturday’s fashion show provided just as much of a rush as her very first one back at Newburgh Free Academy.
"The crowd, adrenalin and overall atmosphere of modeling get me so excited," said Williams, ready to take the stage in her glamorous wardrobe, complete with high heels and a freshly made up face. "Being close to home is extra nice too because so many of my family and friends are able to come; it’s just such a cool place here and nothing beats the atmosphere."
Cappillino couldn’t agree more with Williams’ assessment.
"I’m so happy modeling allowed me to overcome my fears," said Cappillino, eager to show off her fashions. "It doesn’t get any better than this."
