Talented and Innovative Fashion Designer, Olympia Small-Sonoram, is a ‘Special Person’

Oct 18, 2020 News, Special Person

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By Rehanna Ramsay

Kaieteur News – According to Wikipedia, fashion design is the art of applying design aesthetics and natural beauty to clothing and accessories– a familiar territory for well known Guyanese fashion designer, Olympia Small-Sonoram.
Starting out as a teenager in her mother’s sewing shop, Small-Sonoram’s love for experimenting with fabric and ideas led her down a glamorous career path which spans more than 25 years in entrepreneurship and fashion design.
Over the past two decades, Small-Sonoram has built a name for herself amongst sought-after local designers, who have been selected to showcase their work at fashion extravaganzas, around the Caribbean and the United States.
In Guyana, she is best known for her eye-popping, edgy costume designs — something which earned her the coveted Designer-Of-The-Year title, seven years in a row.
The awards, she copped for those seven consecutive years, were for costume designs she churned out for big corporate names in the business.
The designer is also known for copping prizes for several pageant dresses and swimsuits.
The award-winning fashion designer selected as this week’s ‘Special Person,’ is also a happily married wife and mother of four beautiful children – these roles she esteem above the rest.
In fact, Small-Sonoram told Kaieteur News that of all her achievements, her family is the most treasured.
“Everything I do is for them. Of course, I love designing but at the end of the day I want to leave a legacy for my children to be proud of and even follow,” the designer said while noting that her two teenage daughters have already expressed a desire to follow in her shoes – something she is most proud of.
“I am happy because it says to me that I would have been a good role model for them and I believe it’s important for your children to look up to you as their role model as a mother or a parent as a matter of fact,” Small-Sonoram said of her daughters’ desire to pursue studies in design at a New-York based fashion institute.

 

TRIAL AND ERROR
Unlike her daughter, attending fashion school was not an option for the young Small-Sonoram. She told Kaieteur News that her talent was developed by trial and error.According to Small- Sonoram, the desire for fashion design became evident as she watched her mother, Celina Alleyne who was a seamstress.
The young designer would witness the satisfaction her mother’s work brought to her customers and decided that she wanted to bring similar happiness to the people with her life’s work.
“At just about the age of seven years old, I did not have a name for what I wanted to do,” Small-Sonoram said. But according to her, “I would sit and watch my mother dismantle outfits and put them back together again. It gave a sense of belonging and I loved it.”
She reflected that as a result, she would use almost all of her free time after school to help her mother in her shop. “I learnt so much; and she would show me the different methods of hemming sewing and so on. It was a very exciting time for me,” she said. Small-Sonoram continued to develop her skills until she started experimenting by designing her own outfits.
She recalled the first time her work caught the attention of other people.
“My mother had entered me in a teen pageant and I decided to design my own bikini and gown for the catwalk. Everyone loved it and started enquiring about my pieces. They wanted to know who made them or how much I paid. It came as a surprise when I told them it was all mine. I felt so good with the compliments I got for my work. It was definitely a moment for me,” the designer said.
Small-Sonoram noted that as a result of the raving reviews she got from pageant pros and insiders, the demand for designs and ideas started to pour in. It increased until she was able to make a career from it.
She noted that “The world of pageantry gave me the niche I needed to start my career as a designer and I started taking in orders and that’s how it all started.”
During the early 2000s, Small-Sonoram’s name had become synonymous with top designers in the local pageantry circles. “I was young

in the business but my work spoke for itself. I was making gowns and dresses for delegates in the Miss Guyana Teen, Miss Guyana World and the Miss Guyana Universe pageants,” she related.
Several of those gowns copped the top prizes in the pageants and her name as a fashion designer started to reach beyond the borders.
As the designer became known to those in the Diaspora, she began receiving requests to represent Guyana, at several venues overseas for Caribbean Fashion Expositions.
As such, the Guyanese designer travelled to Jamaica, Trinidad and Washington D.C. to headline several shows. She also headlined several shows for the locally acclaimed, Guyana Fashion Week.

 

A WINNING STREAK

From 2009 – 2016, the Guyanese designer developed a winning streak for her riveting costume designs. She was awarded the Designer-of-the-Year title seven years in a row by the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry at its annual award ceremony at the annual Mashramani costume band competition.
As it is with any other venture, Small-Sonaram noted that creativity, hard work and determination led to her success as a costume designer.
She noted that working with top local corporate companies like Digicel, Guyana Inc., GTT and Bank’s DIH caused her to put out some of her best work.
She noted that “To win, I had to be creative and original. I had to make sure that my designs were not just eye-catching but that it was interesting and in keeping with the theme of the year’s competition.”
As such, she noted that her team of 12 people started early and had their priority in order.

“We had many sleepless nights; we would work tirelessly to get things on track for the big day,” Small- Sonoram recalled.
The designer said too that she had to put in extra time and effort to be able to complete the costumes and float for the Mash parade, since she was also on demand to fill orders for evening gowns for the delegates in the Miss World Guyana, Miss Guyana Universe and Miss Guyana Earth pageants.
One of her most memorable costume designs for which she was awarded the designer-of-year title was the Digicel float titled, “Arabian Nights”. It was a Full Costume Band creation showcased at Guyana’s 44th Republic Anniversary celebrations.
That year, an elated Small-Sonoram had won Digicel Guyana Inc. prizes for semi-, medium and male individual- costumes. For these she got praises from the corporate body and admirers alike.

 

BUILDING A BRAND
Though she has made her name as designer in this part of the world, Small-Sonoram wants to build a brand that people living in different regions of the globe can cherish for lifetimes to come.

As such, the businesswoman has been quietly working to re-launch her brand under the names Olympia’s fashions and O’Da Brand. According to her, the labels will continue to feature pieces inspired by her vibrant Guyanese/Caribbean roots and culture.
“I am currently working to re-launch my brand. It’s not going to stray away from all the things people know and love about my work. It will have the same colourful, innovative feel but I am looking to do things on a wider scale and stage,” she said.
“That‘s where my focus is at this moment. It’s a work in progress so it will take some time,” asserted the designer.
In the meantime, due to the COVID -19 pandemic, Small-Sonoram shared that her work in her fashion designing has slowed.
“People aren’t going out much so, I have a lot of time to work on my other talents. I also do floral arrangements and interior design and so on. I have also been focusing a lot on spending time with my children,” she related.
The designer is hoping that the health crisis will be over sooner rather than later, so that she can get back to doing what she does best.

 

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