ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Thousands of dollars worth of creations by renowned fashion designer Calvin “Calvin S” Southwell were destroyed yesterday in a mid-morning fire at the building that housed the icon’s Beautiful People Mas’ Camp on Queen’s Elizabeth Highway.
In addition to losing gowns, fabric, costumes and other items used to create his couture, Calvin S also lost sewing machines, his wife Cassandra Southwell said.
“Someone saw the smoke and called the fire tenders, but we had the keys so they had to call me to get the keys to open the building. I rushed down there and saw the smoke,” Cassndra said.
The woman said the cause of the fire was undetermined up to last night, but it is suspected it might be electrical.
Cassandra said when she contacted her husband, who was in St Kitts for a fashion show. He was devastated upon hearing the news.
Calvin is known for his designs locally, regionally and internationally, for pageants and fashion shows, among other events.