At the time of the Miss Universe competition last May, Gillian Bishop, jeweller par excellence, produced and exhibited "Masquerade", a collection of brass masks in tribute to each of the 85 nations represented at the competition.
The masks should have gone to New York for an exhibition at the Trump Tower, but this did not happen.
Not one to sit and bemoan a disappointment, Gillian, and her partner-in-jewellery for the past twelve years, Darrell Nathaniel, moved on to the Signature 2000 collection titled "Fashion Show After The Masquerade", which opened last Sunday afternoon at The Normandie Market Place, complete with live models, and remains on show at Gallery 1234 in the Normandie, Mondays to Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m, for the rest of the month.
A first for this talented woman, was the design of a most fantastic collection of dresses to show her Christmas collection of jewellery, on not only the young and slim model, but the more mature and slightly heavier woman.
Always thinking of new methods to "do the things I know how to do best especially as we do not see anybody else doing it", when Signature Collection recently bowed out of the Mall, because said a forthright Gillian "to my mind no Mall that has as its feature Saturday activity a hops bread eating contest is a fit place for my jewellery to be sold" she channelled her energies into "a complete show that would just not include the jewellery but would incorporate fashion, in an attempt to be more holistic about what women look like. You see I am concerned with what they eat, what they put on their bodies, how they look and I have not had an opportunity or the time to pay as much attention to it as I would like, so this was an opportunity to make them fashionable, make them look good, and partner the jewellery."
To honour her late mother, Ena Bishop, a dress designer and producer, and her late father, Sonny Bishop, a singer, Gillian incorporated fashion with the beautiful and melodious tones of the Lydian Singers, directed by her sister, Pat.
"I specifically wanted to record dresses Ena Bishop had made and did them in white in the section called "Whitsun"; each one adorned with a silver cross trimmed with 18-carat gold, and into each a moonstone was set. My mother had been very fond of Eddie Cumberbatch as a singer and so he sang a number of songs, taught by Pat, that our father sang."
And although it is not usual for a live choir to be combined with fashion because one or the other could suffer, it worked, because Gillian feels that "when one's intentions are right, events tend to work. I felt a sense of community between the models and singers." The show, produced and choreographed by Claudia Applewhaite, started with the blacks, browns, dark greens and sand coloured linens of "Sack Cloth and Ashes."
"The Masquerade being the start, I chose lent to open after the Mas" explained Gillian "and used a lot of wooden accessories. Did you notice the strips of wood on cloth down the length of dress?"
Moire taffeta dresses and suits with large imitation, picture hats, were the designer's choice for the "Easter" section, and with these went simple silver and gold jewellery made with stones in colours to compliment the dresses. For instance, rose quartz and aventurine stones went beautifully with an ivory coloured outfit trimmed in pink and green braid reflecting the colours in the jewellery, as happened in a number of cases.
In fact, it was as Gillian was looking for the stones to go with the braids and finding them so easily that confirmed in her mind "what I am doing is right, when these things happened. In fact things that could have taken a week to locate and I found it just like that, I knew I am doing it the way it should be done."
The pure whites of "Whitsun" dedicated to her Mom, came next. A combination of Indian Arrival and Emancipation put together for "August", showed big skirts, braids, borders, a mixture of gold and silver jewellery and a lot of multi strand chokers. "Petit Careme", a completely soft silk section in brighter and more intense colours of an Indian summer to offset the pastels of Easter, showed with semi precious gem stones.
And finally the full range of jewellery which Gillian and Signature would normally do, complimented the Thai Silks trimmed with specially hand-picked braids for an Old Years Night which will usher in the new millennium.
The show ended with the most extraordinary Millennium Bride. "It was a lot of fun" says Gillian "strips of white silk all hand sewn for the skirt were attached to a sterling silver bra top with crystals and mother of pearl cabochons set by appropriate jewellery technique- hand pierced and forged- with matching tiara."
Gillian sees her team at Signature Collection's studio as a service organisation rather than a money-making factory. "We are a studio and not a factory because everybody is involved, we do not simply mass produce, our people know what we are doing why we are doing it, and so they get energised. We will break down and rebuild because the emphasis is on standards and not on volume. We try to bring our people along in terms of their sense of doing a thing well."
The trophy business for which Signature has become much sought after, was born out of Signature's Glitterwood range of gift items, mainly in teak and brass. "And we are fairly proud of the fact that two of our pieces have gone to the White House. A pair of scones from President Robinson when he was Prime Minister to former President Bushe, and a teak box adorned with a hand pierced brass motif of trumpet and pan, which contained a Compact Disc of Ralph Mac Donald's "Just The Two Of Us" from former Prime Minister Manning to President Clinton. Our pieces have been presented to important persons all over Latin America, the president of Brazil, Venezuela, Fidel Castro, Panama, and also to Queen Elizabeth II."
"That is why I say we are service oriented because if our country needs a number of pieces to go and do whatever is necessary, we are there to do that, and try our best to get into what it is they want and try our darndest to do it as they wish."
"I would wish that our people would understand the value of this service but until such time we are doing alright. I am glad to get up each morning and do something, and at the end of the day I have something to show for it."
What's in store for Gillian Bishop, Darrell Nathaniel and Signature Collection in 2000? "We are going the same way, just doing it a little better every day. We do not expect to see any quantum changes, and just want to go on doing what we are doing because I am so pleased to be able to do it."