Kairon Victor Newton : Visual Stylist

“Aside from the obvious relief of surviving an intensive schedule of fulltime work, part time school, grueling deadlines, sleepless nights, and endless caffeine, I also left CAFD feeling more certain about what I wanted to do career-wise,” says Kairon of the direction the program gave him. “If anything, CAFD showed me that it was economically feasible to work full time in fashion.”

Graduating in 2014, he was also the recipient of the 2014 Fashion Management Styling Award based on an outstanding mid-term styling project. Although the recognition by his lecturers and superiors was fulfilling, he says winning the award didn’t “hit” him until several nights after. “If anything, that award served as encouragement – less as a tangible plaque, more as recognition from the same lecturers that I looked up to (and still do) during my tenure at CAFD.”

Ever a student of life, he says in hindsight the experience of the mid-term project process was the most valuable takeaway. “We had to find a magazine, identify its market and its customer, identify fashion trends at that time, forecast for a future season, and then source and produce and entire editorial from photographer, to model, to location, to makeup, to the apparel and accessories,” he describes the project, further commenting that this was the perfect precursor for what he does today on a regular basis.

He was also fortunate enough to secure a job with local boutique Bang Bang in his second year of study as their social media and content creator, which eventually blossomed into him becoming the brand’s Marketing Manager. “I got to conceptualise campaigns, lookbooks, visual window displays, styling … so I had been using a lot of the knowledge gained at CAFD almost immediately. As soon as I learned something new, I applied it to work,” he says, acknowledging that the fundamental basis of his career today was gained at the Academy.

Although he never truly felt the “transition” between CAFD enrollment and post-graduate life because of the constant work he was securing (a large part of which is graphic work and detailing), entering into full-time work upon graduation was even more fulfilling.

However, it was not without its challenges as he points out working while still enrolled at school, and even after as a freshly minted graduate, was sometimes overwhelming. He quips, “I had a task list that would give me two options: either have a complete mental and emotional breakdown or just figure out a way to get it done.”

He even remembers getting to work at 10am, leaving at 3am the next morning, only to be back at 10am the very same day during the opening of a new store. All in all, his juggling of these tasks did not leave him burned out; as he reveals, his personal and professional support systems were always in place, namely some of his CAFD lecturers who would always lend an ear and advise him on his path forward professionally.

“Cut to a couple years later, I decided to focus on my own freelancing work and got the opportunity to handle styling and visuals for Ecliff Elie, content creation for Adornami Caribbean Digital Magazine, campaign styling and visual merchandising for J&K Signature Styles and Hot Select, and graphic art for 212 Location + Blaanix,” he lists off his achievements and work since graduating from the Fashion Management program.

This year, he decided to focus more on content creation, primarily editorial production, where he has worked with some of the most sought after local fashion photographers, stylists, and aestheticians in the industry. “Currently, by weekday I’m the Marketing Officer at 212 Location + Blaanix so I get to conceptualise campaigns, editorials and lookbooks, social media, visual merchandising, events, and styling. By weekend, I’m the Editorial Art Director for ‘Fashion Focus, The Magazine’. Any free time in between is either spent doing freelance graphic work or working on my portfolio.”

He says his greatest success since graduation is the ability to do what he loves daily – and be paid for it. As a creative working in our local fashion industry (which, although on its rise thanks to local institutions such as CAFD, is still underrepresented) he understands his fortune to make a livelihood doing work that others may consider frivolous or unprofitable.

As for future successes, he says his vision changes constantly, but he hopes to one day facilitate his very own think-tank dedicated to fashion retail visual solutions, has his eyes set on a fulltime job at an international magazine, as well as truly travel and experience the wonders of the world. As a visual creator, his inspirations are endless and surround him everyday. Whether it’s books, television series and movies, YouTube and unlimited internet access, or pop culture, his tastes are eclectic and too varied to assign an exact word to it.

You can view more of Kairon’s freelance work on

Instagram: @militantminimalist