Caribbean-themed men’s magazine celebrates fashion

Caribbean-themed men’s magazine celebrates fashion|Caribbean-themed men’s magazine celebrates fashion
|Photo by Kevin Bollers

It’s the Caribbean’s answer to GQ!

Caribbean supermodel Corey Baptiste was on hand for a party celebrating the fashion issue of the four-issue old “GCaribbean” magazine, which features the part-Trinidadian, part-Grenadian on the cover.

The invitation-only event on Friday Sept. 5 at the Attic at 251 W. 48th Street in Manhattan featured great music, cocktails, delectable hors d’oeuvres and the chance to meet top-ranked male supermodel.

Created by founder, editor-in-chief, and publisher Geoff K. Cooper got the idea for the magazine at a charitable function three years ago where he saw a young man looking particularly dapper.

“Hey, you look so ‘GQ,’ ” he complemented the man.

The gentleman responded, “Oh no, I’m not gay!”

Cooper had to explain to him that the term “GQ” doesn’t mean gay, it just means you look well groomed and put together.

It was at that moment that he realized that there was a need for a medium focused on Caribbean men and fashion. Cooper talked about reading mens fashion magazines like GQ, claiming they didn’t really speak to Caribbean men — something GCaribbean is all about.

According to Cooper, GCaribbean has an interesting flavor in terms of the models it picks, the places it shoots and the people it focuses on. Cooper admits that people call it “GQ Caribbean,” but he sees it as a compliment because if GCaribbean can be recognized in the same vein as GQ, the staff must be doing something right.

The significance of a magazine like this is that it allows the Caribbean to be lifted above and beyond the cheeky sand, sea, and rum punch stereotype to a more definite context. According to Cooper, one of the major aims GCaribbean is to present the Caribbean as a place of substance and not just a tourist destination.

Cooper points out that the fourth issue of GCaribbean highlighted the fact that Baptiste is part Trinidadian and Grenadian. He also points out that there are numerous celebrities that have strong and unique connections to the Caribbean and their magazine allows those angles to be explored where ordinarily they would not be in the other fashion magazines of the world.

Cooper’s says GCaribbean will naturally evolve into the mainstream while still championing the viability of Caribbean culture. He believes that young men from the Caribbean or of Caribbean descent seeing themselves through the people spotlighted in the magazine champion their own uniqueness.

“The Caribbean is doing big things and we can only move forward and higher,” he said.

GCARIBBEAN Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Geoff K. Cooper, GCARIBBEAN Summer issue cover model Corey Baptiste, and GCARIBBEAN Vice President of Business Development and Marketing Fabrice J. Armand.
Photo by Kevin Bollers