After a five-year journey creating space for Caribbean culture in Paris, Petra Baptiste was intent on giving herself one year of rest. At the start of 2025 she vowed to slow down and take a beat but little did she know, a gap year would turn into a pathway to one of fashion’s biggest platforms; Paris Fashion Week. The tale behind how she got there is a decades-long lesson in courage, tenacity, intuitiveness, and sheer grace.
At 18, Baptiste left Saint Lucia for London, where she lived and worked for 18 years until she took a chance and accepted a sudden invitation to Paris. Save for occasional visits to Saint Lucia, she’s been living there since.
“In both countries, being a Caribbean person, I noticed my culture followed me,” she told St. Lucia Times over a morning Zoom call. “But when I came here to Paris, I realised that the Caribbean community wasn’t well represented…”
The realisation inspired the launch of Island Empress & Emperor, a platform she uses to highlight the work of Caribbean women and men, and a brand she had little idea would see a full-fledged rebirth years later.
“I was doing a lot but it wasn’t bringing me joy,” Baptiste shared candidly. Aside from growing her brand, she extended herself into other endeavours. She became a book reviewer, frequently looking over manuscripts. She also took on other business ventures managing social media accounts and doing book marketing for private clients. A creative at heart, she’d also attempted to break into the fashion industry but without the right connections things didn’t pan out. She continued to pursue old and new passions relentlessly, all while studying and working as an English teacher.
However, that level of ambition came to a head in January 2025. On the phone with a friend, Baptiste divulged the toll ambition had taken on her.
“From then, I decided to step back… but in that stillness it almost became something spiritual,” she recounted.
Months later in March, Petra was in the VIP section at a fashion show where she sat so close to the models walking down the runway every detail of the garments, even hem stitching, was visible.
“I was with a friend, and I told her ‘I could do this, you know.’ But I laughed it off,” Petra remembered, chuckling at the memory. Seven months later, the idea came up again under the same circumstance, but with a different outcome. At a fashion show, she mentioned that creating runway-worthy designs was something within her scope.
“But that time, my friend said ‘stop saying that you can do it, and let’s do it’”. Her friend, Vilma, then added, “leave it with me.”
“She knew someone in the industry and it was less than an hour after that conversation she called me and said, ‘Here is the number and name, she’s expecting a phone call, the rest is in your hands’, and that was it, I made the phone call.”
Baptiste says she has since received the greenlight to move forward with presenting her collection during Paris Fashion Week, at Les Salons Hoche on March 2, and will use the platform to continue to amplify Caribbean culture. Operating as a one woman show, she has designed and created costumes that will hit the runway as part of her inaugural collection under her new creative house Kai Baptiste.
“My pieces depict different aspects of what makes the Caribbean the Caribbean and a place so loved,” she told St. Lucia Times.
On March 2, designers from other parts of the world will also showcase their work, but Baptiste’s designs steer away from the usual “dress and pants”. Instead, her collection will feature costumes of varying colours, textures, and materials reflective of the Caribbean. The designs she created around themes like the ocean, carnival, Saint Lucia’s flower festivals, and Macramé.
“I feel like it’s a rebirth for both me and my brand, not wanting to ignore what I’ve tried to do prior but with what I’m about to embark on and it’s already in the process of success, it’s a rebirth…” she said.
The opportunity has already catalysed into an exciting 2026 calendar, but Petra says those plans are highly confidential. One thing she assures however, is that like the old, new plans will all be infused with emblems of home and life in the Caribbean.
Well done petra!!!
Miss Nelson, I genuinely do appreciate this written piece. You have captured the full essence of our conversation for everyone to read. Thank you again
I knew Petra way back in 2020 at the workplace, and as I always tell her, I am amazed by how she dresses. Since then, we became friends, and every time we go out, I am literally forced to dress up because when she shows up, it’s just an OMG moment. She can turn every piece of fabric into pieces; she is somehow like a magician. Love you dear! Im so much proud of you!
This is a fantastic article, very well written. Congratulations to Petra Baptiste, I wish you all the best with your show at Paris Fashion Week. Your family and the people of St Lucia must be so proud of you. Well done.
Wow , what an exciting and amazing achievement! I loved reading about the meaning behind the designs and the love for the Caribbean and its culture ! Well done Petra , you are on a journey of greatness
Wow , how amazing ! I loved reading about the ideas behind the designs and how the love for the Caribbean and the Caribbean culture has helped shape the stunning looks ! You truly are on a journey to greatness Petra , well done !