JAMAICAN LIFE+TIMES & THE GUY ONLINE WHO LIVES IT
As a 2015 new Year resolution to myself I wanted to step into the fray and become more vocal as the guy online and behind Kingston Belle. With the changing space of the internets and the cultural shift in Jamaica, KB needed a face and it chose me. But don't go unsubscribing just yet, the blog will remain your go-to site for your peek inside Jamaican life and times just with a twist. I'm stepping to the metaphoric mic and speaking up about the things YOU and I care about. I'm talking about the elephant that's been in the KB room for the past 4 years. I'm gonna be weighing in on sex, sexuality, friendship, young adulthood and other juicy topics surrounding me and my authentic Jamaican experience. I'm promising my honest and uncut opinions, reviews and general two cents on everything we care about from the perspective of a JAMAICAN GUY ONLINE.
THE HISTORY
In September 2011 Kingston Belle was established as a Jamaican Fashion and Lifestyle blog, . It was headed and curated by writer and Entrepreneur Rashade St Patrick and, as a blog, considered itself to be "the new cultural perspective on Jamaican life+times". Aimed at a sophisticated young readership between 18-35, KB assembled photographers, artists,
designers and models and delivered years of a "refined" perspective into the world of Jamaican fashion, lifestyle and popular culture on a weekly basis.
By the second year Kingston Belle had broken a whole new frontier in ‘new media’ and Fashion Journalism. With St Patrick's enthusiastic and tenacious personality he steered KB through the doors of the Fashion industry and to the top of the locale blogosphere as far as Fashion was concerned.
Since its inception KB has established a category of its own as a universal Journalistic destination representing Jamaica. Between 2012 ans 2013, Kingston Belle worked its way through all the major social media platforms reaching more and more people online from all accross Jamaica to as far as Manila in the Phillipines. The online instituition -as it became- continued to bring viewers closer to the local Industry, Jamaican fashion connoisseurs and Entertainment acts alike. Over 10,000 people per month followed as it inspired, improved and promoted the Industries by use of pioneering media broadcast spanning creative text and contemporary audio visual productions.
In September 2014 Kingston Belle became the only known blog to be working and generating income outside of site advertisement directly, joining the small group of Jamaican online personalities and institutions who were generating income in general. In 2015 the company/blog made a switch to place the Editor-in-Chief inside the screen and infront of its over 10,000 readers per month as the face of the new KB.
Exclusive stories over the years included; Project Runway Stars - Korto Momolu and Jerrell Scott. International designers; Meghan LA & Mateo Bijoux. Models; Jaunel Mckenzie, Yendi Phillipps, Kai Newman, Shena Moulton, Tami Chin and The Voice 2014 winner Tessanne.