James Lee’s is a familiar face on the local fashion scene.

He has contributed to the Bermuda Fashion Festival as a model, a hairstylist and a designer.

The 27-year-old will take to the runway once again, for the Local Designer Show on July 14. He’s left his bottle-cap swimwear behind this year, focusing instead on a more wearable line.

How many times have you participated in the Bermuda Fashion Festival?

I have participated every year in the Bermuda Fashion Festival from back when it was called Evolution.

I started off modelling, but the past two years I have helped out with hair backstage through my job at TK Hair Salon. After two previous attempts at applying for the mentorship programme, I was selected this year to design a collection that I hope will excite the audience as much as it is exciting me to create.

How has this year’s experience differed from past ones?

This year’s experience has been a lot more demanding as there are so many deadlines and meetings to attend. Usually as a model and working backstage you just have to attend rehearsals, walk or prep hair and make-up the day of the show, but putting together two collections this year has been quite the task.

I have just returned from Toronto attending a fashion and bridal show as a fundraiser for a Caribbean organisation to help youth and have had to balance the Bermuda Fashion Festival as well.

No easy task but it’s all coming together.

You just got back from a bridal show in Toronto? Tell us about it.

I was invited to the show through another local designer named Amethyst. The show was a fundraiser for youth and I was more than happy to take part.

I created the collection to give some island flavour, taking inspiration from our local beach sand as the colour palette.

I put a twist on resort/swimwear and designed it using bridal fabrics such as lace and sequins. The audience loved the collection so much they have already requested our attendance for another showcase in October.

What can we expect from your new collection? More bottle caps?

No, there are no bottle caps in this collection. I know many in the public have asked, but I have submitted the bottle cap collection in the past and it was considered unmarketable as ready-to-wear.

From what I gather, the mentorship programme is marketing driven, although I feel it would be a great direction to take for young, local Bermudians to be more adventurous and creative with their design work.

The collection for the Bermuda Fashion Festival is mostly swimwear with lots of accessories, knits and bags, inspired by green and brown sea glass and bottles. I have also taken inspiration from driftwood for the trims on my bags.

Overall, the collection is sexy and edgy as are the clients I cater to. Like my brand name, Xoe- Tiqu, Bermudians are exotic and mixed in culture and appearance.

What is the biggest lesson your mentor, Danielle Prescod, has taught you?

The greatest lessons my mentor has taught me are find your target market, focus on one style of design work and constantly edit your work to create the best looks you can showing all the best elements of the collection.

How do you juggle your various roles?

Funny enough all my roles intersect as hair, make-up, modelling and designing are all within the same industry of fashion. As far as the designing goes, I work on that evenings and weekends.

And working at TK is a great resource for meeting models and other industry professionals.

What has been an unlikely source of inspiration?

An unlikely source of inspiration would definitely be what got me into fashion design — Sports Illustrated. They had two issues: one where a girl was wearing a beer bottle cap bikini and the other was a guitar pick swimsuit. Without these two images from Sports Illustrated, my designing would never have started. Most people on the island already know me as the bottle-cap bikini designer, but now I’m trying to get into fabrics and away from unconventional materials. I may get back into them in a year or two I’m just taking a break from the beer caps for a while.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan to get a higher education in fashion design and to do a few internships with different design houses to grasp as much knowledge and experience as I can. I’m slowly transitioning into ready-to-wear but would like to get into formal evening wear. My ultimate goal is to get my personal brand on an international level and start a fashion house here in Bermuda.

• Bermuda Fashion Festival opens Sunday and runs through July 16. The Local Designer Show takes place July 14. Doors open 6.30pm; showtime 7.30pm. Admission, $40

www.bermudafashionfestival.com