A New York television channel declared a Bermuda fashion event organiser one of the “titans of fashion”, at a special event held in the city.Mario Dismont received the surprise award at BTE TV’s Fashion on the Hudson event.The ceremony was held at Riverside Park last month as part of the channel’s fourth anniversary celebrations.Mr Dismont organised many Bermuda fashion events back in the 1970s and 1980s, and helped to launch the careers of several local models.After a 26-year break he came back into the game last year and formed Spectrum Productions. His Some Like It Hot fashion show in April, included 20 top designers from Europe, the Caribbean and the United States such as Francis Montesinos of Spain, Thomas Lavone from New York, Sidnie Pee from England and Theo Seally from the Bahamas.The event was filmed by BTE TV, and covered extensively by their magazine ‘Fashion Avenue News’.“Sophia Davis, a host on the television channel, and an editor of their magazine, attended the Some Like It Hot event,” said Mr Dismont. “At that time BTE TV told me they were having this event [Fashion on the Hudson] in New York and I should come up and be a special guest.”He thought it sounded nice but kept putting it off as he had other personal commitments. Finally, he decided he would go and was “shocked” to learn he was receiving an award and a surprise. Two other Bermudians turned up for the show singer Amber Douglas and fashion designer Regina Simmons, who participated in Mr Dismont’s Some Like It Hot show.“The day I arrived I was taken around by two Vietnamese top models,” said Mr Dismont. “They had been on the cover of Asian Cosmopolitan and Harper’s Bazaar. They took me to some of the high-end designer salons in New York. You can’t just walk into them; they are only by appointment.”At the salon of one of the top Chinese designers in New York, Zang Toi, Mr Dismont discovered the cheapest purses on offer were priced at $15,000.“His clothing ranges from $10,000 to $100,000,” said Mr Dismont. “It was an amazing studio. We went to several other designers with these models. That was an experience in itself, to see that level of professionalism.”Mr Dismont first started in the fashion industry as a model working with Shay Lake, a Bermudian who had lived in California and danced on the television programme ‘Soul Train’. After only two or three tries, however, he decided it was not for him, and became more involved in the administrative side. He and Ms Lake ran their shows under the name Fashion Energy.“It became a business,” said Mr Dismont: “We were the first to have stores pay us to be in our fashion show. That is how dynamic we were. Our shows were very theatrical. The first show ever was at Rosebank Theatre. We did most of the major venues at that time, whether it be Clayhouse Inn or Disco 40. It was exciting and we always sold out the shows.”Ms Lake went back to the United States, and Mr Dismont went out on his own. He eventually became disenchanted and took a break of several decades. He worked in the insurance industry, and also started his own elite bartending service.“It wasn’t challenging enough, so I decided to try something else,” he said. “I decided to do this little show featuring some designers from Europe, United States and the Caribbean including Bermuda.”The show began to grow in proportion when he mentioned it to his friend, Rammy Smith, who modelled with Fashion Energy for years. He still had contacts in the fashion industry. At first, Mr Dismont was amazed by how eager people in the international fashion world were to come on board the Bermuda show.“Sophia Davis said they were interested because generally designers only show in the locale they come from,” said Mr Dismont. “Very seldom do they travel. It is difficult to get them to make clothes for models they can’t see. They need to have the model there a week or so ahead of time. The fact that we had designers coming in from Europe, the Caribbean and the United States was very unique. They said that Bermuda could become a showplace for designers.”Unfortunately, the show was held on the first day of the very popular Carifta Games held here this spring.“It was ironically much more successful on an international level,” said Mr Dismont. “BTE TV ran promos to the show on their station at least five days before the event so Bermuda received invaluable exposure.”He hopes to do the Some Like it Hot show again, on what will hopefully be a better date in November.He said he has been greatly inspired by his mother Marion, who runs a dress shop on Brunswick Street behind the Leopard’s Club called Marion’s Fashions. Mrs Dismont was the first Miss Bermuda in a beauty pageant held back in the 1940s.“I am not overly fashionable myself, but I know fashion,” said Mr Dismont. “From my mother having her little store and seeing what that is about, to doing the shows and having to coordinate clothing. I don’t do that anymore, mind you. My mother is a very stylish lady and I followed in her footsteps in terms of recognising fashion. She is 80 years old and still goes to New York to buy for her store.”