Shauntae Washington experienced momentary doubt when a casting call to meet influential model-maker Deiwght Peters in her native Guyana presented itself back in June.

“Initially, I thought I was too old to go because it was calling for models between 16 and 23. I am 25. It was a great opportunity but I didn’t think that I would make the cut,”  a reflective Washington shares.

Fortunately for Shauntae, her dear friend and Guyanese model peer David-Anthony Loncke redirected her reluctance.

“He said, ‘I do not care how old you are, let’s go, we are giving it a shot’… David is even older than I am. He’s 28. The fact that he was so confident, reassured me to take part in the casting call.”

The pair turned up for the audition held at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown. 

They would suitably impress the SAINT head honcho and be shortlisted to compete in Peters’ annual Fashion Faces of the Caribbean contest, which staged its 25th iteration at the AC Marriott Hotel in New Kingston last weekend.

Jetting into Jamaica with Loncke, Washington triumphed from a competitive field of 44 young women to claim 2025’s winning SAINT female title.

The five-feet-ten-inches tall beauty—fingers crossed to someday work for her favourite luxury fashion houses Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Versace—said upon being announced the victor from the top-five, with tears welling up in her eyes, “I thought of the sacrifices that my parents, boyfriend and siblings made to get me where I had to be. What ran through my mind was all these people I made proud so I wasn’t even about pride for myself, it was pride for my tribe.”

Winning the competition has eased anxiety about her age in the youth-obsessed fashion industry, where models typically break through as adolescents.

“Besides, I look like the results of God’s grace, good genes and coconut oil. l will take my place in spite of, and because of, everything that I am, including being 25,” a supremely confident Washington declared.

Back home in Guyana, Shauntae—who has strutted in runway shows since 2017 for such local designers as Randy Madray, Matapee by Katia Fitzpatrick Carey and Kramronruj by Mark Junor—was previously a data entry clerk in the Ministry of Home Affairs and currently works as a bartender at the Georgetown Cricket Club.

As she waits in the wings for her big break as an international model, Washington remained circumspect.

“Fashion models represent the height of beauty across the world, and as an African woman, I know what it is like to not feel like the most beautiful in the room. Now the ability to represent beauty in African faces on a global scale is one of my motivations, especially for the girls here in Guyana and for my nieces Amani and Akanni,” rationalised the melanated stunner, whose genetic blessings extend to the gift of voice.

“Music is my original love. Everyone sings on my father’s side of the family, so it was a gift as natural to me as breathing,” explained the soprano who grew up belting her pipes in her Seventh-Day Adventist church choir. 

“It has always been an outlet for my views and gave me the initial chance of being on stage.”

For Peters, whose trained eye has made international fashion stars of scores of model hopefuls from the Caribbean and Africa, he sees an auspicious future in the making for Shauntae.

“She’s absolutely radiant, smart and possesses definitive qualities aligned for the global fashion market,” was his stamp of approval.

“I was very straightforward with her from when we met at the casting in Guyana. I loved Shauntae’s look and told her if she trusted my guidance, I could make her a star. I needed her hair shorter,” he informed Our Today.

“I wanted to see her stunning facial features that were hidden by her natural afro at the time.” 

Washington heeded the model-maker’s advice and cut her hair twice; once before leaving Guyana, and the day before the Fashion Face finals when Peters took her to his barber.

The competition’s six-judge panel of visiting scouts from North America and European modelling agencies were unanimous that Shauntae’s “look” reigned above all others on the night.

“After I won, the first thing Deiwght said, ‘I told you, didn’t I tell you? You did well,” Washington recalled.

“I hope I made him proud. In spite of every parameter that would prove a possible hindrance, for him to give me a one-in-a-million shot, for that I will forever be grateful.” 

The freshly anointed Female Fashion Face star tells Our Today SAINT’s Prada and Ferragamo campaign star Kai Newman and South Sudanese-American supermodel Anok Yaai are the two she most admires in the biz. “They represent our beauty and Kai’s story is a lesson for me in resilience, perseverance and discipline.”

The eldest of four children for her internal security supervisor father, Alwyn Washington and interior design consultant mother, Sheneza Moore-Washington, Shauntae returned to a heroine’s welcome in Guyana.

“The celebration started when I got home to Leopold Street. My boyfriend was beaming with pride, and I found out my neighbours on the street were following the competition as closely as Guyanese could. I definitely felt the love,” she divulged.

The life-changing trip to Jamaica was, in fact, her maiden flight.

“It was my first time anywhere outside Guyana’s borders, and I was scared,” she admitted. “I’m from a tight-knit family and community, and my ticket was secured the day before travelling, so it never sank in. I travelled on adrenaline, and shock sank in on the taxi ride into Kingston.”

She mused that while others might not chalk up much to air travel, “for me, I was in another country pursuing my passion, my dream at the highest calibre. Young Shauntae would be proud; my tribe is proud. That’s enough for me.”