New York City is one of the four big fashion capitals of the world, and with its enigmatic blend of cultural diversity the conversation surrounding Caribbean fashion, its aesthetic, and its place on the international stage is inevitable.
The FIT Museum in collaboration with Janice Lawrence-Clarke, a FIT alum, recently set the stage for open dialogue surrounding the progress and position of Caribbean fashion in the international marketplace. The panel discussion featured reality TV star, FIT alum, and fashion designer Nikhol Hing best known as Chinese Nicky on Love and Hip Hop Miami and owner of fashion boutique Klothh; and production designer and stylist, Richard Young.
There’s always this apologetic feel about speaking of your culture and not brandishing it. Caribbean designers have a responsibility to the Caribbean aesthetic. Click To TweetBefore the evening was over, Guyanese born Hing readily offered to leverage her own success to aid in the development of a unified Caribbean Fashion Week to help Caribbean designers get the recognition needed.
Lawrence-Clarke, who is also the president and creative director of Caribbean American Fashion Exchange (CAFE), has been championing Caribbean fashion on an international stage for many years and is adamant that this genre is represented. “This is a discussion that has now begun, it’s necessary,” she said after the event. “Having a platform such as FIT just brought everything into the wide open. Global. So now we have to continue.”
Richard Young, who is known throughout the region for his extensive market work with designers, has positioned himself as their storyteller and believes that telling the right narrative of the Caribbean fashion aesthetic is the best way to market Caribbean designers. The right narrative, in this case, is embracing nationality. “Nationality is branding,” Young said, “There’s always this apologetic feel about speaking of your culture and not brandishing it. Caribbean designers have a responsibility to the Caribbean aesthetic.”
The influence of Caribbean fashion is seen everywhere on the international stage, but often in the form of cultural appropriation by non-Caribbean designers the panelists noted. Last year Marc Jacobs found himself in the middle of a heated controversy after his Spring 2017 collection featured colored dreadlocks.
Young also mentioned seeing Jean Paul Gaultier in Martinique a few years ago “in the market with stones, beads, and shells” where many Caribbean designers gather natural resources for the surface treatment of textiles for design. Treating and creating textiles is an artform Caribbean people bring to the fashion world. An art form that is easily identifiable as their own. As there are no mills to have a wide array of fabrics produced Caribbean designers in the Caribbean use what exists and build new textures.
Designer: Marie Francis Designs / Photo by Leonard McKenzie
But as Caribbean designers become more advanced in their design, the fashion world needs to take notice, “Gone are the days where Caribbean style is a Hawaiian shirt, Panama hat, and Bermuda shorts. That was somebody else’s version of who we are. It’s no longer the look of the Caribbean that we might have had before, where there was this flea-market type of expression of who we are. There is a lot more finish.” Young said.
Caribbean designers are now in a position to rewrite the narrative of Caribbean style through structure, design, and treatment of their garments.
Designer: Marie Francis Designs / Photo by Leonard McKenzie
Caribbean fashion also addresses another issue that has attracted scrutiny for not being inclusive enough in the fashion world: featuring plus-size garments. Caribbean fashion celebrates all plus-sizes, as seen with the Marie Francis jacquard mini-dress which drew cheers from the audience. It is a silhouette that has always been readily available in the repertoire of work designers produce.
During the hour-long discussion, attendees were treated to two mini-fashion shows featuring designers from Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and more. The models walked to the music of 3 Canal’s “Raw“ for the first capsule show and Bunji Garlin’s “Big Bad Soca” for the second capsule show, displaying vibrant pieces from U.S. based Caribbean designers such as Donna Dove and Mell Simon in addition to Caribbean based design stalwarts such as Meiling, Heather Jones, The Cloth (Robert Young) and Claudia Pegus. From minimalist white cotton to Ankara prints, the melting pot of Caribbean style could be seen in the designs.
Many came out to support the event including Ambassador Pennelope Beckles, Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations, playwright and author Nandi B. Jacob.
Keishel Williams
Keishel A. Williams is a writer, editor and content producer with an ardent affinity for fashion, feminism & fine living - and of course, lots of tea!
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