The most that I’ve done during my short time in the creative circle has primarily been my involvement in the areas of music and drama. I’ve had passing interests in photography, painting, animation, and even dancing. But fashion? I rarely ever considered it.
I don’t even consider myself to be a fashionable type – I pretty much just go out in whatever I throw on. Even when I perform, I’ve realized that if a dress code isn’t provided, I’ll just turn up in whatever caught my eye as “comfortable” (given that the women in the house didn’t tell me to take it off first). So for the Kingston Creative Online Open Commission, and for my first time since honing the craft of blogging in the arts-therapy niche (musicandpain.com), I decided to look at what exactly a fashion designer does. Do they eat? Sleep? I had to know.
I met Anita Alcott at The Edna Manley Visual and Performing Arts as a fashion design student in about 2013. She had a lovely personality, good looks, all those tings…but in retrospect, as I now type these words in 2020, I realize that I’ve never actually known what it’s like to do the work she does. She has always been designing; she’s always been working on something. She has been invited to present at a few fashion showcases (the Lust Yush annual fashion shows in 2018 and 2019, as well as the “Design Fusion” programme hosted by the Jamaica Business Development Corporation), and her design label “Naomi: Avec Amour” has considerable presence online and in fashion circles.
I took a “scroll” by her LinkedIn page. The about section reads: “This is a fashion brand that was created through the inspiration of three powerful females on my life. Era’s such as the 30’s, 50’s and 60’s are where these designs are pulled from into the future as we say, fashion forward. Fashion for this brand is very important and personal as it was and still is named after my Aunt who passed away 7 years ago, and she is one of the inspirations for the brand as well. Her legacy lives on through my brand, Naomi: Avec Amour”.
I asked her about how fashion inspires her. She says, “It’s both international and local. Why? Let me start with local first. Growing up, I have seen fashion legit play or change before my eyes where you know, say for instance, dancehall has its own look and so does reggae; and then internationally, hip hop has that little swag thing where you have dem baggy pants and dat kinda supm deh, throwbacks like a M.C. Hammer kinda thing. I basically pull inspiration from everywhere, or basically the changing that fashion does – that’s where I pull the inspiration from. But the thing is, I don’t allow it to change me as a designer – I make my impact in the fashion industry, so at the end of the day I don’t want people to say “Oh, she was inspired by M.C. Hammer because of the Harem pants”. No, mi nuh waan nuhbadi say that. I want people to say “Yow, what is your inspiration? Cuz I’d love to know how you came up with the designs,” yuh zimmi? That, that is what I love. And when I tell them the story of how the whole thing was created, and they go, “Oh”.
1. Who is one designer that inspires you (in any way) in fashion and why? “A fashion designer named Christian Siriano because of his story and how he became one of the top designers in an industry that shunned him for his designs, but he saw the need to make a difference in the world and have his voice be HEARD!”
2. What’s your designing process like? “My design process is tedious! It’s mainly about where and what inspires me. That inspiration then leads to designs and I mean a lot of designs. This then leads to fabrication (sourcing for fabrics), pattern making, drafts of the final pieces then a fitting then a second draft then a final product (told you, tedious *laughs*)”
3. I see on your IG that you’ve been featured on at least two fashion shows. How were you able to decide on what to showcase for them? “They worked with a theme and based on the theme of the show I find inspiration through that. I think it was at JBDCs’ (Design Fusion) where I found that out, when I did the Metamorphosis collection and they’re like, “Why “Metamorphosis?” I told them it was inspired by the butterfly and me transitioning into a better designer and a better version of myself based on what was happening to me last year. They stopped and looked at me and said, “This is the story that you should always tell through every single design”. I know this quarantine is gonna help to really transition that into every design despite the fact that I don’t have anybody to model for me (I do it myself sometimes). But, the industry changes and fashion is revolutionary and recycled, so I do try to go with the changes but I don’t let it change me too much.”
4. What is it like working with models? “It is exciting! I mean, to see that design on a body, fitted, flowing and moving, it’s beautiful.”
5. How does Jamaica represent itself through fashion? “I think us as Jamaicans, we have a distinct voice when it comes to fashion. We might be inspired by other countries but because of our diversity, we stand out.”
I asked Anita about her JBDC experience. “It’s mainly about helping entrepreneurs – beauty supplies, like makeup, facial soap, stuff like that – helping the entrepreneurs to get that jumpstart in how to manage your business. They taught us the financial aspect of the business, the marketing aspect, finding a niche, basically covering every single area for business itself. We also had to do a collection and explain the inspiration behind it (which is where my story about the metamorphosis of the butterfly comes into the picture). I took the colours black and white because the black of the cocoon turns to white, and white represents purity. The main thing I really took from the training apart from the business aspect, however, was to really get into the core foundation of what’s really inspiring me (in terms of fashion, or doing a collection) and see how I could start from scratch. The training lasted almost four months, with about 20 of us. It was a really good experience and I’d definitely do it again.”
6. Where do you see your brand in 5 years? “I see my brand making a change. I want to own ateliers around the world. I also would love to enter project runway to show others that no matter what you can make every dream a REALITY.”
I asked her about her time at the Edna Manley College. “Fashion at Edna was not how I expected it to be. During one of my three rotations (jewelry, textiles and painting), I ended up doing textiles because the Visual Communication and Graphics classes were full. A very close friend and I then discovered upon registering that the textiles class broke into two parts, and the other option was fashion – so we chose it. We basically learnt more about fashion in Year 3. Since we were the “guinea pigs” for this program, I believe that what they should have done was to start from when we made our course selection. I mean, we did fashion illustration in Year 2, but like, we basically had limited fashion courses and too many theory courses – why would I need to know drawing when I’m doing fashion illustration? I don’t think they had thought about it the way that they should have, which is to say, streamline specific fashion courses only/mostly for the fashion students. ”
She continued, “But overall it was good, and I learned a lot from one particular lecturer. It seems the fashion department have been closed since, but what I would have changed was the approach to fashion. Give us things that have to do with fashion, the theory of fashion, the history of fashion, fashion illustration….and not merge it with Ethics or Business of Art. Give us the Business of Fashion! Things that have to do with the fashion industry because mi nah go lie, a the “Design Fusion” programme a’ JBDC really help me understand business in general, as well as the core foundation of business when it comes to fashion. It’s completely different from everybody else own out there!
7. Do you have other creative outlet besides fashion? “Yes! I’m a blogger (under construction) and currently working on my 1st book. The book is basically a testimony of everything that I’ve been through. It’s like an autobiography/memoir/testimonial. It’s mainly about my experiences – heartbreak, my faith in Christianity, all of the works.”
8. What are some of the challenges you face? The main challenge I face is fabric shortage especially if it is shipped from overseas.
Confused, I asked, “When it comes to local fabric, is it that it isn’t good enough? Or is it that we don’t produce enough of what is desired to meet the demands of local designers?” Her response was, surprisingly, that we rarely (if ever) produce material at all. “Ping’s Fabrics (a well-known local supplier) gets theirs from China. Pablo’s Fabric Store (another local fabric brand) gets theirs from L.P. Azar who has their own fabric company.”
She continued, “The fabric quality could be better honestly but it’s all we have right now. There are ways to get fabric from overseas as there are fabric stores with real quality fabrics we can order from. The issue is the time it takes to get HERE.”
9. How do you think the onset of this current pandemic is affecting the world of fashion? “Though there’s a pandemic, the industry is seen helping out the best way that we can. Yes there is a pause on current shows for fashion week, but I’ve seen designers both local and international help with making masks and donating and selling them and that’s remarkable.”
On this note, I had to stop her. “Regarding these masks,” I said with some skepticism, “how did you decide to get involved in production?” I wanted to get into how her brand of masks compared to the rest I had seen advertised online. In my novice opinion, masks made without the N95 filtration material could not be necessarily trusted for one’s health.
Anita had this to say: “It is really based on a need for the masks in my community, or orders placed by other customers. I only use cotton-based material, and I double it. I see other designers using fabrics that aren’t breathable and it’s disappointing to be honest because they’re looking at the profit and fashion – but not safety. I know how sensitive the skin is so I use ribbons instead of elastic.”
I remembered that she had previously mentioned Christian Siriano as an inspiration and asked if there was anyone that she looked up to in the local fashion scene. “YEEEEEEEEES! Ayanna Dixon!!! Her journey through fashion is amazing and inspiring. She worked in New York with Donna Karan, a top designer, then she came back here and with the help of JBDC she took off.”
10. What would you do if you were the Prime Minister for a month? ”I’ve always loved helping people and I think that would be my core focus in that position.”
Intrigued, I pressed a bit further to find out what her thoughts were about government involvement in the small creative business sector. “At first, I thought the government could do a lot more for entrepreneurs with small, medium or large enterprises. But, I realize that JBDC is the reason why the government starts paying attention to entrepreneurs. One Member of Parliament is Floyd Green. That man embodies the core of support when it comes to business. He wants to know about it. When we were having the “Design Fusion” graduation ceremony, he came and spoke about being different and wanting to stand out. As a designer, you don’t want to go on the road and people say, “Oh, I’ve seen that style before because I know someone who does it like this”. I strive for individuality when it comes to my brand, my designs, everything. This isolation is kind of difficult in sense, because it’s so, so hard for people to find their creative juices flowing without going out and being inspired. I have a bit of an anxiety problem if I’m isolated for too long, so I try to do something to prevent it from triggering. The government is doing better now than they were before, as they used to focus more on importing from and highlighting designers overseas when so many creative designers are already here. It’s not even funny – we are just here, in every parish, in every region – we are just here. Trust me, JBDC is doing all that they can (sometimes I believe they do too much, lol). Coming out of that programme, my views began to change. I started getting my business bags and tags after someone advised that regular bags just wouldn’t do, and now I even have a sales book and my branding and logo in order. Helping other small businesses will help them to support me. They can refer me as a designer, and I can reciprocate by referring them.
In closing our interview, she sang praises once again regarding the “Design Fusion” programme. ”The best part about the JBDC initiative is that I can always go back for business consultation, and the incubator is always available for use once you get your time schedule cleared, so you can sew all day if you need to! They’re very accessible on social media, and they are literally there for you.”
Naomi: Avec Amour can be contacted on Instagram: @naomi_avec_amour
