Speaker 1: There are some names that just echo far beyond the runway,
Speaker 1: and Meiling is one of them. You see, when we
Speaker 1: speak of legacy in Caribbean fashion, we can't do so
Speaker 1: without speaking of me Ling, not simply because of her
Speaker 1: decades of work, but because of the values woven through
Speaker 1: every scene discipline, artistry, minimalism as philosophy, and Caribbean storytelling
Speaker 1: through design. Her Attilie at six Carlo Street is more
Speaker 1: than just a workspace. It's a sanctuary, a place alive
Speaker 1: with light, clothing and possibility. To me in many ways,
Speaker 1: it evokes the spirit of thirty one ru Cambon, the
Speaker 1: legendary and iconic address where Gabrielle Coco Chanel read find
Speaker 1: fashion from the inside out. Both houses are defined by
Speaker 1: restraint and timelessness, where the focus is not on trend
Speaker 1: but on truth. And yet Mailing is far from settled.
Speaker 1: In fact, her artistic compass remains forward facing. As she
Speaker 1: shares in this episode, she's currently working on a bold
Speaker 1: new collaboration with a young male designer in a style
Speaker 1: that surprised even her. It's set to launch in December
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, and it speaks directly to her lifelong
Speaker 1: commitment to relevance without compromise. In this episode, we discuss
Speaker 1: her origins, her creative convictions, and what it means to
Speaker 1: hold fast to your truth in an industry often dictated
Speaker 1: by trend. We also talk about leadership, mentorship, and legacy
Speaker 1: as seen through the eyes of a woman who chose
Speaker 1: to build something lasting from the soil of her own island.
Speaker 1: Mailing is a legend, yes, However, she's also a woman
Speaker 1: who still sees herself as a student, still reaching, and
Speaker 1: still evolving, and that is perhaps her greatest design yet.
Speaker 1: If you're listening to the podcast on Apple Podcast, please
Speaker 1: remember to rate and leave a comment below. Also, don't
Speaker 1: forget to follow us on Instagram at Let's Talk the Things. Now,
Speaker 1: grab your tea, coffee, or a glass of wine and
Speaker 1: Let's Talk the Things. Hello everyone, Welcome back to Let's
Speaker 1: Talk the Things, where we discuss personal growth, travel, music, beauty,
Speaker 1: fashion and wellness while encouraging you to live fearlessly and fabulously.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Ash and this week we are talking
Speaker 1: to Things with the woman at the helm of the
Speaker 1: most renowned designer labels in the Caribbean, Iconic Trinidadian fashion
Speaker 1: designer mailing, Hi, mailing, how are you hi?
Speaker 2: What a wonderful introduction. I'm one of the ones in
Speaker 2: Trinidad that makes it happen.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, definitely, for sure. Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: coming to talk to things with me.
Speaker 2: It's a pleasure, all right.
Speaker 1: So for the first part of the show, we like
Speaker 1: to do a little icebreaker to loosen up the guests
Speaker 1: something fun. So as a first time guest and for
Speaker 1: persons listening for the first time, we begin each episode
Speaker 1: with our listener's favorite segment, and it's called that Sounds Safe.
Speaker 1: So basically all it is is, I'm going to read
Speaker 1: messages or social media posts that listeners sent in, and
Speaker 1: if you think it sounds a little crazy or a
Speaker 1: little concerning, you just say that sounds safe or whatever
Speaker 1: version of that you would like to say and explain why.
Speaker 1: And if you agree, you can just say you agree
Speaker 1: and explain why sounds good?
Speaker 2: All right? All right?
Speaker 1: So the first person said, sometimes I replace my feelings
Speaker 1: with new clothes, and I'm okay with that.
Speaker 2: I'm good with that. I know some people for a
Speaker 2: chair up, they do come, yes, and they want to
Speaker 2: lift they come, you know, they come for a if
Speaker 2: they have a break up in a relationship or stressed
Speaker 2: that would they say, oh, let me just come and
Speaker 2: have some retail therapy.
Speaker 1: There you go. I think that sounds very safe because
Speaker 1: my mom always says to me, when you look good,
Speaker 1: you feel good, right, So yeah, like you said, if
Speaker 1: you're having a bad day or a bad week or
Speaker 1: a bad month and something happened, why not look fabulous.
Speaker 1: You don't want to look popped down and feel bad.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that one sounds safe. We both agree on
Speaker 1: that one, all right. The next person said, the older
Speaker 1: I get, the more I realize my mom was always right,
Speaker 1: but I guess I just didn't like her tone.
Speaker 2: I think it's I agree, I see it funny enough,
Speaker 2: I see it. Like with my son. He thought I
Speaker 2: was like this, he had the strictest parents, But now
Speaker 2: I see him being a parent, and he's almost repeating
Speaker 2: the things that I said. So now and although they
Speaker 2: would kick against it's somehow you plant seeds that grow
Speaker 2: and they stay with you and they repeat it without even.
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely absolutely, I think at the time, when you're
Speaker 1: a child, you can't appreciate your parents' you know, strictness
Speaker 1: and rules and things like that. But I think the
Speaker 1: older you get, you realize and you appreciate it and
Speaker 1: you say, whoa, Thank god, my parents, you know, had
Speaker 1: those rules for me, because you probably know people that
Speaker 1: didn't have rules, and they didn't, you know, have such
Speaker 1: a great time in life.
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Okay, that one sounds safe too, So
Speaker 1: so far, so good. Everything sound in safe?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 1: Two more? The next person said, some people say she's
Speaker 1: so lucky. No, darling, she worked hard, she stayed up late,
Speaker 1: she lost people along the way, she ignored critics, she
Speaker 1: invested in herself, and she wanted to quit countless times,
Speaker 1: but she didn't.
Speaker 2: Absolutely correct. I think no. People look at even they
Speaker 2: think it's easy for me, but they don't know all
Speaker 2: the things have been true. You know. I see it
Speaker 2: a lot now, especially when I do a collection and
Speaker 2: they say, oh my god, but why are you stressing
Speaker 2: out like this? You know you've done so many more,
Speaker 2: you've done so many before, but they don't what goes
Speaker 2: into it. And I think that no one is lucky.
Speaker 2: You have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk,
Speaker 2: but you walk the wall.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I love that. Absolutely, Yes, it's so true. I
Speaker 1: think people can see the output of all the years
Speaker 1: of hard work and think it's just so easy, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And I think, oh, they also think that your privileged,
Speaker 2: Yeah you didn't have to work for it, that's very true,
Speaker 2: moneyed family, or that you had it easy and you
Speaker 2: had everything not knowing the story, you know, they have
Speaker 2: their own narrative.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely, one hundred percent agree with that. And I
Speaker 1: think that, you know, a lot of times, even if
Speaker 1: someone does come from privilege, it still can be difficult
Speaker 1: for them because maybe they're doing something different than that
Speaker 1: privilege that they came from, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So if you came from a privilege of a business,
Speaker 1: but you want to be in fashion, your parents and
Speaker 1: family aren't going to understand that. So you're going to
Speaker 1: have to, you know, work hard and do that on
Speaker 1: your own because the privilege quote unquote you come from
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with what your gift is, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So I yeah, I one hundred
Speaker 1: percent agree with that. Okay, perfect, so far, so good.
Speaker 1: All right, So last one, and I think this one's
Speaker 1: going to be safe too, So I think we're in
Speaker 1: the clear. But the last one, somebody said, there's a
Speaker 1: Japanese legend that says, if you get on the wrong train,
Speaker 1: get off at the nearest station. The longer it takes
Speaker 1: you to get off, the more expensive the return trip
Speaker 1: will be.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: Yes, same, isn't that true?
Speaker 2: I would remember this one. I must remember this one.
Speaker 1: Yes, that one sounds very safe. And I love the
Speaker 1: analogy because it's so true. The longer you take to
Speaker 1: get off, the more expensive the return trip will be.
Speaker 1: That is wow, that's amazing. Yes, so definitely. I think
Speaker 1: that's basically saying, you know, if you have an intuition
Speaker 1: that something doesn't feel right, just leave it alone, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. Don't think about it too much,
Speaker 1: follow your intuition. Especially as women, you have.
Speaker 2: Like, yeah, most of the time you have like a
Speaker 2: gut feeling y. Yes. And I truly believe in energies, Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, And I think as women were gifted with
Speaker 1: that right, having that intuition, and sometimes I feel like
Speaker 1: we always we don't always trust it, and I think
Speaker 1: as women we just have to do better at trusting
Speaker 1: it and being okay with being like, you know what,
Speaker 1: this doesn't feel right, or as we would say in
Speaker 1: this segment, this not son safe all right, So that
Speaker 1: was fun. But now we're going to talk the real things. Mailing.
Speaker 1: Before all of the accolades and the runways and the
Speaker 1: international acclaim, I'm sure there was a young girl in
Speaker 1: Trinidad with a needle and thread and a point of view.
Speaker 1: So if you close your eyes and go back to
Speaker 1: that time, what do you see? What moments or memories
Speaker 1: stitch themselves into the foundation of your creative spirits.
Speaker 2: Well, I see a young girl sitting in her I
Speaker 2: love this question. I see a young girl sitting in
Speaker 2: her mother's sewing room, her mother being one of the
Speaker 2: finest needlewomen of Tronidad and Tobago. And I see this
Speaker 2: young girl sitting in sitting in her mom's room, in
Speaker 2: her sewing room, amidst the wearing of machines, buttons, threads,
Speaker 2: book magazines, and with a needle, all with the scissors
Speaker 2: and peace, trying to dress my dolls and begging my
Speaker 2: ladies to ladies who worked for my mom to show
Speaker 2: to teach me. And then sometimes they never had time,
Speaker 2: so I experimented on my own, you know, Okay, so
Speaker 2: this is what this is where it started. So really
Speaker 2: I knew from the age eleven what I wanted to do.
Speaker 2: I wanted to be a fashion designer.
Speaker 1: I love that. Wow, So you knew that from early on.
Speaker 2: Very early on. I think it was like I think
Speaker 2: my mother's so in rumors, my playground. I think I
Speaker 2: was always maybe it was just innate in me. And
Speaker 2: my mother was very, very very creative and very skilled
Speaker 2: without I mean, she must have had some sort of
Speaker 2: teach I think she learned it on her own because
Speaker 2: I knew a man would arrive with Vogue patterns which
Speaker 2: were quite complicated, and she would just look at the
Speaker 2: design on the cover and then she would just take
Speaker 2: out her scissors and cut her fabrics, you know. And
Speaker 2: she really was an amazing need of woman.
Speaker 1: I love that. What's a beautiful story. And for you,
Speaker 1: what do you think it means for a woman, especially
Speaker 1: in the Caribbean, to claim her path so boldly and
Speaker 1: so young.
Speaker 2: But I also, besides claiming my path so young, I
Speaker 2: think it was great that my mother was, like almost
Speaker 2: all of my father was very academic. He was a mathematician.
Speaker 2: He was a soil research at the university. Before it
Speaker 2: was the University of the West Indies, it was the
Speaker 2: Imperial College of Agriculture, and I was his only child
Speaker 2: my mother by my mother's second marriage. But we had
Speaker 2: lived that one hugh big family, my half sisters and brother.
Speaker 2: But I think my mother was she helped put food
Speaker 2: on the table as well as my dad, you know.
Speaker 2: So she was very an independent businesswoman, you know, an
Speaker 2: entrepreneur in her own rights. And women found her and
Speaker 2: they came to her, and she dressed from you know,
Speaker 2: the woman next daughter, the to the you know, people
Speaker 2: in high in government, to the president's wife or whoever,
Speaker 2: you know, the governor's wife. There was no president then.
Speaker 2: And I was always amazed at you know that the
Speaker 2: respect she got and the work she did, and she
Speaker 2: brought money into the home. You know. It was just
Speaker 2: you know, and she helped, you know, with my education,
Speaker 2: and she also mentored me. I mean, I I was
Speaker 2: it was I always say part of my success not
Speaker 2: creatively from my mother, but the discipline of how I
Speaker 2: approached my work is from my mother and from the
Speaker 2: I was schooled at a convoun from a league, and
Speaker 2: I think the nuns and my parents and still great
Speaker 2: discipline in me, which up to today I think has
Speaker 2: saildy well.
Speaker 1: And it's evidence. I mean, your mother was a revered dressmaker,
Speaker 1: your father a thinker. In what ways do you think
Speaker 1: those two worlds converging in you as a designer, as
Speaker 1: a leader, and as a cultural force, Like, what ways
Speaker 1: do you think that those two worlds kind of connect
Speaker 1: within you?
Speaker 2: I think my mother creatively, my father still in me,
Speaker 2: which which helps me in me creating reading. He was
Speaker 2: a great reader, and you know he loved silence. I
Speaker 2: love silence. My mother was a bobby bar who was
Speaker 2: you know, she was ready to party and my father
Speaker 2: was part Yeah, he was a rather thinker and we
Speaker 2: would spend a lot of time just in silence, reading
Speaker 2: and also by just disciplining me. And I mean he
Speaker 2: adored my mother. I remember they were my mother lived
Speaker 2: till night night and I remember in the eighties they
Speaker 2: would still sit and hold hands and it was a
Speaker 2: lot of love in the family and a lot of
Speaker 2: I think in a way, my mother my father really
Speaker 2: I really had Although my mother was a creative one,
Speaker 2: I had a greater connection to my dad. I think
Speaker 2: it was something I don't know what happened. Well, they
Speaker 2: say father's daughters about fathers, and I was his only child.
Speaker 1: Yes, definitely, definitely, I know that all too well. I'm
Speaker 1: a daddy's girl myself, so definitely. And then I just
Speaker 1: thought about the fact that you went to London. That's correct, right,
Speaker 1: So when London came around, you know, a time and
Speaker 1: a place pulsing with creative energy and I'm sure a
Speaker 1: lot of social change. What did studying fashion in that
Speaker 1: era really like unlock for you as a designer?
Speaker 2: Would you say? Well? First again, coming from an island,
Speaker 2: you know that. And I have to tell you that,
Speaker 2: of course, my father couldn't see how his one and
Speaker 2: only child would make a living studying fashion.
Speaker 1: Right, especially in those days.
Speaker 2: Eh yes, But my mother I think was living very
Speaker 2: curiously through me and was the one who really pushed
Speaker 2: for it to happened. It was a very humble home.
Speaker 2: We didn't have much, but they scripted together whatever. And
Speaker 2: I went to not Odd School, but a school that
Speaker 2: Lucy Cayton School of Design. And I mean I was
Speaker 2: fortunate because imagine I go there in nineteen sixty four
Speaker 2: where it's almost the start of where the mini skirt
Speaker 2: just came in Mary Kwan, the beats potus ready, you know,
Speaker 2: flower children. It was an amazing time in fashion. Is
Speaker 2: when fashion became something. You know, the skills got shorter,
Speaker 2: their eyelashes got longer. There became everything. There are people
Speaker 2: in the streets. The music was the Rolling Stones, the Beatles.
Speaker 2: So it was I mean that for me, was that
Speaker 2: added to what I learned in fashion. I mean it
Speaker 2: showed that you can be anything you wanted to be,
Speaker 2: which was a freedom, a joy in the street. I
Speaker 2: mean London at that time was just amazing. I mean
Speaker 2: the world looked, the creative world looked at London at
Speaker 2: that time. Wow.
Speaker 1: That's amazing.
Speaker 2: Wow. Wow.
Speaker 1: And when I think about the philast of your style, right,
Speaker 1: one of the hallmarks of your work is it's restraint.
Speaker 1: So you've embraced minimalism and monochrome. Monochrome, excuse me in
Speaker 1: a region that's known for a lot of vibrancy. So
Speaker 1: can you talk about how that artistic direction, not just
Speaker 1: esthetically but philosophically, like what you did to create that?
Speaker 2: Well? I think one of the things is that I
Speaker 2: was very I know, I came from a and I
Speaker 2: even wore color in my young in my early days
Speaker 2: now when you were black, but I came Two things
Speaker 2: I think brought me there. Not that people have a
Speaker 2: thing that I were the only design in black and white,
Speaker 2: but I do color as well. Black and white are
Speaker 2: the main things. And I think that the philosophy for
Speaker 2: me was that less is more, that I think that
Speaker 2: you have to learn to edit. Editing in fashion is
Speaker 2: so important. I grew up wearing a uniform for so
Speaker 2: many years in my life, by a white shirt, and
Speaker 2: I always love a uniform up to this day. I
Speaker 2: love a uniform. And probably because I get up in
Speaker 2: the morning and because I have so many I think
Speaker 2: of how I'm dressing so many other women. I just
Speaker 2: want to think, well, which black trousers and which black
Speaker 2: shirt I'm going to wear. It makes it easier for me.
Speaker 2: So I myself upound my signature, my uniform. But I
Speaker 2: just think I just I'm not one for fust. I
Speaker 2: like a pair down lock, a minimal look, and I
Speaker 2: think that speaks much louder than too much. So less
Speaker 2: is more is my tagline. Less is hard, and but
Speaker 2: rarely honing in on the details that I put in
Speaker 2: that black and white. You know, the hand embroidery, they
Speaker 2: all the all the literal buttons that are different, all
Speaker 2: the little nuances, tiny details that make my signative.
Speaker 1: Oh I love that. And it's funny you say that
Speaker 1: because a lots of persons associate black, for example, all
Speaker 1: black with elegance. Right, how do you define elegance and
Speaker 1: what role do you think your culture plays in shaping
Speaker 1: that definition for you?
Speaker 2: Well, my culture, it's difficult to say how my culture
Speaker 2: is cheaped. I think I have sheaped what I believe,
Speaker 2: and I don't think some people don't think about what elegance,
Speaker 2: So elegance my piman elegance is. I don't think a
Speaker 2: lot of people because sometimes elegance, this is my feeling.
Speaker 2: Elegance for me is okay, you wear a beautiful government
Speaker 2: that is beautifully style. Elegance for me comes from within.
Speaker 2: You have to be concident, you have to be a
Speaker 2: self assertive, you have to be some sort of respectability. Mystery.
Speaker 2: Yesterday I set a young woman to my student you
Speaker 2: and she was wearing I mean it was like elevenly morning, beautiful,
Speaker 2: beautiful girl, young girl and model to be who had
Speaker 2: come in from meagements. And she came in wearing lovely
Speaker 2: fitting jeans, lovely trousers, but the tiniest top, tiny stuff.
Speaker 2: And I said to her, which may or may not
Speaker 2: be wrong, and they may think it's an age thing.
Speaker 2: I'm not. And I said her, you know what, young
Speaker 2: I said, young women today have no longer two of
Speaker 2: them have mystery, and I think elegance is mystery. This
Speaker 2: is how I'm connecting. And she said, oh, mystery is what?
Speaker 2: Mystery overrated? They said, mystery overraated? Really, And I said,
Speaker 2: and and it's okay, It's cool if she thinks so,
Speaker 2: and happy, you know, but I think elegance comes from within.
Speaker 2: Elegance comes to that sense of mystery, that sense of
Speaker 2: editing to wear and not just you wearing a fabulous,
Speaker 2: elegant gulment what I have given you some other but
Speaker 2: you the goverment. You wearing the government, and the government
Speaker 2: is not wearing you. To me, that is.
Speaker 1: I love that. And I actually agree with you because
Speaker 1: I think in my generation and the younger generations, I think,
Speaker 1: because we have social media and a lot of women
Speaker 1: are overexposed, I think that the women that do stand
Speaker 1: out are the ones that have an element of mystery.
Speaker 1: So I think that that's definitely a real thing. However,
Speaker 1: I think there is space.
Speaker 2: Do you really think that they are because I understand
Speaker 2: that it's very hard I keep saying, I'm glad I
Speaker 2: didn't grow up in the stage of social media because
Speaker 2: to me, there are few, well not few. There may
Speaker 2: be many, but few I know that are brave enough
Speaker 2: to wear, to step out of that box and not
Speaker 2: be just a clone of the girl next to whose
Speaker 2: not be wearing trends whether they suit you or not.
Speaker 2: Just being confident in choosing what you want to wear
Speaker 2: and how you want to wear it, and not just
Speaker 2: following fashion. To me, style is much more than fashion.
Speaker 2: Fashion is friend but changed every day. But if you
Speaker 2: don't have that style, and to me, that is what
Speaker 2: is what is ellen.
Speaker 1: No, I absolutely agree, but I do think that that's
Speaker 1: something that you either have to witness or it has
Speaker 1: to be instilled with you. For me, I have a
Speaker 1: mom that was always very stylish, so that's what I saw.
Speaker 1: She was a flight attendant for Air Jamaica, so she
Speaker 1: always even though she had a uniform, as you said,
Speaker 1: she always made things her own. So if it was
Speaker 1: a way she tied her scarf, or the way she
Speaker 1: weighed her you know, or her blows, I vividly remember that,
Speaker 1: and I remember the you know bus coming to pick
Speaker 1: her up with all of the flights attendants in tow
Speaker 1: and they all just had their own little style. And
Speaker 1: so that's what I witnessed. And then you know, persons
Speaker 1: like Antinovia very fashionable and putting their own style on things.
Speaker 1: So I think when you're surrounded by women that are stylish,
Speaker 1: you grow up knowing that it means more to have
Speaker 1: a certain style than to say you're wearing a name
Speaker 1: brand or you're exposing yourself, you know. But I do
Speaker 1: leave grace because some people they are only exposed to that,
Speaker 1: you know, to the opposite. So they have to kind
Speaker 1: of come into their own and build their own confidence
Speaker 1: to realize, Wait, I don't have to show my belly
Speaker 1: every time I go out, you know, I can wear
Speaker 1: nice blouse or whatever. But I think it takes time
Speaker 1: to get there if you're not exposed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it takes time to find your own luck exactly.
Speaker 2: It doesn't come at a young age. It may or
Speaker 2: may not come at a young age. I mean I
Speaker 2: took a long time. I mean I think maybe in
Speaker 2: my thirties I changed to just black and it was
Speaker 2: just about me. I woke color and it was just
Speaker 2: about every time I put on something black I've had
Speaker 2: more confidence, and I said, you know what, it's going
Speaker 2: to save me money if I do. Because I buy
Speaker 2: things in color, I do wear them. So it takes
Speaker 2: time to find what will to you what hell style
Speaker 2: will to you colors? So I understand.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, definitely, definitely. But I'm glad you did share
Speaker 1: your thoughts with her as a young lady, because I
Speaker 1: think we're missing that as a generation, you know, the
Speaker 1: older generation kind of sharing their thoughts with us, because
Speaker 1: I think sometimes they're afraid, like, oh, they probably don't
Speaker 1: want to hear what I think. So I do think
Speaker 1: that that's important that you continue to do well.
Speaker 2: That's sometimes like tens. I remember once an intim saying
Speaker 2: someone came in and I probably made a similar comment
Speaker 2: or something, and she said, oh my god, how can
Speaker 2: you just how could you just tell her that? I said, well,
Speaker 2: I'm I'm going to wake and she goes to the
Speaker 2: gun and start saying, oh my god, did you see
Speaker 2: what you are?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 2: Let me tell you. I mean, she doesn't have to
Speaker 2: listen to me, or she can not agree with me,
Speaker 2: but at leasta I've told her she could think about it.
Speaker 1: Yes, I think you did the right thing. I think
Speaker 1: too often we're used to persons doing the latter, you know,
Speaker 1: saying it when you.
Speaker 2: Leave the room.
Speaker 1: But I think it's important because now she really probably
Speaker 1: will think about it. Although she had that response, she'll
Speaker 1: probably say, wait a minute, maybe I could be a
Speaker 1: little different than wear something different. Who knows, you know?
Speaker 1: All right, So, speaking of dressing persons, you've dressed everyone
Speaker 1: from first ladies to creatives. What remains constant regardless of
Speaker 1: you know, like you said with your mom, even their
Speaker 1: status or the era in how you approach dressing somebody.
Speaker 2: I think one that I love when a woman comes in,
Speaker 2: even if she does not I'm dressing her for the
Speaker 2: first time. I listen, I listen. I think it's important
Speaker 2: to listen to what your plan wants. Yeah, and you
Speaker 2: can then buy them, or you can disagree, or you
Speaker 2: can agree. But I think once we've started the process,
Speaker 2: I always say to them, why have you come to me?
Speaker 2: And they will say, oh, because we've so much about you,
Speaker 2: and you know, my friend told me you didn't. And
Speaker 2: I always say, you know, creative works best when they're trusted.
Speaker 2: So I'm not saying that I'm going to dictate what
Speaker 2: you wear. But trust me, you know, and when we
Speaker 2: do our first fitting. At the first fitting, anything can change.
Speaker 2: But trust don't question me around the name, because I
Speaker 2: think when someone questions you throughout, creative gets a little bit.
Speaker 2: It doesn't work well. It's a collaboration. I'm not going
Speaker 2: to say I'm putting you in a red dress and
Speaker 2: you have, of course not. Let's have the discussion, let's
Speaker 2: feel it, and then once you've given trust me, the
Speaker 2: first fitting might be you have to take in the
Speaker 2: sleeve or shorten the skirit, but let's say the second fitting.
Speaker 2: So I think a creative or I don't want I'm designing,
Speaker 2: I'm making, so I don't need you to come and
Speaker 2: tell me what to do or how to do it, right.
Speaker 1: I think, wow, that's so beautifully said. I think a
Speaker 1: lot of creatives listening would be able to agree with that. Myself,
Speaker 1: include you do want to feel trusted because I feel
Speaker 1: like if you don't feel that sense of trust, you
Speaker 1: won't feel like you're a part of what you're creating.
Speaker 1: So I think that's wow, that's really beautifully said.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, even like I sometimes because now
Speaker 2: I'm dressing like third and fourth generation, which is fabulous.
Speaker 2: So these girls come in for like their first communion
Speaker 2: or the confirmation or their graduation, and I say, I
Speaker 2: know when they come to the fitting. I said to
Speaker 2: one this week, I said, she so, I love what
Speaker 2: you're doing for me. And it's so. I mean, she
Speaker 2: sent me all these pictures. I understand, you're like fourteen,
Speaker 2: you've never had a dress made. You don't know that
Speaker 2: you have had this experience. You don't know what to imagine.
Speaker 2: So they come in and she sent me all these notes.
Speaker 2: I took the notes, and at the fitting you could
Speaker 2: see that she was surprised, relieve, ecstatic about the fit
Speaker 2: and everything. And I accept her, which is so funny,
Speaker 2: I said. When you're leaving, I said, you know, you
Speaker 2: tell me everything. Now we could change it. If good short,
Speaker 2: if you want it longer, if you want this, that
Speaker 2: we can do it. I said, Because a lot of
Speaker 2: kids they smile and when they get into the car
Speaker 2: with their mom, then I get the phone is bringing
Speaker 2: off the hook saying oh can you do this? She
Speaker 2: didn't like this, You tell me now, it's okay. I understand.
Speaker 2: It was so funny she got she said, no, I
Speaker 2: love it, And then I heard the door bell, and
Speaker 2: she came back, do you think I should have some
Speaker 2: sort of and then we figured it out for you.
Speaker 2: I understand because young people having it for the first
Speaker 2: first experience, it can be quite daunting, you know, because
Speaker 2: some going into shop or shopping online. But the comment
Speaker 2: to see if I can create what you imagine you
Speaker 2: want to look like on your day is something. It's daunting, absolutely.
Speaker 1: And also just the fact of our culture, right We're
Speaker 1: brought up to not really talk back to adults and
Speaker 1: to question things. So I love that you leave that
Speaker 1: space for them to feel comfortable. Because my mom used
Speaker 1: to get my clothes made for many years, like she
Speaker 1: just had to get them made and took me to
Speaker 1: a dressmaker, and I remember there'd be several times where
Speaker 1: I'd want to say, I don't really like that, but
Speaker 1: I was afraid because I just thought, literally exactly what
Speaker 1: you said. I can so sympathize with that that girl,
Speaker 1: because I just thought, oh my gosh, is that going
Speaker 1: to be rude, like if I say I don't like
Speaker 1: something or so. I love that you all feel comfortable woman, But.
Speaker 2: Most of the women, most of these kids these days,
Speaker 2: have no problem all. I am a guest at how
Speaker 2: they would respond to them mother. My gosh, Remember it's
Speaker 2: a different way of parenting.
Speaker 1: That's true. Yeah, that is true. Yeah, it is a
Speaker 1: lot different.
Speaker 2: So they have discussions and sometimes I'm a bit taken
Speaker 2: back that it's it's a little bit too disrespectful. But
Speaker 2: I listen and I say all the mother would respond.
Speaker 2: But and then sometimes I'm not saying old kids, but
Speaker 2: I'm saying that the kids now have a little bit more.
Speaker 2: I don't think they hold back very much.
Speaker 1: Ah okay, yeah that I could see that. That's true.
Speaker 1: I mean me, even at my big age, I still
Speaker 1: hold back. That's all it was raised. But but yes,
Speaker 1: I do think that kids growing up now or have
Speaker 1: more freedom.
Speaker 2: Day. Yeah, when I had a child, and I think
Speaker 2: that in my time, my mother just had to give
Speaker 2: me the.
Speaker 1: Okay, oh my gosh, I want to see that. Look
Speaker 1: you're set straight. So yes, I one hundred percent agree
Speaker 1: with that. So yeah, So in the Caribbean, where fashion
Speaker 1: has often been seen as aspirational or external, I feel
Speaker 1: as though you've insisted it can be rooted in the Caribbean.
Speaker 1: So what responsibility do you would you say that you feel,
Speaker 1: if any, to continue shifting that perception that you know,
Speaker 1: people need to go abroad in order to be successful.
Speaker 2: H Well, I think it can be rooted in the Caribbean,
Speaker 2: and I will I but sometimes I think the Caribbean
Speaker 2: or the island that we live in, Like I live
Speaker 2: in Trinado to Bago and I have a great clearantele
Speaker 2: in Tornato, Bago. But sometimes it's not enough because with
Speaker 2: social media, with everybody shopping online, okay, people feel that
Speaker 2: they you know, what they bring in, whether it's Sian
Speaker 2: or Timo or any fast fashion, it's better than what
Speaker 2: we do. So I think that a Caribbean designer has
Speaker 2: to find her tribe or find her followers in Tronado
Speaker 2: or in the Caribbean. But there's also a region that
Speaker 2: we can outside. I can shift to Jamaica, Barbados, wherever.
Speaker 2: And also if you want to try outside, maybe I
Speaker 2: know like Diotima, who is Jamaica and she's doing so
Speaker 2: well now in the in the caribb she's Jamaica and
Speaker 2: you may have known her labor. There's Athling Camps who
Speaker 2: is one of my mentees. She's in New York. So
Speaker 2: I think if they're lucky enough to carve a space
Speaker 2: in a foreign country is good, But I don't see
Speaker 2: that it has to be carved in a foreign country.
Speaker 2: If it's because they live there, I totally understand. But
Speaker 2: I think you can carve a space because social media
Speaker 2: has made the world very small. And I do a
Speaker 2: lot of mentoring, and I say to my mentees, you know,
Speaker 2: do not You're not just competing with the Trinadian designer
Speaker 2: who is standing next at your side. You're competing with
Speaker 2: the world because the world has become it has made
Speaker 2: and fashion want you on Instagram. Everything is that your fingertips.
Speaker 2: They're seeing you, they're saying you as a Caribbean designer.
Speaker 2: I think it's good that we can go outside and
Speaker 2: show or export. We all need, you know, money coming
Speaker 2: in from for it. Yes, I think it can be both.
Speaker 2: But I think if you're rooted in your island or
Speaker 2: wherever you live, and that is a source of inspiration
Speaker 2: for you, or you think that's it's easier to manufacture
Speaker 2: in your homeland, I think it can be done here.
Speaker 2: I think or I would love that the world. I mean,
Speaker 2: when you think about it, Japan has an amazing people
Speaker 2: look at japan As and they are my favorite designers,
Speaker 2: like Yogi and Yakki and so. But I think it's
Speaker 2: time now that the world looks at our region. I
Speaker 2: think the Caribbean you will find one designer. There's a
Speaker 2: designer Ferragamo, there's Boteama, there's Grace wale Is born out
Speaker 2: Jamaican too. They're all these that are flying there. You know,
Speaker 2: they're doing so well out of the Caribbean. But I
Speaker 2: think it's time that some light could be shown more
Speaker 2: on the region as a as a fare because a
Speaker 2: lot of people take our inspiration, like they talk your
Speaker 2: colors of Jamaica and they've run with it. You know.
Speaker 2: You see designers from all over using the Caribbean as
Speaker 2: the inspiration asolutely. It's time that we have some sort
Speaker 2: I don't know how it's going to happen. I don't
Speaker 2: know if it's going to happen in my lifetime, but
Speaker 2: I think the Caribbean is so Our culture is so rich.
Speaker 2: If you look at my cousin Landigo, there's carnival festivals,
Speaker 2: there's so many different religions. There's the Muslims, the Hindus,
Speaker 2: you know, oh Risha, there's so much. It's so colorful,
Speaker 2: it's so woven with colors, you know, with everything.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I one hundred percent agree. I think that there's
Speaker 1: a niche market that's missing from the fashion world, and
Speaker 1: like you said, rather than just take from the Caribbean,
Speaker 1: they should definitely be more inclusive of all the talent
Speaker 1: that we have, for sure one percent.
Speaker 2: And I have to thank no because Novia was Nova
Speaker 2: has really been, has really like promoted Caribbean fashion at
Speaker 2: least Jamaican from that. I mean, as I say sometimes
Speaker 2: I say, I feel that I'm more revered in Jamaica.
Speaker 2: Jamaica is the first people who gave me. You know,
Speaker 2: I used to go for Caribbean Fashion Week. I got
Speaker 2: my first award as Caribbean and Design of the Year.
Speaker 2: Novia had me at the Observer. She still does. She
Speaker 2: wears my garments. I think. I always keep saying she's
Speaker 2: the Anna Winter of the Yes.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I say that all the time. She
Speaker 1: must be so tired, and I think even you know, I,
Speaker 1: oh my god, you have avay yes, because I think.
Speaker 2: You know what I think of Novia that Okay, she's
Speaker 2: a Jamaican woman, but she's not insular and she keeps
Speaker 2: up with whatever is hastening. I mean she did fashion
Speaker 2: out in Jamaica. She's always pushing the envelope. In COVID,
Speaker 2: we did a use to the webinars.
Speaker 1: I remember that.
Speaker 2: Yes, she gave us a challenge of being a fast
Speaker 2: on film. You know, she's always on, She's always onto
Speaker 2: something new.
Speaker 1: Yes, she's very innovative. And you know, I really think
Speaker 1: I said this before, but I really think she can
Speaker 1: teach a masterclass in not only being innovative, but really
Speaker 1: being yourself and being able to use that to propel
Speaker 1: just anything that you want in life. Right, because she's
Speaker 1: really changed the landscape of fashion and even like the
Speaker 1: food awards and everything, and especially with women.
Speaker 2: Perfection, and each time she does it better. She doesn't.
Speaker 2: She doesn't settle, as they say.
Speaker 1: Absolutely not, absolutely not. I don't even think that's in
Speaker 1: her vocabulary.
Speaker 2: No, no, no. But she works odd. She works had
Speaker 2: very hard. When you said when you spoke about people
Speaker 2: thinking it's so easy, I know it's not easy. I've
Speaker 2: been in Jamaica where no farm. We would do a
Speaker 2: show or something and we'd be living at eleven or
Speaker 2: we'd have dinner and then she was going back to
Speaker 2: the Observer. But to get a page ready for the
Speaker 2: next one.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, she works very hard, and I think she's
Speaker 1: definitely one of those examples where people will look at
Speaker 1: her and say, oh, she's always so fabulous and you know,
Speaker 1: just think she just frolics around. And no, I'm glad
Speaker 1: you said that, because it's true. You know, she's one
Speaker 1: of the hardest working women that I know, and I
Speaker 1: really feel like she deserves I mean, she gets a
Speaker 1: lot of praise, don't get me wrong, but I think
Speaker 1: she even deserves more than that, because what she's been
Speaker 1: able to do for the fashion world within the Caribbean
Speaker 1: is really unprecedented, and I don't think a lot of
Speaker 1: persons really recognize how valuable that's been, especially within the
Speaker 1: last ten years or so.
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly true.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, I would love to know what you would
Speaker 1: say is your prodest legacy not just what you've created,
Speaker 1: but what you feel you've changed.
Speaker 2: Are two things I always say, I feel, but well,
Speaker 2: this is my legacy or what is well for now?
Speaker 2: I praise myself as being relevant and this is what
Speaker 2: I always want to be. I always want to be relevant.
Speaker 2: That is why I I you know, I surround myself
Speaker 2: with a lot of young, creative creative people. I mentor
Speaker 2: a lot, and although I might sit a younger, there
Speaker 2: there's no mystery. I also want to know what they think,
Speaker 2: what they are reading, what they are listening to, what
Speaker 2: they want where, because I feel that I don't want
Speaker 2: to be stuck at my age. So therefore, if you
Speaker 2: look at my page, you can see and I'm relevant
Speaker 2: or young women still want to be dressed by me.
Speaker 2: A lot of my clans have. As I say, I'm
Speaker 2: now dressing fourth generation. So for me, that is a
Speaker 2: big I'm proud of and always wanted to be relevant
Speaker 2: of what is happening in the world, what is what
Speaker 2: young people? And also I think in some way have
Speaker 2: changed Caribbean fashion. I think that that they've known that
Speaker 2: you can wear natural fibers, that you can wear linens
Speaker 2: and cottons and not only synthetics, that that there are
Speaker 2: people who out there who what can I say? I
Speaker 2: think most of all that I have can I don't
Speaker 2: know how, but I have changed Caribbean fashion in some way.
Speaker 2: However you have that. I also want to be real.
Speaker 2: I also want to be relevant and that also the
Speaker 2: other part of my legacy is that that there's always
Speaker 2: an my my home and my my shop is at
Speaker 2: six Scarlo Street, and my that six Color Street is
Speaker 2: an open door to all creatives, you know, whether you're
Speaker 2: in music, whether you're in fashion, whether you're an artists.
Speaker 2: People all stream through here at some time, you know,
Speaker 2: sometime or they are that carnival. We see so many
Speaker 2: creatives who are visiting that will come through just a
Speaker 2: pass through here to see me past students as I
Speaker 2: see a lot of people that I mentor people in
Speaker 2: the music industry, and then sometimes we would work kind
Speaker 2: of film or dress artists like David Rudders. So I
Speaker 2: always want Color Street to be a hub of creativity,
Speaker 2: a hub of something happen, of young people doing new things,
Speaker 2: you know, and collaboration. The other thing is about collaboration. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I just totally believe in collaboration. And soon I'm going
Speaker 2: to be doing a collaboration which is out of the
Speaker 2: box with fashion with a young designer who I'm very
Speaker 2: young male designer, which is in a genre in a
Speaker 2: style that I'm not read known for. So we're hoping
Speaker 2: to launch it in December. And I always that is
Speaker 2: about pushing the envelope and being relevant. I'm not going
Speaker 2: to just stick in my box. I want to share that.
Speaker 1: See, that's why you and Antinovia get on, because you
Speaker 1: guys are doing the same thing. Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1: So basically your attilie is giving me very much thirty
Speaker 1: one rule Camon Chanel, you know that's that. I love that.
Speaker 2: But it's so funny you should say that because I
Speaker 2: was saying to them that I haven't young and who
Speaker 2: is quite amazing and she's taming because my home is
Speaker 2: filled with a lot of Caribbean art on the walls.
Speaker 2: It's an old gingerbread house, you know, like the houses
Speaker 2: a fret will tag you Sioli, which not had many more.
Speaker 2: But we've said it's in the center of the city,
Speaker 2: but it's a fably. It's like a surprise guardmen, you
Speaker 2: come in, okay. And she has always said that she
Speaker 2: wants a house because I know aufter recently I was
Speaker 2: reading about Chanel's apartment. Yes, and I have a friend
Speaker 2: who visited it, which was exactly and she's turban. Don't
Speaker 2: tell us me how, but she's timen because this house
Speaker 2: is over one hundred years Oh my god. I lived
Speaker 2: in it and we bought it in the seventies and
Speaker 2: we've booked, done it all the time, but that it
Speaker 2: would remain as is that she thinks she's going to
Speaker 2: be the house that she will come back. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's a dream, but it would be one of them
Speaker 2: all A bit stared.
Speaker 1: As yes, because that's that's so I'm like obsessed with Chanel.
Speaker 1: Antonovi knows this. And I went there with my mom
Speaker 1: for a Mother's Day once and they allowed us to
Speaker 1: go up to our apartment like where the stairs are
Speaker 1: and everything, and it was so fabulous just to know, like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, like Gabrielle Chanel really walked on these
Speaker 1: steps and here I am a little Jamaican girl walking
Speaker 1: out the steps, you know. So like that's always my thing,
Speaker 1: but that sounds beautiful, like that could really.
Speaker 2: Be You've always been in, Yeah, have you always been
Speaker 2: interested in? Yes?
Speaker 1: Because of my mom. I just always like my mom
Speaker 1: was the first person I just thought was the most
Speaker 1: beautiful woman ever, like just because she was always dressed
Speaker 1: to the nines. Till this day, I've never seen my
Speaker 1: mom in sneakers or flat shoes. My mom wears heels
Speaker 1: for everything. I'm talking when we go to Rome, when
Speaker 1: we you know, and they say please wear comfortable shoes.
Speaker 1: There's going to be a lot of walking. My mom's
Speaker 1: wearing like three in cheels and I'm going, mom, they
Speaker 1: said comfortable shoes, and she's like, well, these are comfortable
Speaker 1: for me. I'm not comfortable with flat shoes. So that's
Speaker 1: the kind of mom I have. And like you said,
Speaker 1: she's always stylish, like even when we travel and she'll
Speaker 1: pack like a few blouses and a few trousers and
Speaker 1: I'm like, that's it and she makes it look like
Speaker 1: it's off the runway. Meanwhile, yes you should. Okay, So
Speaker 1: this season, I'm allowing persons to ask me one question
Speaker 1: because they don't get to ask me anything. So is
Speaker 1: there anything that you'd like to ask me?
Speaker 2: Well, one of them I asked your passion, and then
Speaker 2: the other one is that you said you're a fan
Speaker 2: of Chanel. That's great, that's great. So what I wanted
Speaker 2: to ask you, so, well, how would you just Okay, great,
Speaker 2: I have a great, okay, great question. Okay, how would
Speaker 2: you describe your style?
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, I love this question. Oh man, huh. I
Speaker 1: would say, hmm my style is elegant mm hmmm, with
Speaker 1: a bit of Caribbean flair. I would say, so, meaning
Speaker 1: I will I don't have to always wear something that's extravagant,
Speaker 1: but I look put together with my own like style
Speaker 1: to it. So for example, yeah, So for example, like
Speaker 1: I will wear a pair of jeans and a white
Speaker 1: blouse and maybe like a really nice, you know, high
Speaker 1: end belt and some you know, very plain not plain
Speaker 1: but not fussy shoes, you know, just like looking put
Speaker 1: together something like that where I'm comfortable. But you know,
Speaker 1: if I meet and a winter and she wants to
Speaker 1: take my photo, I'm ready, you know, you know, you
Speaker 1: never know.
Speaker 2: That's great, That's great, that's great. I love it.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2: Well more color? Are you monochromapic?
Speaker 1: You know what's so funny? As you were talking, I'm saying,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, mailing is explaining my life. So I
Speaker 1: used to love a lot of color, I would say,
Speaker 1: like five to ten years ago. I used to love
Speaker 1: wearing like a yellow or like a green or a purple.
Speaker 1: But I would say within the last five years, I've
Speaker 1: become very monochrome. Like I love you know, the khakis,
Speaker 1: the you know, white but off like you said, yes,
Speaker 1: I'm more of that, and yeah, and don't get me wrong,
Speaker 1: Like you said, every now and then i'll wear something
Speaker 1: with color. I think, out of all the colors, my
Speaker 1: favorite color to wear since I was a little child
Speaker 1: has been red. That's always my color, whether it's like
Speaker 1: a red lipstick or it's a red top. Something about red.
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's just.
Speaker 2: That's so funny. That's so funny. I always have Although
Speaker 2: a lot of my stuff shits are like in black,
Speaker 2: I would have one red, but no I haven't. Oh
Speaker 2: so red is always a color that I would introduce
Speaker 2: into my water in a minimal way like that, like
Speaker 2: bracelets or even maybe a red shoe. Yes, and even
Speaker 2: in my designs, you know my lasts one red line
Speaker 2: running through or one red line of stitching. It's always
Speaker 2: acts on.
Speaker 1: The crazy whoa of all the colors. Right, I need
Speaker 1: to get some mailing because it sounds like my type of.
Speaker 2: Fashion got to my Instagram here.
Speaker 1: Yes, definitely, definitely we'll coordinate that after for sure. Okay,
Speaker 1: so how.
Speaker 2: Long has you How long has your podcast? How long?
Speaker 2: When did you start your podcast?
Speaker 1: I started it in twenty twenty three, so yeah, it's
Speaker 1: only been two years. Yeah, after I graduated, I just
Speaker 1: picked up a mic and decided that I wanted to
Speaker 1: create a safe space for Initially, it started us to
Speaker 1: create a safe space for Caribbean people to come and
Speaker 1: listen to other Caribbean persons, whether they are celebrities or
Speaker 1: just my friends or designers and get inspired because I
Speaker 1: think a lot of times, unfortunately in our culture, a
Speaker 1: lot of what we're known for is maybe like the
Speaker 1: partying or the dancing or the gossiping and things like that.
Speaker 1: And I just wanted to create a space where it's
Speaker 1: fun and it's funny and we laugh, but you leave
Speaker 1: like learning something and feeling good about yourself. So yeah,
Speaker 1: and here I am got me. Thank you? All right?
Speaker 1: So for our last segment, I'm going to ask you
Speaker 1: six rapid fire questions and I want you to answer
Speaker 1: with the first thing that comes to mind. So just
Speaker 1: one word or one sentence, ready, Yes, what would you say?
Speaker 1: Is one item in your wardrobe that you will never
Speaker 1: part with?
Speaker 2: I think? My What's something that I've been wearing forever
Speaker 2: is my Parretti. Parretti is an Italian designer that I
Speaker 2: love and I have been on my neck and a
Speaker 2: pair of diamond earrings that I was given when my
Speaker 2: son was born. I never take them. Oh I love
Speaker 2: my son and my son is well, yes, children, so
Speaker 2: that's yes.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, I love that. Love that. Okay, next question,
Speaker 1: what is your favorite m I was going to ask Caribbean,
Speaker 1: but what's your favorite triny food?
Speaker 2: That's my favorite food? Yeah, ooh, I could say not doubles.
Speaker 1: Okay, that would be the expected answer.
Speaker 2: So yeah, a thing would be a rootie, a mini ROTI.
Speaker 1: Love that, love that. I love ROTI too, all right,
Speaker 1: love that. Okay. What is a book or a film
Speaker 1: that changed your perspective as a designer?
Speaker 2: That's a designer. That's a tough one. I think. I
Speaker 2: think probably going back to reading Coco Chanel's about the
Speaker 2: po biography, I love that that's really changed. I mean
Speaker 2: she was such a I mean.
Speaker 1: She was questionable, yes, yes, for sure, but just how.
Speaker 2: She started her whole life was, you know, growing up
Speaker 2: in like Convun and then hacking these five tissues from
Speaker 2: the fishermen and the trousers. How she was inspired and
Speaker 2: she was obviously a business very crop a business woman,
Speaker 2: but smart, you.
Speaker 1: Know, yes, yes, for sure, I love that. I love
Speaker 1: anything channel, So yeah, her story is definitely something to admire,
Speaker 1: for sure. Okay, a few more questions. What's something people
Speaker 1: misunderstand about fashion in the Caribbean.
Speaker 2: I think I think they feel that fashion has to
Speaker 2: be color because it's coming out of the Caribbean. I
Speaker 2: remember going to Yes, going being taken to the Pratapoti
Speaker 2: many many moons ago, and I was being sent by
Speaker 2: an agency, probably funded by the EU or something, and
Speaker 2: they said, so what are you going to show? And
Speaker 2: I said, well, I'm showing white linen shots with sand
Speaker 2: like sand, oatmeal trousers or oatmeal bottoms. And there was
Speaker 2: another designer going and she was showing like bright back aches,
Speaker 2: and of course they put her in front of me.
Speaker 2: It was okay in the booth, but that was when
Speaker 2: the first I got my first ex order from a
Speaker 2: French woman who had a shopping in Saint Martin, and
Speaker 2: she came and she loved the white linen shirt and
Speaker 2: carried my line and up to the end when she
Speaker 2: went back to Paris from Saint Martin. So I think
Speaker 2: they always think that coming out of the Caribbean, probably
Speaker 2: they think of Carnival. But I never want I know,
Speaker 2: I'm this square, I'm not going on longer than you are.
Speaker 2: I always think that. My My thing is is that
Speaker 2: if someone buys a garment from me, a white shirt,
Speaker 2: either from Trinidad or from a hotel boutique that carried,
Speaker 2: they should be able to carry back to a big
Speaker 2: city and integrate it into their city wardrobe with their suits,
Speaker 2: the blazers or so. So it's not like I went
Speaker 2: to the Hawaiian I'm wearing a Hawaiian shue. My shirt
Speaker 2: could be recognized because of the signature embroidery. But I
Speaker 2: just feel that their perception is that everything coming out
Speaker 2: of the Caribbean, and I understand this colofella coming out
Speaker 2: of Jamaica is red gold, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I think that's that's definitely a good answer
Speaker 1: because I think that a lot of people have a
Speaker 1: perception of just what the Caribbean can produce just based
Speaker 1: on what they see, you know, every day at tourist
Speaker 1: shops and things like that. So yeah, I agree agree
Speaker 1: with that. Okay, two more questions. If you could collaborate
Speaker 1: with any designer, past or present, who would it be.
Speaker 2: There's so many. I think any Japanese, any Japanese designer,
Speaker 2: maybe Ji, I would I would like yeah, I think,
Speaker 2: and I would like I would love to well with
Speaker 2: his life. He doesn't have a line, but someone else
Speaker 2: just because of his prints. His princes were so amazing.
Speaker 2: Only recently I was looking at his book and thinking,
Speaker 2: oh my god, if I had this prince.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: Love that.
Speaker 1: Okay, and final question, when you think about your impact,
Speaker 1: what do you hope a young Caribbean girl sees in
Speaker 1: your story?
Speaker 2: I would want well, I don't know if they'll say it,
Speaker 2: they'll see they will see that fashion you can. You
Speaker 2: can earn a living by with fashion, by being a
Speaker 2: fashion designer. But I would want them to understand that
Speaker 2: it's not as it's not all about glamor, because what
Speaker 2: I see happening now is that young designers if you're
Speaker 2: just getting the likes on Instagram or something, but then
Speaker 2: they cannot delivers. So although I might be known for
Speaker 2: my creative creativity and producing a good garment, if I
Speaker 2: didn't give good service, I would not be here after
Speaker 2: fifty years having this conversation with you. It's not just
Speaker 2: about your talent. It's about how hard you work or
Speaker 2: how smart you work, and how much how you pay
Speaker 2: attention to your clans, how you treat your clans, and
Speaker 2: how you deliver in a timely fashion, because Caribbean people
Speaker 2: are known to being late, and it's so important if
Speaker 2: you can, you can deliver. And I see so many
Speaker 2: of them, and you one as good as your last collection.
Speaker 2: My next collection, I may bombs you on as good
Speaker 2: as your last collection.
Speaker 1: That's true.
Speaker 2: So you don't just believe every every and I always say,
Speaker 2: you don't believe all the accolades you're getting, or you
Speaker 2: don't believe all your friends saying it was fabulous. You know,
Speaker 2: and your sales will tell you if it was, if
Speaker 2: it was done well. But also I always say, consider
Speaker 2: the source of the criticisms or kudos. Yes, that is
Speaker 2: very important.
Speaker 1: Yes, consider the source. Absolutely could not agree with you
Speaker 1: more because everybody's praise and everybody's criticism is not something
Speaker 1: that you should take in. Yeah ex, Okay, well that
Speaker 1: concludes the episode, but I would like to leave you
Speaker 1: with a little thank you if you don't mind. So
Speaker 1: I think that there are artists who are designers who
Speaker 1: follow pass and then there are those who carve them.
Speaker 1: And I believe that you have never simply followed fashion.
Speaker 1: You've refined it, redefined it, and rooted it in something
Speaker 1: far more enduring than fabric. You've rooted it in identity.
Speaker 1: And I think that you've shown us that discipline is
Speaker 1: actually a form of love, that legacy is not built
Speaker 1: by attention but by intention, and perhaps most powerfully, you've
Speaker 1: shown us that Caribbean women can lead a global movement
Speaker 1: without ever leaving her truth behind. And for me to
Speaker 1: witness your story and to hear your story, it is
Speaker 1: to witness what it means to be anchored and to soar.
Speaker 1: So yeah, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: God, you have tears, You have tears coming to my eyes.
Speaker 2: This is so beautiful.
Speaker 1: Don't tell me that I'm a crier.
Speaker 2: I haven't. I have an in turn listening to me
Speaker 2: and listening to this, and she's nodding ahead. Oh God,
Speaker 2: that was really very very sweet. And you must tell Novia,
Speaker 2: don't I Novia listen to your podcast, but you must tell.
Speaker 1: Nob Yes, I will for sure, for sure. No, this
Speaker 1: has been an incredible conversation. It's such a blessing to
Speaker 1: be able to talk to you. Hopefully I get to
Speaker 1: meet you in person one day, but it's I would
Speaker 1: love you, yes for sure. And do you would you
Speaker 1: like to tell the audience where they can follow you
Speaker 1: your website things like that.
Speaker 2: Yes, they Well, if you go onto my Instagram, which
Speaker 2: is mailing Ink Limited, they can follow me there and
Speaker 2: then if they go into the there, they'll also find
Speaker 2: my website. You can also DM me if you need
Speaker 2: if you see something that's not on the website but
Speaker 2: on my page, and that's not how you find me.
Speaker 2: And I'm on TikTok, I don't want to talk with
Speaker 2: my Interne has put me on TikTok how long as well?
Speaker 2: On TikTok three weeks less than a month. As you know,
Speaker 2: on TikTok, I you'll want to talk because I hear
Speaker 2: if I go on TikTok is going down the rabbit,
Speaker 2: Oh my godness. It's something to do. And it's been
Speaker 2: quite subsup I love that.
Speaker 1: I love that