Designers, who is your customer?

There are so many conversations around what we can do to better the state of the fashion industry in Trinidad and Tobago. I spent a lot of time believing that the product had to be improved. It was only at lunch one day with a very experienced person in the field that I even considered that it was not the product, but the market. For years I started to adapt this new perspective to the situation, and finally, with no surprise, I have realised it is not black or white or even grey. There are countless factors that choke the progress of this industry. I of course could never address all in a blog post, but I'll start with a major one for me; target markets.

(Please note that I am merely an observer and this is my opinion.)

I'll try to be concise. We can discuss each point in detail later.

1. Fashion itself is multifaceted and we look at it here as all in the same
Every Tom, Dick and Harrylal calls himself a designer in Trinidad. You know to sew and your cousin bought a bridesmaid dress from you? You are a designer. You went to CAFD and graduated. You are a designer. Yes, if you have designed clothing and have sold your work, technically you are a professional fashion designer. However, we need to put these works into categories. Someone whose idea of manipulating fabric is to apply puff paints and safety pins, is not in the same category as someone who knits works of art that are visually stimulating as well as flattering to a human form.
Essentially there is Haute Couture, Ready to wear and Mass Market. I think it needs to firstly be made clear, what category your work fits into, and that you stick to the guidelines of your classification. Trinidadians need structure. The workings of fashion are still too ad hoc.

2. I believe it is important to build this structure for the customers.
Luxury fashion is not a necessity. So please get over yourselves. Nobody absolutely has to have that jacket. They want it. It is a lust thing. People need clothes, not fashion.
Who buys out of want, and not need? Rich people. Are you targeting rich people?
Rich people (and I apologise for using such a broad and somewhat crass term but it gets through) can hop on a plane and shop anywhere. What are you doing to compete with the appeal of brands that they see expertly advertised in glossy magazines? What are doing to compete with flashy window displays and impeccable craftsmanship? How does your name stand up to the names that they want to show off? If you had a logo printed shoe, who would want to wear it? These are not rhetorical questions by the way. I really want designers here to consider this reality.

Trinidad has money. There are wealthy shoppers in Trinidad. However, if every existing luxury designer in Trinidad were to target this group, they would all be poor. Actually on that note, if you entered a fashion business in Trinidad to become a Millionaire, stop reading now and do up a CV. Fashion in Trinidad will not make you money, yet.

 Firstly, consider that people have tastes. If there are 10 wealthy luxury shoppers, 6 are probably willing to shop local, and out of 6, 2 might have a taste for your clothes. I am also being very generous with these figures. You literally see the same people wearing the big local names. THE SAME PEOPLE over and over.


3.Easy Targets

So with our limited wealthy shoppers, we now target the ones who aspire for that lifestyle but are a bit more upper-middle class.These still shop big designer names, but pay attention to what they are buying. This is a good group to target. Trinidadians like to show off. This particular group is wearing Louis Vuitton and Hermes too, but unlike the wealthy shoppers, they want you to know that they can buy these brands! You ever realised that the richest people walk around looking super normal in old t-shirts and 3/4 pants? The less than wealthy ones are those in flashy sunglasses, posting Facebook pictures of themselves popping Moet on a yacht. That's why I love them. Easy targets.

They are so identifiable. They wear their brands on their sleeves. Look out for rhinestone logos everywhere. They will be wearing Christian Louboutin because the red sole is immediately recognizable. They will be in Chanel quilted bags and hash-tagging MAC lipstick shades. Interesting is how they shop. Sunglasses, shoes, bags. These are classic and timeless accessories that will never go out of style. Things that you can wear over and over for years. I bet you they will never be found in a psychedelic printed Marc Jacobs Tee.

Ugh, I'm straying. My point is, that we are not designing for this group, and they are the ones who will buy you if you market yourself well enough and build a name! Rhion Romany I believe is branding himself quite well. People are starting to associate the brand with money. "OMG She is wearing RR? I need RR!" You want people to feel proud to say who they are wearing because they won't have to explain who it is or how much it costs. People will know and they will covet. This customer is great because they are your brand ambassadors and they are paying you! They will be you social media marketers for free!

4. Money is not only Luxury
When your tanty and Nenen hear you are designing they immediately say "Oh Goush.When you are a big designer we goh see yuh ting on the Red Carpet!"
MMM....Not necessarily. We definitely tend to get carried away with the glitz and glamour of this industry, but do not forget names like GAP, Levi's and Old Navy. I don't think the owners of these companies' owners are eating Ramen or living in a studio apartment. The magic is in volume. Have you ever passed through the Eastern Main road in Tunapuna, any day of the week and observed what is happening? People like frigging ants! Shopping all day! Rattans  is reaping the glory. Every classification in fashion has its market. People don't only shop because they have money. "Price is right" style shopping is enormous in our culture. These people who are budgeting to feed their families and buy school books, have the fanciest nails, longest weaves and trendiest clothes known to man! Everyone wants the thrill of buying something new! They may not be splurging on a big fancy Italian brand, but they are buying anything that fits their pocket!
If you can produce inexpensively, something fashionable, wearable and stretchy (hey, elastic is God's gift to the mass market! No fitting issues! One size fits all! SELL SELL SELL!) consider this group for your business.

What we are doing is silly. If I walked into a store and saw Forever 21 rompers hanging next to Alexander Wang and then a Valentino rep in the corner ready to take my measurements, I would be most perturbed, but we do it here! We put Aisling Camps on the same Runway with Sally Lochan Dass and children who are entering design competitions. How is that not nuts? I know it's hard with the budget, and our favourite excuse, the government, but there must be a better way. The customers do not give a fuck what your challenges are. It is not charity. It is not about supporting local, it is about shopping local because you like the product not the "Made in" tag. Produce quality and produce appeal. That is all.

My Choices for The Best Fashion Designers in Trinidad and Tobago

2014 has been a big year for Trinidad fashion, with all the shows and pop up markets and the opening of NoMoreFashionVictims.com which acts as a platform for these brands to reach customers around the world. I have noticed some amazing work that needs to be celebrated! I grouped my personal favourites as nominees for the best that the Trinidad and Tobago fashion industry has given us this year. Honestly, in some of these categories, I can't narrow it any further, so please vote for your favourites in the comments to help me decide!

Best Signature Design: 

Some designers have become recognised by a single piece

Adrian Foster's Long Wrap Skirt

Meiling's Kite

Christian Boucaud's belt

Most impressive Debut: 

With their work bubbling on the fashion scene surface since 2013, theses designers have blown us away without warning, with innovative design work and covetous pieces with massive commercial appeal. 

Aisling Camps

Zidelle Daniel

Charu Lochan Dass

Best fine Jewellery Designer

Micha Gomes

Janice Derrick

Ilmes

Best Fashion Brand 

These labels cater to a lifestyle. It's easy to become brand loyal with them when they dress you beautifully for work, play and days-off.

Sew Lisa

Meiling

J. Angelique

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Caribbean Resort Style Week

This has been a hectic but fabulous month of November so far; the unofficial fashion month of Trinidad and Tobago! Every night I'm at events, and every day I'm meeting with designers and brands to retail on nomorefashionvictims.com (Shameless plug.)

This whirlwind month of fashion shows, product launches and Christmas markets was kicked off last weekend with the annual Bits and Pieces Christmas pop-up on Saturday and the Resort Style Week Port of Spain Show on Sunday at the Trinidad Country Club. The show lineup was impressive with big names like Meiling, Zadd and Eastman, Claudia Pegus and Millhouse to name a few. It was expected to be the fashion event of the year.

I can't get too lengthy and I don't want to go one reviewing each designer. There's another show in a couple hours and I need to hustle if I want to make it! So, here's the gist of it, and how I feel.

I'm always going on and on about the Caribbean aesthetic, and by now even I am sick of hearing about it. This show though, was a clear indicator of what Trinidadian designers think of the way Caribbean people dress or should dress.

The Good: The strongest designers to me are Meiling, Zidelle Daniel for XOZ, Adrian Foster, Charu Lochan Dass for CLD,  The Cloth, Aisling Camps and Zadd and Eastman.  Meiling, Aisling, CLD, Adrian and Zidelle all have something in common. Their aesthetic is clean, easy to wear, architectural, well-constructed and classic yet with special and surprising elements. They shy away from colour, which with the stigma of Carnival and our fusion of vibrant cultures, is a deviation from what some may perceive as a signature detail in the "Caribbean Aesthetic". Yet, they insert into their collections subtle and unexpected moments of chromatic hues here and there.

 

 (left)Chartreuse ribbon belted over Meiling's a denim and gingham patterned look
from Meiling's "Borrowed from the Boys" Collection 

On a mostly monochromatic collection, Zidelle incorporated this multicolor beaded bodice. Yes! Those are beads!

 The Cloth and Zadd and Eastman are very different from that first group. They embrace the conventional island inspiration of vivid flora and kaleidoscopic cultural influences. Yet, they maintain very sophisticated style lines and thoughtful design. While I am very drawn to the boxy silhouettes and woven cottons of the others, I am still enchanted by the flowy ease of Zadd and Eastman's collection, and the almost jarring juxtaposition of prints from The Cloth.

Somewhere between these two groups is that "Caribbean Aesthetic". 

My favourite look from Zadd and Eastman

The Cloth

The Bad: While some designers showed styles that would be fitting over a swimsuit (it was a Resort show after all) I feel there is still a disconnection between Runway fashion and Real Women. Everything is gorgeous when it blowing in the breeze and taped down strategically on a tall, slender girl with professional hair and make-up, but not so much on 5 foot tall me after eating some crab and dumpling at Pigeon Point. I urge the designers who like this style, to do more than just stitch triangles of fabric at the corners and call it a dress. Design is more than just what looks pretty. Get creative and try some manipulations of your pattern. Add an interesting detail or technique. Stop giving us the same old.

 The Ugly: I was shocked to see certain pieces on that runway, let me tell you. I won't call any names or post any pictures because people are sensitive. I never mean to embarrass or insult anyone but some things have to be said. Puff paints and glitter glue do not belong on any runway anywhere except for Project Runway's Threads which features little children getting creative with crafts and clothes. Zidelle Daniel made feathers out of fabric and cleverly layered them over one another on a casual crop top and hand stitched them into place. If she can invest so much thought, effort and creativity into a basic piece, how dare you squirt colourful glue onto silk like if this is kindergarten? You are spoiling good and expensive fabric. Not acceptable. You can do better than that. Also, I saw a "Sari" with a deeya painted on it. A sari is a piece of cloth wrapped. draped and tucked around a body. That is your design? A piece of cloth that people have been wearing since clothing was invented? This is what you do to make it modern? You draw a deeya on it? It baffles me that this particular collection was shown on the same platform as the greats. Fabric surface treatments have long been a Caribbean thing, but there must be some way more current, sophisticated and beautiful than drawing and painting pictures like if people want to be murals. If it looks like it belongs in a gift shop in Piarco, start over. I know not even you want to wear that.

Zidelle's Beautiful Fabric Feathers

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