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I dont idealise my youth but one thing as a kid that was in Jamaica that was superior to the planet was the local tailor who would produce unique clothes for the individual. they were not appricated.
Below is a story of where thsi could have been had we taken our skills seriously.. I note a comment in this peice that I think reflected our society... The fatehr not wanting the son to be a tailor.. Still the lad went onto be an artist and make good. Pants lengtht was all the rage to be sent from forgien.. and Jamaicans added value...
This is the creative energy that I know that is jamaican...
I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did
from the Gleaner::::
Confident and neatly dressed, male clothing designer Dexter Huxtable takes a seat in a metal folding chair. The laid-back 46-year-old has always striven to achieve a clean finish to his designs. And looking around at his pieces in his intimate store, Spokes Apparel, on Hope road, he has achieved that.
Huxtable has always been drawn to fashion. As a teenager in May Pen, Clarendon, where he grew up, he was seen as trendy. "We were classified as country boys but we were still fashionable down there," he reminisced with a laugh. He recalls always wanting to stand out when it came to his clothes, not in a ridiculous way, he emphasised, but in a unique way.
To satisfy his need for clean-cut, well designed garments, he relied on the craftsmanship at his father's tailor shop and of course his own sketched designs.
Although his father was a master tailor and his mother a seamstress, Huxtable's father wanted him to escape the stigma often attached to tradesmen of the day- as individuals who worked for years at their craft, gaining very little financial benefit.
"I was good at drawing and he wanted me to pursue being an artist," he said.
So off he went to the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts for four years to do sculptures and painting.
Once again his garments got him noticed. So much so he took orders from fellow students, sketching the designs while the workers in his father's shop sewed them.
"The guys wanted to get what I was wearing so when I went home on the weekends I pretty much had them in my father's shop doing my work," he recalls. "My dad found out and got mad because when his work was supposed to be done, I had them doing my stuff, I just gave them some extra on the side."
His father quickly realised this was his son's calling.
His father told him : "You know what, if you're spending so much time doing this you probably need to start taking it seriously."
England
Huxtable saved and purchased his first plane ticket to England where he lived for six months, doing alterations and soaking up the culture and trends. That began a serious introduction into fashion refining his craft living between Jamaica, England and the United States. At one point he established his own boutique in Atlanta, Georgia. Then he started working with H Stockton of Atlanta, a high-end distributor of male designer clothing (in Atlanta). They had customers like PGA golfers, basketball team owners, and media mogul professional Ted Turner. This he said involved re-cutting and sewing designer suits to fit high-end customers.
But he longed to explore his rock solid vision and thought it time to once again give Jamaica a try. "Honestly I felt like a rolling stone," he said. He had a vision of creating quality designs based on his ideas.
Huxtable has been back in Jamaica for five years taking his time to establish his line.
With fine detailing being his hallmark, the store located inside Treasure House at 96 Hope Road in St Andrew, is run with the help of his two daughters and wife.
He said they chose to keep a low profile until now, ensuring they got the right location and being able to operate at their optimum. They have designed for performers like Ritchie Stephens, Toots Hibbert, DJ Nicholas and professionals Churchill Neita and Bobby Chin.
Huxtable hopes to make an impact on the style of Jamaican men by making them know that we have enough style in Jamaica we don't have to look abroad to establish what is trendy.
One of their innovative marketing tools to keep customers coming back even in a recession, is by providing a flat rate per suit for a groom and groomsmen. A groom will even have the option of changing a silk lapel to a normal lapel so he can wear his suit after the wedding. Huxtable will even style the men's clothing on the wedding day.
Huxtable believes that tailors do not need to be a dying breed. The importation of cheap ready-made items made the market hard for seamstresses and tailors in the 1980s, forcing many out of the business. "Decide to do quality stuff. Be unique and make sure you have a clean finish," he advises.
Below is a story of where thsi could have been had we taken our skills seriously.. I note a comment in this peice that I think reflected our society... The fatehr not wanting the son to be a tailor.. Still the lad went onto be an artist and make good. Pants lengtht was all the rage to be sent from forgien.. and Jamaicans added value...
This is the creative energy that I know that is jamaican...
I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did
from the Gleaner::::
Confident and neatly dressed, male clothing designer Dexter Huxtable takes a seat in a metal folding chair. The laid-back 46-year-old has always striven to achieve a clean finish to his designs. And looking around at his pieces in his intimate store, Spokes Apparel, on Hope road, he has achieved that.
Huxtable has always been drawn to fashion. As a teenager in May Pen, Clarendon, where he grew up, he was seen as trendy. "We were classified as country boys but we were still fashionable down there," he reminisced with a laugh. He recalls always wanting to stand out when it came to his clothes, not in a ridiculous way, he emphasised, but in a unique way.
To satisfy his need for clean-cut, well designed garments, he relied on the craftsmanship at his father's tailor shop and of course his own sketched designs.
Although his father was a master tailor and his mother a seamstress, Huxtable's father wanted him to escape the stigma often attached to tradesmen of the day- as individuals who worked for years at their craft, gaining very little financial benefit.
"I was good at drawing and he wanted me to pursue being an artist," he said.
So off he went to the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts for four years to do sculptures and painting.
Once again his garments got him noticed. So much so he took orders from fellow students, sketching the designs while the workers in his father's shop sewed them.
"The guys wanted to get what I was wearing so when I went home on the weekends I pretty much had them in my father's shop doing my work," he recalls. "My dad found out and got mad because when his work was supposed to be done, I had them doing my stuff, I just gave them some extra on the side."
His father quickly realised this was his son's calling.
His father told him : "You know what, if you're spending so much time doing this you probably need to start taking it seriously."
England
Huxtable saved and purchased his first plane ticket to England where he lived for six months, doing alterations and soaking up the culture and trends. That began a serious introduction into fashion refining his craft living between Jamaica, England and the United States. At one point he established his own boutique in Atlanta, Georgia. Then he started working with H Stockton of Atlanta, a high-end distributor of male designer clothing (in Atlanta). They had customers like PGA golfers, basketball team owners, and media mogul professional Ted Turner. This he said involved re-cutting and sewing designer suits to fit high-end customers.
But he longed to explore his rock solid vision and thought it time to once again give Jamaica a try. "Honestly I felt like a rolling stone," he said. He had a vision of creating quality designs based on his ideas.
Huxtable has been back in Jamaica for five years taking his time to establish his line.
With fine detailing being his hallmark, the store located inside Treasure House at 96 Hope Road in St Andrew, is run with the help of his two daughters and wife.
He said they chose to keep a low profile until now, ensuring they got the right location and being able to operate at their optimum. They have designed for performers like Ritchie Stephens, Toots Hibbert, DJ Nicholas and professionals Churchill Neita and Bobby Chin.
Huxtable hopes to make an impact on the style of Jamaican men by making them know that we have enough style in Jamaica we don't have to look abroad to establish what is trendy.
One of their innovative marketing tools to keep customers coming back even in a recession, is by providing a flat rate per suit for a groom and groomsmen. A groom will even have the option of changing a silk lapel to a normal lapel so he can wear his suit after the wedding. Huxtable will even style the men's clothing on the wedding day.
Huxtable believes that tailors do not need to be a dying breed. The importation of cheap ready-made items made the market hard for seamstresses and tailors in the 1980s, forcing many out of the business. "Decide to do quality stuff. Be unique and make sure you have a clean finish," he advises.
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