Following up on last’s week column, fashion careers, this week I wanted to share with you my general response to the commonly asked question, can the Caribbean actually have a thriving fashion industry? It’s one of the most annoying questions I have been asked and I’m hugely uncomfortable with giving an answer. This is simply because people just expect you to go on about how tired and unappealing the designs are, failing to ever realize the real magnitude of effort and the diversity of skill that needs to be present before an industry manifests itself.
It’s not only about the designer but the attitudes and the negative general ideology towards working in fashion in the Caribbean that really overpower the industry’s development. No one ever seems to want to look beneath the surface and at the bigger picture.
While the idea of the Caribbean actually becoming a hub for fashion isn’t impossible, it’s not something I would ever