When you think about Caribbean fashion what styles come to mind? Probably bikinis or bright eccentric pieces or maybe summer wear. But there’s way more to Caribbean fashion than these stereotypes as young designers all over the region are breaking away from the “norm”. Designers are now modernizing their looks, drawing inspiration from the mixture of Caribbean everyday life and urban fashion. One of these designers is 23-year-old Jerell Riley with his Trinidadian brand Wide Awake.
Jerell discovered his love for art around the age of nine and decided from then that he wanted to do something creative with his life. During his time at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, when school was taking its usual toll he did a lot of soul searching and self-reflection. And it’s at that point that he decided he wanted to do something great in Trinidad. He wanted to be a creative, he wanted to be a designer.
Why Wide Awake? What is the inspiration behind the name?
It actually came about when I had to do a final year project for design school in UWI. I was studying Visual Arts with a special in design and I had to do the project for a design course.
I tried to base it on something personal so the name Wide Awake came from me trying to find myself. I kind of connected Wide Awake with fashion and created local stuff and things that are tied to me emotionally in that way. Like the “Boyo & Carla” shirts are from my childhood so stuff like that makes me more self-aware of who I am. So Wide Awake is from a personal place.
How would you describe the brand?
It’s basically everyday wear, like urban wear but more street style. It is inspired by what everyday people would wear so I took the overall inspiration from working people, people I would pass on the street, people walking out of buildings and redesigned it.
What are your signature styles?
I really like to touch on everything, I don’t really like to stick on one thing. It can be anything pertaining to urban fashion. Like if it is urban fashion, I want to touch on it.
But it’s mainly T-shirts. I like to put designs on T-shirts the most like crew necks, tank tops those kind of things. Easy to wear stuff. However, recently I went off into fashion wear to a little more cut and sew stuff.
Who do you cater to/target market?
Younger people 18-30. It’s more for a younger crowd because it’s a bit more expressive.
Do you design and make the clothes yourself?
Design wise, everything is done by me. I do the designing and then send it off to a tailor and they would make it.
So tell me about your House Lime Collection
Aaron Moneer does this fashion show called Island Fashion Week in Trinidad and Tobago and asked me to be a part of it. I started brainstorming ideas, sketching and thinking of ways to make a collection that would stand out.
In Trinidad, we have a lot of house limes so I said alright I will do a house lime collection. I just basically wanted to do more stuff that people could wear to a house lime like summer stuff but more loose fitting clothes. Comfortable clothes that I would see people wear to house limes. That’s where the whole House Lime Collection stemmed from.
What are your biggest achievements since launching the line last year?
I would have to say the Boyo and Carla Shirts. Boyo and Carla is a big thing in Trinidad. Like everybody knows about Boyo and Carla. It is basically a childhood primary school book where children learn to read and do comprehension. That book is part of every Trinidadian’s culture. When I presented that Tee it had a lot of buzz on Twitter. That was my biggest success.
Now that people know what my brand is about I want to make a lot more T-shirts that rep local/ brand T-shirts. That is what I want to push for now.
So what else do you want to do with your brand or as a designer?
One day I want to be designing for soca artistes and even throughout the wider Caribbean. I don’t want to just keep the brand in Trinidad, I want to expand but yet still keep it local. I love Local. I want to push Trinidad and the Caribbean on that street fashion scene. I want the world to pay attention to Trinidad and the Caribbean as an important aspect of street and urban fashion.
You can follow Jerell Riley @wide_awakett to check out his dope designs and see what he has coming next!
