London-based fashion designer Jawara Alleyne has unveiled his most ‘authentic’ collection yet, ‘Island Underground’, at the SS25 London Fashion Week show, highlighting Caymanian identity, heritage and culture.
It’s the Caymanian designer’s third collection to hit the bi-annual runway event, which is held in February and September and attracts some of the biggest names in the fashion industry, including Bottega Veneta, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Ferragamo, Prada, and Gucci.
His previous showcases were ‘Beach Business SS24,’ and ‘Eye of the Storm FW24’.
“It’s always a huge feat to pull off a show at fashion week… there’s so many overheads, so many moving parts … I’m very pleased, but also all of the partners involved I think really enriched what that show represents for me,” Alleyne told the Cayman Compass.
“Having the Cayman Islands behind the collection, and also behind the show…I think it is a testament to the value of the work I’m creating, so yeah, I’m really pleased with how the show turned out.”
During this month’s show in London, Alleyne displayed an eclectic mix of colours, hues, creative textures and patterns, abstract fabrics and eye-catching accessories on the runway.
Culture and storytelling
“Island Underground is a language of the way that I think about fashion and approach fashion. Coming from the Cayman Islands and starting my journey in fashion through cultural institutions like Cayman National Cultural Foundation … gave me a point of appreciation when it comes to how I think about fashion and how I can use fashion as a tool for cultural improvement and cultural development, so Island Underground was a stamp on a genre, a point of view of fashion, that I think has not really existed before.
Noting there are many artists coming from Caribbean backgrounds, he said “that creates a sense of value that I think a lot of people can relate to, and I think I really wanted to take inspiration from the islands in a way that feels really authentic to me.
“It’s not really about being nostalgic … or romanticising the culture, but really using the elements of our culture and fusing that with something that’s kind of future facing … I think a lot of other artists are pulling on that same thread, so Island Underground was like the boiling up of that language,” Alleyne said.
His SS25 ready-to-wear collection featured Caymanian touches of music, movement, draping, knotting and fabrication, encapsulating a make-believe story of a shipwreck with the models surviving that crash.
He refers to this idea as a “metaphor” of what appears to be happening within Caymanian culture and heritage now, calling it “the explosion of development and holding on to something from the past and taking that into the future.”
Alleyne said his collection was inspired by Caymanian graphics and colours. “So many layers within the collection [points to] Caymanian identity and the way we treat materials and use materials,” he explained, adding, it was going to be “really exciting” when he exhibits pieces from all of his collections at the National Gallery in November.
Daring to always be different, much of Alleyne’s looks reflected creative Caymanians who have inspired him to find his own ways of doing things.
A deep dive in artistry
Alleyne said he was “very intentional” about curating the show with elements and moving parts that “lead back to something that is quite personal to me,” including steel pan music, and the dialogue leading up to the show.
This time around, Alleyne said he “delved deeper into the artistry”.
“[W]hat was really exciting about this show is that it was an art installation that had a runway as the centrepiece … Working within the space a week prior to create the works, backdrop, the looks, working with the models … I think that there’s something quite unique about the way that I’m approaching and creating fashion that is the process of art. It is painting these garments onto the body.”
Alleyne stressed the importance of being a window into what it means to be Caymanian.
“There are a lot of ways that Caymanian identity, and culture and ethics and graphic languages, were used within the collection, so I think that this collection is a capsule in time in how I see Caymanian identity, and also the Caymanian point of view in arts.”
Making waves in fashion
Along with curating a runway show during London Fashion Week, and receiving numerous accolades, from being dubbed a “cutting edge” designer by Vogue Runway, to being declared a “new favourite designer” by international fashion mogul Rihanna, Alleyne has been nominated for an emerging designer award for The Fashion Awards 2024.
The ‘New Establishment Womenswear’ award, “recognises womenswear designers who have created a new movement in British fashion and have a sustained impact on the industry globally. Designers are chosen for their impressive showcasing of their collections, business growth, their prevalence on the red carpet and the international headlines driven by their collection,” the website noted.
The awards show will be held on 2 Dec. at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
For his third collection, Vogue Runway noted, “Alleyne’s levelheadedness can be, at least in part, chalked up to the fact he’s been in the game for a while now, having spent the best part of a decade as one of London fashion’s greatest secrets … What a pleasure it was, then, to see him decide to go out on his own: From his first show two years ago, held in a Whitechapel church, it’s been clear that Alleyne has that special something.”
For Alleyne, he said he’s “definitely grown from the last season”.
“This season was bigger than last season, there were more people involved, more deliverables. I think I’ve definitely grown by way of becoming more confident in the work that I do, but also by becoming more confident with the clarity of what I’m trying to present.”
‘Remarkable journey’
Natalie Urquhart, CEO of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation, who attended the latest show, told the Compass, “Having followed Jawara’s journey to his Island Underground collection it was remarkable to see this come to life at his show … It blended Caymanian upcycling traditions with elements drawn from our maritime history and our contemporary experience as islanders to create something truly unique.”
As for the upcoming exhibition of Alleyne’s work at the National Gallery, Urquhart said, “We are really excited to bring elements from this, and previous, collections, as well as his artwork, to Cayman in November and to share his creativity with the entire community.”
Alleyne said it would be the first time that he would get a space at the gallery to “really focus in on the process within the collection and how I am infusing all these narratives, and different ways of approaching fashion, and giving back to culture. This would definitely be the first I think of many new and alternative ways of presenting the work I’m doing. With runway, you read it in one way, but the collection needs to be expressed in so many different ways, so it’s really going to be a great way of allowing people to engage with the work … that it isn’t just a 10-minute runway [show].”
He added, “There’s so many ways that I think fashion needs to be communicated and you always go for runway because that’s the most easy and accessible and the one people can relate to, but … doing this exhibition is exciting because it allows for all the different elements within making the works and design to be seen.”
Going forward, Alleyne said the goal is to “exist more in culture”.
“To do a lot more cultural programming within Cayman, with anticipation of what else I can bring back to the islands – use fashion to create moments within the space of culture that actually gives back and adds value to the space and brings people into the conversation. It’s not just a presentation of my work but sharing of knowledge and skills.”
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