Renowned Caymanian designer Reba Dilbert has passed away at the age of 71 after a long illness, her son Gary Hendricks-Dominguez confirmed on Wednesday morning.
After her death was announced by Hendricks-Dominguez to his followers on social media, tributes poured in for the local fashion icon, known for her elaborate costumes, creative spirit and unique personal style.
Culture Minister Isaac Rankine told Compass TV the passing of the cultural icon and trendsetter was very sad for the country, and she certainly will be missed.
“All of her contributions to our culture and heritage are so immense, in our [Batabano festivals], in our parades. Reba has contributed so much, not only in Cayman, but other countries she visited,” Rankine said.
A kaleidoscope of colour
Born in West Bay on 15 June 1954, Dilbert was the third of William and Veta Dilbert’s seven children.
She was known for her creative flair during local and international carnivals, gaining national recognition in 1998 for outstanding work in costume design.
In 2011, she was honoured with the Queen’s Certificate and Badge of Honour for her contributions to community service. In 2021, she was named a Member of the Order of the Cayman Islands for her outstanding work in arts and culture.
Dilbert’s creative spirit found a home in Cayman’s carnival culture, designing elaborate hand-crafted costumes since the festival’s inception in 1983. Over the years, her dazzling wearable art graced stages regionally and internationally.
Her designs also gained international recognition including the silver award at the A’Design Award and Competition in Europe in 2021, the Best National Costume at Miss Bikini World (Malta) and Miss Tourism World (Turkey) in 2002, and the Golden Apple Award ‘World’s Best International Fashion Designer’ title in Moscow in 2003. She was awarded first place in the Professional Avant Garde Women’s category at the International Design Awards in Los Angeles in 2008.
‘Mother of Cayman Carnival’
On the passing of Dilbert, the chairperson of Cayman Carnival Batabano, Donna Myrie-Stephen, noted that from East End to West Bay, Caymanians were feeling the loss of our “carnival icon”.
“For 42 years, Reba, the beloved Mother of Cayman Carnival, was not only the spirit behind our costumes – she was the soul of our celebration.”
“As Batabano’s only local costume designer, Reba gave everything she had, often creating extraordinary beauty out of nothing but determination, love for her culture and the fabric of her imagination. When resources ran low, she found ways. When circumstances fell short, she rose higher. Her participation was never conditional – it was unconditional, steadfast and deeply personal.”
Myrie-Stephen noted that May this year was Dilbert’s last parade, designing some 20 costumes for both the junior and adult Batabano. She said those pieces had been designed “with that Caymanian fire and passion seeping through your pores, despite health issues”.
Myrie-Stephen said her legacy stretches far beyond the feathers and sequins.
“It is etched in the hearts of thousands and especially West Bay, her home district. Reba’s work won international acclaim, yet her greatest reward was seeing her costumes light up the streets during Batabano or Honduras carnivals. She carried Batabano to neighbouring shores, proudly representing the Cayman Islands in cultural exchanges that lifted our story onto the global stage,” she said.
With a deep commitment to the carnival culture, Myrie-Stephen said she touched every corner of the community, adding that her memory will live on in every parade, every costume, and every beat of carnival music that echoes through the Seven Mile Beach parade route.
Natalie Urquhart, director of the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, said in a statement on social media that Dilbert’s artistry and vibrancy will certainly be greatly missed, calling her a “passionate advocate for culture and heritage”.
“Cayman has lost a cultural visionary today and our creative light is dimmer for it. Much like her cousin Bendel Hydes, whose work she championed, Ms. Reba was a cultural trailblazer who has helped forge a creative path for fashion and costume design, at home and abroad,” Urquhart said.
“Reba created remarkable costumes which graced many a world stage, drawing on Cayman’s environment and cultural heritage to share Cayman’s unique story. Reba was also an educator who believed in passing on her skills to the next generation of creatives, and it is through her collection and their future work that her legacy will carry forward.”
‘Creativity beyond fabric and thread’
In his touching tribute on social media, Hendricks-Dominguez shared that, from her childhood, his mother had displayed “an irrepressible creative spirit, spending countless hours in her maternal grandmother Maggie’s sewing room, where she first discovered her passion for design and textiles”.
Beyond her artistic accomplishments, Hendricks-Dominguez said Dilbert was a woman of unwavering strength and conviction who understood that “creativity extended beyond fabric and thread.
“It includes the courage to speak truth and champion justice. Never one to shy away from voicing her concerns or viewpoints, she exemplified that a woman’s voice should never be muted or limited.”
Hendricks-Dominguez said, “My mom’s legacy lives on in every sequin that catches the light, every feather that dances in the breeze, and every young person she inspired to pursue their creative dreams.”
He added, “I will take on your voice from here.”
He said he feels tremendously proud of the outpouring of love and messages being shared, encouraging everyone to “take a drink and a dance in her true carnival style”.
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I just heard of Reba Dilbert’s passing. I am saddened to hear the news.
I first met Reba in the early part of 1984, when I led a Costime Design Workshop in which she was a participant and a fledgling designer with a few Batabanos under her belt. I was immediately taken with her absolute confidence in her approach to and belief in the value of the work she was doing, and her equally single-minded mission, as a Caymanian, to discover and deliver a Caymanian carnival (Batabano) design aesthetic for her country.
In the years during which I led the creative half of CNCF, Reba and I became friends and spoke quite often about art and design, culture and heritage, and the projects she was engaged in on and off island.
Like all artists worth the name, whose mission must be followed with honesty of artistic expression, Reba and I did not agree on everything, but we respected each other’s mission – mine, to offer (through CNCF) opportunities for Caymanians to find their own particular cultural and artistic voice and Reba’s, to make hers seen and heard by anyone who cared to listen and not dismiss her. In this, she reminded me of those great Caymanian social, cultural and political activists including, the late Consuelo Ebanks, Dr. Frank McField, J. A Roy Bodden and Lorna Bush – honest, never afraid to challenge narratives they felt antithetical to Caymanian cultural values, heritage, and arts – willing to let anyone, regardless of status, know exactly how they feel. They all had different approaches, but like the others, Reba was not one often for pretty sentiments that masked her true feelings.
Honesty does not always endear one to some. Reba’s often got her into verbal spats.
We have lost someone whose legacy as the Mother of Carnival (Batabano) design, must always be remembered and acknowledged, whose indomitable spirit must inherit every young Caymanian.
Reba, like those mentioned above, visioned a Cayman Islands where their unique cultural voice would continue to matter in actuality, not plaudits. Her memory and the value of her work must not be drowned in the flood of change for change sake.
Thanks for the work, Reba, personally and on behalf of all our artists.
Now, on to Zion for your next assignment. You have wings to design and build.
Fly my friend.