“Our show slated for [7:00 pm this evening, Sunday, February 20] forms part of the Fashion East collective at London Fashion Week. This season we’re presenting a runway show with a collection that contemplates the sun. Delving deep into the relationship that I’ve developed with both clothes and design, having grown up with the sun, as a constant source of inspiration. Here with A/W22 we delve even deeper into the philosophies that have governed our approach to design, pattern-making and deconstruction, presenting a vision that feels easy, sexy and approachable.” — Fashion designer and artist Jawara Alleyne

“I’m currently supported by Fashion East, an incubator programme run by Lulu Kennedy who’s known in the industry for spotting the next big names in fashion,” shares Jawara Alleyne from his home in London.

But who, immediately asks the Style Observer (SO) , is this person who could possibly be hailed as fashion’s next anointed one?

Jawara Alleyne was born in Mandeville, Jamaica, but raised in Hanover by his grandmother along with his cousins whilst his parents commuted between Cayman, New York and Jamaica; a life peculiar to many from the Caribbean. Alleyne then moved to the Cayman Islands for school at 12 years old. After high school in Cayman he studied business at the local community college, “in order to train my eye for business. After that I worked at a bank for a year to save”. His long-term goal however was to move to London. This he did at 19.

Although he had semi-prepared for his move, it was far from smooth sailing. “It was a real difficult experience,” he explains before adding, “But I was very excited by fashion and that passion allowed me to cope with being in this new environment.”

The design seed was planted and nurtured in the land of his birth. “Growing up in Jamaica, I was a very quiet child and was known from pretty much every school I went to both in Jamaica and Cayman for always having a sketchbook where I used to get lost in sketching ideas for garments… My journey really started around the age of 16 in Cayman though, when I competed in my first design competition. I continued to create fashion in Cayman until I moved to London to study at the London College of Fashion,” he says.

He studied Fashion Design and Marketing at London College of Fashion and then completed a master’s in Design from Central Saint Martins (CSM). His main focus, he tells SO, is “developing my own brand. I do work as a tutor teaching design on the MA at CSM; however, most of my time now is spent developing my brand, building the business and working on creative commissions”.

And his inspiration? “I’m really moved by storytelling and culture. I find that the people who motivate me are people who work with telling a bigger story with their work. People like stylist Ib Kamara and the late Virgil Abloh are inspirations because they showed me how you can use fashion to paint a new picture of the beauty you want to see. I’m inspired by the people I’ve met, though; to see anyone who moves through their life with passion as the driving force behind the decisions they make is something I gravitate towards. It’s that place where a job becomes so much more.”

He describes his fashion ethos as personal. “Growing up in Jamaica I never fit in and always used fashion as a way to dream of a place where I could live in my own fantasies. The same for Cayman. I kind of always stuck out like a sore thumb, as I was always pushing the boundaries of what I was expected to wear.

“Growing up in an Anglo-Christian/Rastafarian background with an interest in music movements such as the punk movement, I think, has also given me this unique perspective that’s created a sense of style that’s a little bit chic, a little punk, a little earthy. A good reference is the song Punky Reggae Party by Bob Marley. My style is that place where different worlds, visions and ideas collide.”

Those attracted to his brand, he surmises, are “people who have an interest in new perspectives in fashion. My research at the moment and the work I create are rooted in research on masculinity, but the ideas about what that means have been broken down and reinterpreted. I’m presenting a new idea of what is sustainable and sexy, and I think the person who’s attracted to my work is looking for something new: A new way of playing and expressing their sense of self”.

With A-lister stylists always in search of a certain je ne sais pas there’s little wonder that he’s already dressed a few. When asked, he replies, “The biggest icon was Rihanna for her Dazed cover where I envisioned a couture blunt dress for the star. I’ve also created work for Beyoncé, Azealia Banks, Moses Sumney and FKA Twigs.”

With his models soon to hit the runway, SO reckons there’ll be many more to add to his portfolio.