Designers of costumes that were recently worn by revellers as part of the YardMas band are excited about the feedback to their designs.

However, the hard work that was put into creating the pieces does come with a few challenges.

Rox Ann Daley, designer of the Justice League costume for YardMas in this year’s parade, said: “A lot goes into designing a costume. Conceptualisation and creating a visual representation of the designs to completing the physical outfits which are all done by hand. Creativity comes naturally, especially when it’s your passion. It all comes down to what your clients want or are interested in.”

She continued: “It was a bit challenging, being that it was my first year on the road, creating the concepts, then putting together each design, all while trying the make the deadline and meeting the standard of what revellers deserve; it’s a lot of hard work.”

Still Daley shared that the appreciation and love on the faces of those who bought my costumes made it all worth it.

“The amount of pure joy that I felt seeing my dolls on the road was insurmountable. It was truly a great experience just experiencing this year’s carnival with them,” said the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts alum.

Dania Beckford, the mastermind behind the Diamonds costume for YardMas, for her part, spoke of her influences: “This year, Yard Mas Carnival’s theme was ‘The Premiere’ featuring iconic movies that many of us love and watched multiple times… They say, ‘Diamonds are a woman’s best friend,’ so immediately I thought of the song Diamonds are Forever and then I realised it was from the soundtrack of the 1971 James Bond Movie of the same name. So now it wasn’t only about the diamonds, it was old Hollywood glam, which included pearls and small chains. But then, all of summer 2023 I was also loving all the silver from Beyonce’s Renaissance world tour. So, the costume was a twinning of the idea of the movie… and the relevance of the Renaissance tour that had women all over the world feeling ‘cozy’ in their skin, which all embodied the ethos of Broadtail Designs.”

She, started designing Carnival costumes in 2017, hailed co-designer Dr Debi-Ann Newell for including some diamante mesh and glass embellishments to put a little edginess to the softness with angel-type wings to complete the look.

“Carnival is a space to celebrate one’s body and all women should be included, and I keep that at the core of my designs… They know the fit will be good and so it has been a positive journey,” who is a huge advocate of body positivity.

Beckford spoke about the challenges she encountered: “The challenges are some persons call it the ‘fat girl’ design. And, even if they love it, because they are not curvy/full-figured/plus size, they may opt not to choose it. But what it really is, is a confident woman design. And, yes, my designs definitely have more fabric,” she noted.

Nikitha Cornwall (Dream Girls) and Tasha Kay Wilson (Encanto) were the other designers for YardMas this year.

For Xodus, three designers — Jess Campbell, Kris Jackson and Anna Guthrie — worked collectively as Mas Create to produce eight of the 13 costumes for the band. The costumes were Regency, Roaring 20s, Gothic, Hollywood Glam, Hippie, Disco, Cyber Punk, and Art Deco.

The designers said that, while each designer has their own process, they took the best of what we each had to offer from our respective processes and put the elements together for the best results.

The collective indicated that among the challenges were meeting timelines; “however, having the group dynamic helps as we support each other through the process and that makes it easier”, said Jackson.

She told the Jamaica Observer that, “It starts with research and inspiration, taking the themes and conceptualising something tangible that we can mould into a visual representation of the personality of the theme. For example, for Regency we really wanted a regal royal feeling, we wanted revellers to feel like kings and queens on the road.”

“Tapping into creativity is just a part of what we do. It is always there to be accessed, and it is always being renewed by the things around us. The world is full of inspiration,” she ended.

Dancehall artistes from left Pamputtae and Stacious wearing the Diamonds costume for Yard Mas