The Cloth, Brown Sugar for Fashion Caribbean

Trinidadian Robert Young is the founder and principal designer of the Caribbean Brand, “The Cloth Caribbean Company Limited”.
The watchwords for his company include folk, revolution and integration. {{more}}
Community is important to Young. The welfare of his neighbourhood, his country and his world is reflected in the watchwords “restoration” and “integration”. As a result he is extremely involved in support groups and community development. He has been a resource person at the Man to Man project at UWI women research group and MAVAW in 2000, the YMCA for the Mentoring Project 2002-2003.
Young was a delegate of the United To End Racism (UER) group at the UN World Conference Against Racism and other related intolerances held in Durban, South Africa 2001 and has led several men-, young people- and artist-support groups.
In addition to his cultural and community activities, Robert ensures that his clients enjoy showings of his distinctively Caribbean designs at least once a year. Recent regional showings of his work include the Biennial Art Exhibition in the Dominican Republic ‘95 and Jamaica’s Fashion Week 2001, 2003 and 2004.
Young’s has done the costuming and set design for several steel orchestras‚ panorama finals and other presentations. His appliqué has complimented the backdrops and necks of Lydian Singers performances, and the sleeves and chests of performers such as Andre Tanker, David Rudder and Ataklan.

Brown Sugar-St. Kitts

Judith Rawlins grew up in a home where her mother actively worked as a seamstress. Although she never recognised a career in fashion early on, she was trained in sewing techniques and was great at helping clients select styles for various occasions. Perhaps learning sewing was more for self-help, as often Judith’s personal desire for new clothes was too much for her Mom’s hectic schedule.
In 1994, on returning home from college with a bachelor’s degree in architecture, and while working in this field, Judith started a hobby of design and making clothing for a small clientele, and dubbed the line of clothing “Brown Sugar”. By 1996 she owned a downtown boutique carrying Brown Sugar Clothing, and two years later became full-time manager and designer of her own fashion design business.
Brown Sugar Clothing has been featured in St. Kitts Music Festival Magazine and other local media – The Liat Islander, Panache Magazine – and she has participated in shows in Barbados, Antigua, Tortola, St. Maarten, Grenada, Miami, New York and London. On two separate occassions her line was awarded An Outstanding Product Line at the Caribbean Gift and Craft Show of Caribbean Export.
Judith’s next major goal for Brown Sugar is to launch a men’s line during the last quarter of 2004, and for the next year a plan is to impact more people across the Caribbean with the character of her clothing. Afterall, Brown Sugar is, “Not just fashion, it’s an identity.”
Both designers will have fashions on display at Fashion Caribbean, which will take place on Saturday, July 31st at the Campden Park Industrial Estate.