Jawara Alleyne, known for his punk and deconstructed aesthetic, explored the bittersweet feeling after carnival or party ends – known as tabanca in Trinidad and Tobago dialect – for his spring show.
“It’s looking back at a memory with a sense of nostalgia — a sadness that it ended, a joy that it happened, and looking towards the future,” the London-based, Jamaican-born designer explained.
Building on his signature cutouts and layering, Alleyne conveyed those emotions through the collection’s palette, stark black and white livened up with neon pink, green and orange.
“When you look back at a memory, it’s not quite clear, but you can feel it. One of the ways that I wanted to translate that is looking at the color and how, in some ways, it feels really vivid,” Alleyne said.
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He also drew inspiration from clothes worn at Notting Hill Carnival, a celebration of Caribbean culture held ever August in London. That came through in the airy dresses, shirts, and miniskirts, which were filled with movement thanks to the layers of strings attached.
Alleyne also built on his collaboration with Converse, which began at carnival earlier this year, with models wearing fun high tops featuring a pointed toe.
Amid dark times and very commercial runways, the label brings a wacky, free-spirited feeling to the runway that’s refreshing to see.