By Alicia Roache, Staff ReporterKERRY-ANN MUNROE is motivated not by where she is, but by where she is going. For this aspiring designer from Tivoli, west Kingston, defying the odds is second nature. Kerry-Ann grew up in a city ghetto, where she witnessed from an early age the kind of creativity that often comes out of struggle.
Her mother was a dressmaker and her grandfather a tailor. It is now Kerry-Ann's turn to harness the creativity which she says runs in her family, for her and her son's welfare, with her Flavour Unit outfits. But Kerry-Ann does not want to remain a dressmaker in the ghetto; she wants to take fashion to the highest level internationally.
"To how mi push miself mi tink seh mi will reach dere," says the 21-year-old designer.
The talent is so ingrained that Kerry-Ann cannot put a date on when she started designing outfits. "From ever since," she says, before explaining that she used to "make dolly clothes" and sew them with her mother. Soon that latent talent was developed with classes in Clothing and Textiles at Tivoli High School and later the Jamaica School of Fashion, where she is currently a student.
Her style, though, is a bit unconventional. Uneven hemlines and raw finishes, along with soft knits and bold colours, are all part of the design aesthetic of her Flavour Unit.
Kerry-Ann starts out like most designers, with a concept of what she wants to do with her clothes. Her methods include painting, spraying, tie-dyeing, embroidery and applique on fabrics. "You just be creative in your own way," she says. "Style come to me like every five minutes."
Kerry has so far appeared on two fashion shows, one at Taylor Hall, UWI, and the other at the West Kingston Jamboree, from which she says she received rave responses. But she wants to take her designs Flavour Unit to a more formal setting and to a wider market, such as that enjoyed by her inspirations, Biggy and Cooyah.
Aware of the challenges that many young designers face, Kerry-Ann is intent on staying focused. "At certain time of the year clothes nuh really sell too much. You have to take your chances; you get up and do what you have to do," she said.
