Alicia Roache, Staff Reporter
A model stands tall in denim from Earl 'Biggy' Turner at a fashion show held at Backyard, Constant Spring Road on Saturday, April 9. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
THE INTERMITTENT whirring of the sewing machine in the background is a constant reminder of his unceasing will to succeed.
Earl 'Biggy' Turner has made up his mind to not be limited by the scope of the local fashion industry and attacks this goal with the determination and persistence of a man who understands that perfection is a moving target. He readily admits that he wants to be the 'master of his trade'. "Is really creativity sell this ting an' what yuh know. And, you haffi be a master of your trade. I'm trying to be," he says.
The potential master is taking the task he has to the next level. Having been a fixture on the local fashion circuit for over a decade, Biggy is determined not to remain fixed. With as many things on his plate as one can imagine, it would seem that he has bitten off more than he can chew. But, Biggy is no novice.
PREPARATIONS
He is currently preparing a collection, which he asserts will be one of his best. "Dis collection for (Caribbean) Fashionweek ago blow weh people," he says. At the same time, he is putting the finishing touches on a presentation for festival. In November, he has a show with noted international designer Jessica Ogden, and he is preparing for a return to the Moda In trade show in Italy in September. Last year, he was first invited to the show as a spectator. This year, he hopes to return with a ready-to-wear collection to be displayed.
"What I really want to do is the Italian Fashion Week thing, which is very big. The Cavalli, the Gucci, the Ralph Lauren, all a di big names," he says. If he has his way, 'Biggy' will be right there with the rest.
But, even though he is a man with 'big' dreams, he is not entirely convinced of his fashion stature. He was shocked in encounter with an Italian reporter at the show. When he introduced himself, he says, as Earl 'Biggy' Turner from Jamaica, the reporter said "Yes, I know.
"Mi turn to the interpreter an sey how she know that, an' the interpreter seh, she nuh know," Biggy said. But, his visit to Italy was not just as a spectator and the surprise turned into focus.
"What I did was visit the production houses in Tuscany and Italy and all these places whe produce. 'Cause true dey used to be big producers in fashion, things get bad and a lot a dem scale down. So yuh have a small businessman with up to 200 machine. Him still can handle certain tings coming from up to 500, 600. So we check dem out, look pon dem capability. Do some samples of di stuff dem and see how well dem can produce it," he said. "What we do, shipping to Africa. Cause di Italian company have stores in Africa and deh ship to Asia. So di web going up now, people can shop, we have we location dere and den dey will do di shipping from dere."
The plan, he says, is to launch the Biggy label worldwide, beginning with stores in Jamaica, Italy and in other countries that have a high concentration of Jamaican or Caribbean people.
"A big scale ting mi a guh fah now. Nuh really boutique. People will get to shop online," Biggy said. However, he is not setting himself a hard and fast deadline. "Mi nuh have nuh time frame enu. Mi just start di work and mi ago move it," he says. "The fashion show whe mi a plan fi November is really fi advertise the whole works."
Not being in a frantic rush does not mean, though, that he is wavering in purpose. And he does feel that he has some catching up to do. "Mi affi fulfill a certain goal. An I think a miss di train somewhere down di line and it tek much more effort fi ketch it back now. So nuh care how much tings to be done, mi still affi get it done. And its really fi get a certain amount a shops going and real designer tings inna di shops. And after that you can start the franchise," he said.
Biggy will also capitalise on the current craze for T-Shirts, with a line to be released soon.
So why now? What is so special about this time in the industry that makes it conducive to expansion? "The time call fi it, so mi affi just throw een all a di work now", he says.
Even locally, people are getting to appreciate the value of a designer's work. "Mi tink it good enuh, because wi people love fashion. Wi love the latest. Wi love the best. So any producer or designer who can present the piece dem with the best and the latest, dem will always have a market. That's one thing sell all the while - good fashion", he says.
And the taste is regardless of cost.
"Nobody nuh talk bout price. Dem just talk bout di piece whe dem want. Is not like if di price high dem nah guh buy it. Dem just waan know seh it one of a kind," Biggy said. "An mi really a go all out. Mi nah slow down".
For years, Biggy has been known as the 'Dancehall Designer' a moniker that he once resisted. And no time more obviously than at Caribbean Fashionweek last year, when he presented a line that combined elements of the dancehall ("skimpy, sexy, kinda X-rated), and haute couture. But having dedicated so many years to fashion and with the current mainstream attention the dancehall genre of music has been getting, it seems a good idea to no longer resist the label.
"Mi nuh have a problem with the branding anymore", Biggy says. "One time mi did a look pon it an seh. 'a wonda wah dis might do to mi career', but then again, knowing what the power of the dancehall is now, it can only be better fi me", Biggy says.
However, instead of limiting his designs to the stereotypical dancehall image, Biggy believes that dancehall fashion is just fashion - any fashion.
"What I'm doing now is to legitimise the slogan that dem seh Biggy is a dancehall designer and put it in a way that the dancehall mean just like high couture fashion," he says. "So dancehall doesn't mean derogatory again, because from yuh seh dancehall fashion you a talk bout high fashion. So movie star want it, everybody want it," he says.
But not 'everybody' wants a part of dancehall right now, not with the current pressure on the deejays to censor their lyrics.
"Is only that alone spoil it enuh", Biggy says in defense of the genre. "Di gun, di violence against certain people. Everyting else bout dancehall is very catchy; people love it," he noted. And he notes that though many would not admit it openly, the pulling power of the music and the fashion is greatly regarded, even in the corporate world.
When Elephant Man was called upon to be the voice and face of Jamaica National's money transfer service, Biggy the 'dancehall designer' was called in. He was called in on the Wayne Marshall Western Union ads, to do Miase for Catch Five and to dress the 'Magnum Girls'. "Quietly dem come fi a piece a di action. Dancehall pulling power is not just about the music. It's about the people who do the fashion, who create the image. Dancehall become a lifestyle," Biggy said.
That lifestyle will go on show if Biggy succeeds in opening a branch of store called 'Danzhall', from a previous line of the same name. The idea of that line would be for the tourists and anyone who wants to take a small piece of the dancehall culture back home with them. "The door open up already, so nobody caan stop it. Yuh just affi guh through it," Biggy said.
But there are many challenges ahead. There are those who, as he says, do not readily respect the culture of the dancehall. There are others who are unwilling to offer a young designer a chance and there are the fashion purists who believe that a 'real' designer must go to design school. Biggy is self-taught. And apparently self-made, so he does not see this as a real issue.
"People sew and can't sew style," he says. "And people don't wear clothes, dem wear style. So if yuh can't sew style and yuh can sew very good a yuh and yuh machine dem alone ago stay deh. The person who guh di school, dem still a come to me an a ask mi bout this and that. Mi seh tell mi the name whe you know it as and mi will tell yuh the name he me know it as. A man nah come a yuh store an seh 'tell mi di name of the stitch on the cuff'. A man a seh 'my youth, gi me a wicked shirt, mi a go a waan big function'. 'Who and who ago deh deh?' 'Jay Z ago deh deh. Micheal Jackson ago deh deh, mi waan everybody look pon mi.' Him nuh waan know nutten else," Biggy said.
Biggy's absence from the spotlight has been obvious. He claims is the sign of a man hard at work. "Everybody have mi as the leader. How mi fi siddung an nah do no work?" he says. And even during his absence from the spotlight, Biggy's presence was felt through the many other designers who seem to be influenced by his design sensibilities.
"If Biggy can get some respect and somebody is doing some good work, mek we give him some respect to. It all come back down to dese youths need help fi tek themselves to the next level, because a fight mi affi fight it fi stay inna it yuh nuh," he says while admitting his attitude as a high achiever.
"If yuh put mi inna sumpen else, mi woulda affi be number one inna it to, or else mi nah guh stay inna it. That a how me stay," Biggy says.
