A STITCH IN TIME - Janseen Graham shares his passion for fashion

A third time proved the charm for Janseen Graham, who was awarded SAINT International's Avant Garde Designer of the Year title last month, after his prior attempts had failed to claim a first-place finish at the model agency's designer contest.

"I'm proud that I finally did it! I felt extremely happy, as it was an accomplishment I set out to make," said Graham.

His winning entry was titled 'Jamrock Fusion'. The piece featured a kimono stitched with cotton-blend fabrics of a hibiscus print, accentuated with a red-green-gold-and-black border on one side that then opened into a red lame jumpsuit. Graham garnered rapturous applause from the audience at the AC Hotel Kingston that night, and plaudits from the judges too, who collectively tipped him as the victor from the field of 13 designers.

"My concept was to do a two-in-one outfit, with the first look depicting the Jamaica 60 theme, with the hibiscus print that had the Jamaican colours in it, and fuse that with the reggae-coloured print, and then topped it with the red lame -- a fabric widely used in our dancehall culture -- to wow with a transformation into the second look," he explained.

THIRD PLACEMENT

Graham, a seasoned contributor to the Miss Jamaica World annual pageant wardrobes, entered SAINT's Avant Garde competition previously in 2018 and 2019. He placed third for his entry, 'Lady Majestic', in 2018.

A self-taught designer who has been in the profession for almost three decades, Graham said his initial career ambition was to become either an architect or engineer.

"I grew up in a construction family, but fashion designing chose me," he disclosed. "I was a break dancer back in the day and wanted to dress differently than other dancers, so I started out upscaling or revamping my clothes with fashionable pieces from head to toe."

The would-be designer sat behind his mother's sewing machine to experiment.

"I used to practise a lot, although I would break her needles many times, so she wouldn't allow me to use it. She sewed as a hobby, but I was determined to use her machine. When she wasn't around, I used it to practise my skills on a variety of fabrics and blend them. That's how my skillset developed. I started to pull apart all kinds of garments and make them over," he shared of his design beginnings.

Today, Graham is on speed dial for the island's leading stylists, among them Neko 'Bootleg Rocstar' Kelly, Troy Oraine of Tribe Nine Studios, and Ayana Riviere, who all call on him to dress their celebrity clients such as Koffee, Beenie Man, Protoje, Romain Virgo, Lila Ike, Ce'Cile, and Jaz Elise.

As to what he foresees as his next big act, the 55-year-old father to two daughters and three sons said: "I would like to achieve all the endless possibilities as they present themselves to me, plus I would love to showcase my collection at international fashion weeks and become a global brand out of Jamaica.

"I also want to create a legacy for my children to build on. I'm mentoring one of my sons, who is a garment cutter, and he is also doing pretty well at designing menswear."