Craft maker steps forward with crochet sandals
Judith Samuels has been involved in the business of designing and making her own creations, carrying on a legacy started by her father.
Like all her nine siblings, Samuels' childhood was fully surrounded by craft, because her father made items such as cups and bowls from coconut shells. This sparked Samuels' love for the trade. But her father was also a tailor, and her sister was a dressmaker, both of whom influenced her first profession as a fashion designer.
"I used to stand up by the machine and watch him when I was little, and I would watch everything he did. That piqued my interest, and I realised I have an interest in making stuff. I like to use my hands to create things," Samuels said.
So, in 1996, Samuels went to Annie Gee's School of Fashion to become a certified designer, and for 10 years she happily made clothes for her customers. However, the rise in 'fast fashion' caused a drastic decline in the demand of her services.
"I use to do uniform and mek like bush jacket and those stuff, take it abroad and sold it. But after a while, it just was not working out, because sometimes yuh finish a job and you just can't get paid. And cheap [made in] China clothes derailed everything too, because very few people wanted to wait for their clothes to be made when they could just buy it up out of a store," Samuels said. However, she said that she is still a designer at heart and occasionally makes uniforms for relatives and clothing for her mother. Being forced to pivot, Samuels started a crocheting business with her father, mother and siblings, which was a main supplier for vendors in Kingston, Montego Bay and other places.
"First, we use to make tams. Tams was a nice little family business until [others] knock we out with the fake ones," Samuels said. After the demand for tams declined, Samuels' siblings started focusing on their own interests. But she could not give up her love for craft. So in 2006, she got a shop in the Kingston Craft Market. There, she sells items such as souvenirs, paintings and jewellery. But what sets Samuels apart is her handcrafted crocheted slippers which she learnt to make on her own.
"When I got my own place, crochet started tekking off, all crochet fashion show. Suh people come and start asking for crochet sandals, which were not really available, and I decided that since I'm into fashion and crochet, I'm going to see if I can start the sandals business," Samuels said. She used to crochet the patterns and then pay someone to have the leather bottoms made. However, that caused delays in meeting customers' demands, so she learnt to make them herself.
"I went and bought my material, get my sizes, learnt to cut, and so on; and from there it just tek off," Samuels added.
Her clients are mainly females; however, she does sandals for men on request.