This fashion designers spotlight belongs to a package celebrating Caribbean Heritage Month. Throughout June, we will be honoring the powerful creativity, ambition, and heart of Caribbean culture by spotlighting those of Caribbean descent inspiring and impacting popular culture in their home countries, the United States, and beyond, as well as exploring untold stories in hopes of uplifting the voices of the Caribbean community. The Caribbean is not just a tourist destination — it is a region, a people, and an identity rich in history and spirit.
The Caribbean is a mix of everything: Languages, music, cuisines, people. The region's diversity manifests itself in just about everything that comes from or is influenced by it. Don't let the tourist board-sponsored commercials fool you: There's a lot more to the islands than beaches and smiling locals. The Caribbean has been the site of history for the past 500 years, a microcosm of the world. War, freedom, rebellion, piracy — the islands have seen it all. Though Caribbean people don't all share the same languages, foods, or backgrounds, they are connected through a shared history and cultural undercurrent that could only exist in a region so easily navigated by so many people. Caribbean folks, no matter their race, represent a diaspora within a diaspora. With the exception of Amerindians, they are all people who (willingly and unwillingly) came from somewhere else in the world. Once they got to the islands, many didn't stay put, moving between neighboring islands and the colonial hubs that brought them there in the first place.
These realities come forth quite strongly when you look at the work of Caribbean fashion designers. No matter where they come from, their histories and cultural influences unfurl before us when we look at their work. You can see it in a floor-sweeping silken caftan with billowing sleeves dyed to match the hues of the clearest ocean water. It's there in the sculpted oval shape of a top-handle purse, in colors that favor the feathers of a yellow-billed parrot. Or in the neat tailoring of a trouser, its front pleats crisp like the freshly-starched uniform skirt of an island schoolgirl.
To celebrate the diversity of the diaspora and highlight the supreme talent sprinkled across the fashion scenes around the world, we have rounded up 12 Caribbean designers that should be on your radar — if they aren't already.
1. Edvin Thompson 🇯🇲 Label: Theophilio
One thing about Jamaicans? They love Jamaica. Edvin Thompon's label Theophilio is a perfect illustration of this phenomenon. The Kingston-born designer draws heavily from his heritage when he's creating. The results? Leveled-up island coolness. It is at once relaxed and extra. It's flashy yet still clings to its humble roots.
If one had to describe Theophilio's look in two words, they would be "dancehall chic." Of course, there is lots of mesh in the traditional rastaman color palette — red, black, green, and yellow — but also with sequins and rhinestones. For the masculine-aligned, you'll find flared trousers paired with snug-fitting shirts boasting oversized collars to match. More feminine silhouettes include thigh-skimming hemlines and slinky sleeveless numbers in shimmering fabrics or knits.
As a brand, Theophilio is very much of the moment. The clothes exude a sense of nostalgia for dancehall days past, remixed and reinvented for generations who may or may not actually remember those times. They are also not terribly priced, though by no means are they inexpensive. They're a splurge, but one more easily attained. It's in line with the rise of brands that offer that feel of luxury at a far-less-than-exorbitant price point.
Since launching Theophilio in 2016, Thompson has been selected as one of Teen Vogue's very own Generation Next inductees in 2020 and has gone on to win a CFDA Award for American Emerging Designer in 2022. Going forward, neither Thompson nor his brand show signs of slowing down.
2. Brandon Blackwood 🇯🇲 Label: Brandon Blackwood
"End Systemic Racism." Those were the words emblazoned in neat little brass letters across a mini square top-handle crossbody bag that took over social media circa 2020. At the time, most people weren't going anywhere due to COVID restrictions and yet somehow that bag seemed to be everywhere. Fast forward to 2023. Systemic racism? Still here, unfortunately. The designer that created it? Fortunately, very much also still here. And thriving.
Brandon Blackwood started his namesake label in 2013 but it only blew up in 2020 when Kim Kardashian posted an image of her with the bag to her Instagram page. It quickly became ubiquitous, but it wouldn't be the only one of his designs to gain such popularity. Today, walk into any Brooklyn brunch spot, and you'll see at least one table with one of Blackwood's bags perched prominently atop it. The brand's Kendrick trunk has been a particular hit, especially in its rhinestone formation.
Though he started with bags, Blackwood, who is of Chinese-Jamaican descent, has since expanded to shoes and other accessories, and has also gotten into creating custom gowns. The brand has dressed Ice Spice, Serena Williams, and even Beyoncé. Sheryl Lee Ralph, a fellow Jamaican, won her first Emmy wearing one of his designs. Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Latto, and are also fans of the label, which continues to grow in popularity and visibility today and also falls within the affordable luxury umbrella.
3. Krystal Paniagua 🇵🇷 Label: Krystal Paniagua
If Kylie Jenner is wearing your designs, then so are a whole lot of other people. A master of knitwear, the Puerto Rican designer creates pieces that mold to the body, almost as if they're made with AI threads. Asymmetry and sculptural, shapely details are the Teen Vogue 2020 Generation Next designer's bread and butter.
Her aesthetic is a bit of a departure from what some may think of when they think of Caribbean dressing. Her clothes are one part grungy, one part glamorous. There is a layer of grit there that feels urban and tropical at the same time. Paniagua's work reflects the cool versatility of knitwear and the ways the medium can be remixed and reimagined in every generation.
4. Raúl López 🇩🇴 Label: Luar
Is it a great time to be a handbag designer of color from New York City? It is when you're serving up pure heat. Raúl López's label Luar (his name spelled backward) is one of a crop of brands disrupting the accessories game right now. Under the Luar moniker, he creates staggeringly stylish, well-made bags that come at a price point far lower than the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment.
López is no stranger to shaking things up. He's a New Yorker; it's what he does. The Williamsburg native has roots in the Dominican Republic and experienced a version of New York City reserved only for those who came up in its streets and who remember their neighborhoods before they got trendy.
Our first introduction to the designer was at the helm of the streetwear brand Hood by Air, which López started in 2006 with designer Shayne Oliver. His brand, Luar, was created in 2011 with the people who inspire him in mind: The 'round the way girls, folks on the ballroom scene, and cool-looking folks roaming New York City streets. His vision is decidedly one that reflects the multicultural world he comes from.
The Luar label offers a selection of clothes, too, but it is best known for its Ana bag (named after the designer's sister) and its shapely, curved top handle. Its structure immediately commands your attention and it's won Lopez a coveted CFDA Award. In 2022, he was named Accessory Designer of the Year, a testament to the success of his vision. He's a 2023 LVMH Prize nominee, and his bags have been spied on the arms of Ice Spice, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, and even Judge Judy.
5. Maximilian Davis 🇯🇲🇹🇹 Label: Ferragamo
Maximilian Davis is not yet 30 and is already doing pretty well in setting his legacy. In 2020, the London College of Fashion graduate launched his eponymous label. By 2021, the likes of Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Michaela Coel, and Dua Lipa were wearing his clothes.
Fast forward to June 2023: Beyoncé graces the stage at the long-awaited Renaissance tour in a liquidy-slick draped silver minidress with a train fluttering from the shoulder, thigh-high stiletto boots, and opera gloves to match. Davis reposts it to Instagram, thanking the stylist, Shiona Turini, and his design team. This time, though, it's at Ferragamo, where he serves as creative director. Upon taking the job in March 2022, the Manchester-born designer shuttered his brand to focus on the new prospect.
The 27-year-old, born to a Jamaican-Trinidadian family, is all about beautiful tailoring with a twist. He's got a penchant for cutouts, which are, yes, sexy, but also always executed with the finesse that only comes with a stubborn devotion to elegance. He's brought that vibe to Ferragamo. There is a definite inspiration from the classics, modernized. Davis's designs have already breathed new life into the legacy label and reintroduced it to a new generation ready to take what he creates and run with it.
6. Phylicia Ellis 🇧🇸 Label: Phylicia Ellis
If you're due to attend a wedding, Phylicia Ellis has a gown for you. The Bahamian designer creates custom bridal and bridesmaid dresses that are nothing short of gorgeous. Rendered in buttery silks and laden with meticulously sewn-on beads, Ellis's creations swoop and drape themselves elegantly across the body. Sometimes, they diverge just above the thigh into a leg-revealing split, plunging down to delicately pool at the feet of the wearer.
Ellis will whip you up something bespoke for your big day, or you can peruse her collection of dresses cut-to-order in a handful of styles and colors. Her brand is small and local, but the designs are gorgeous. Ellis is small enough to offer extras like gown steaming and on-hand bridal assistance the day of.
7. Olivier Rogers 🇸🇽 Label: Olivier Rogers
You don't have to love basketball to know who Olivier Rogers is, but you should probably know that NBA players love his clothes. The Saint Martin-born, Brooklyn-based designer's cross logo has been seen on the likes of Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Kevin Durant, and more. Rappers like Kanye West and Future have also been spotted in clothes bearing the designer's first name, Olivier, arranged in the shape of a cross.
Whether it's printed on reworked straight-leg jeans or at the center of a humble Black T-shirt, Rogers's Name is the epitome of cool for the kinds of people who set that standard.
8. Felisha Noel 🇬🇩 Label: Fe Noel
Grenadian designer Felisha Noel creates clothes for anyone who wants to feel like an island heiress. Her line, Fe Noel, is like stepping into that lady's walk-in closet. There, you'll find fluttering wide-legged trousers and cropped bralettes in tropical prints. Robes with sleeves you'd happily get lost in, dyed in the gradient of the sunset meeting the sea. Slip dresses that look good on you and all your friends. The 2022 Vogue Fashion Fund Finalist has had her pieces on the likes of Tracee Ellis Ross, Beyoncé, and Michelle Obama and was even tapped for one of Target's sought-after designer collections.
Beautiful as her gowns are, like many other designers, Noel isn't shy about using fashion to make a social statement. She closed out her Spring 2023 collection with a gown made out of money — literally. The 1.6 million-dollar Dre$$ is a statement made in collaboration with retirement agency TIAA to call attention to the pay gap between men and women and how it affects women's retirement.
9. Víctor López 🇩🇴 Label: Víctor López
Some of the world's most beautiful women wear Víctor López's gowns. The Dominican-born, New York City-based designer is a hit on the pageant scene, having designed custom gowns for Miss Universe Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Iceland, and more.
His penchant for extravagance is apparent. His work is marked by voluminous silhouettes: Skirts, sleeves, and necklines blossoming out, a reminder that glamour takes up space. His pieces are mostly bespoke, but his aesthetic has an appeal that transcends bank accounts.
Billy Porter sported a chartreuse asymmetric jumpsuit with a ballooning sleeve for a spread in Attitude's November 2021 issue. López's gowns have also frequently appeared in editorials for international iterations of Harper's Bazaar.
10. Carly Cushnie 🇯🇲
Carly Cushnie's story is like that of many other people of Jamaican descent born outside the island. The London native left one hub for the Jamaican diaspora for another — New York City — to pursue her dreams of fashion design.
The Parsons graduate has had a long career in the industry and is best known for her eponymous brand, Cushnie, which she founded in 2008. Her aesthetic was decidedly minimalistic and classic — clean silhouettes that drape with a flattering ease that looks as expensive as it does effortless. Asymmetric tailoring and premium fabrics do the work, you just got to stand there and look good.
Though her brand has since shuttered due to the hardships that came with the COVID-19 lockdowns, Cushnie is still a prominent force in the fashion industry, serving on the CFDA Board of Directors. In 2022, she released a bridal line with BHLDN. Her designs have been worn by the likes of Lupita Nyong'o, Michelle Obama, and Beyoncé.
11. Melissa Simon-Hartman 🇹🇹 Label: Melissa Simon-Hartman
Costume design is big across Caribbean cultures thanks to the region's long history of creating them for carnival celebrations. It is no surprise then that Melissa Simon-Hartman took to the art form. The London-born designer traces her roots to Trinidad & Tobago, which is considered the Mecca of Caribbean carnivals.
For years, Simon-Hartman created costumes for Notting Hill Carnival in her London hometown. Her designs, heavily influenced by both her Trinbagonian and Ghanaian backgrounds, are spectacular in that they always make the wearer look as if they're not from this planet or even plane of existence. If the goal is to look like a deity from outer space, she's the one to call. And she did get the call — to design some pieces to appear in Beyoncé's 2020 Black Is King visual album.
Simon-Hartman's pieces are intricate, textural, and always theatrical. They're strong in their Afrofuturistic sensibilities. You'll find macrame gowns rendered in metallics, sometimes in natural white. Paillettes and embellishments, usually in shades of gold, silver, bronze, or copper, are frequently on the menu. She's worked with hair, even creating an elaborate costume made entirely out of it for Doja Cat in her "Woman" music video.
12. Narciso Rodríguez 🇨🇺 Label: Narciso Rodríguez
Narciso Rodríguez's dresses are part of American history. When Barack Obama won his bid for president in 2008, Michelle Obama, then our First Lady-to-be, famously wore a red and black number from the design house when she took the stage to celebrate the win with her family. When Carolyn Bassette married John F. Kennedy, Jr., Rodríguez was who she called to make her gown.
The Cuban-American designer was raised in Newark, New Jersey, and has lent his talents to design houses like Cerruti and Calvin Klein through the '90s before starting his namesake label in 1997. His work won him a CFDA Perry Ellis award for Best New Designer. By 2001, his brand was fully a thing.
Sophistication and ease are what Rodríguez is all about. His clothes seem to float on the wearer. The look: Always put together and polished, but never labored. In his three-decade career, Rodríguez has helped define the landscape of American fashion and establish its own version of glamour.
