WHO IS

JAMESBLACK?

Fashion has taken a drastic turn over the past decade or so due to the emergence of the internet, which has forced a change in how clothes are now designed, marketed and purchased. A major factor that has been introduced into the way how fashion is marketed is fashion blogs. The internet has allowed many persons whom have a great sense of style, good with a sewing machine and a pair of scissors to be put on centre stage where all things fashion are concerned to be recognised worldwide without having to get approval from the traditional fashion moguls and heavy hitting designers first.

Enter James Black, a Jamaican Fashion

Blogger of JBStyleZone Blog (www.jbstylezone.blogspot.

com) and director/designer of YC CloThing and glamhEAD headband line. A young Jamaican

fashion designer, whom started doing her own designs

and pieces throughout high school and college, James

Black also known as JB started blogging just over 2

years now and has had tremendous feedback from the

fashion community locally and internationally so far. JB

has been nominated for best fashion and beauty blog

locally and was recently featured in the Vogue italia.

We had a chance to sit down with JB and find out just

who is James Black

Q : h o w D i D Y o u g E T i n T o F A S h i o n ?JB: It started from high school. I always liked to do my own pieces, I would say the first taste at fashion was designing cheer leading costumes in high school, and then it started off the line with t-shirts and one thing led to another.

Q : T E l l u S A B o u T YA h D i E C o n S C i o u S A n D i T ’ S E V o l u T i o n A S A C l o T h i n g l i n E ?JB: I really wanted the brand to represent Jamaica and be easily identified with the public. So that’s where the Yahdie came from. And at the time Conscious music was big, so i just put the two together. The line started out as T-Shirts only which would have Jamaican phrases but we still wanted to portray Jamaica in a positive light because during that time there was numerous T-shirt lines with more of the negative things things being portrayed in their line, so we tried making it funner &lighter. now i only use YC because the pieces don’t really reflect that anymore because the line has matured immensely from 2005. i’ve branched out into dresses, pants, shorts and even more formal but still keeping it casual and sophisticated. i still try to incorporate the Caribbean flavour by using the phrases for the name of the collection or if I’m getting shirts done but at the end of the day, i want to stay true to myself and Jamaica.

Q : Y C w A S p r E V i o u S lY D o n E B E T w E E n B o T h Y o u A n D Y o u r B E S T F r i E n D , w h Y D i D Y o u S p l i T u p ?JB: we started to do other things, i started to do headbands for glam head and she focused on doing bags, so it was more of a natural movement into other areas on both of our parts, so I figured it was best to give everyone the freedom to explore their own ventures that match their personalities.

Q : h o w D i D g l A m h E A D C o m E i n T o B E i n g ?JB: glam head came from me really getting into headbands one summer, because i used to go into different stores and realized everyone was charging a lot of money for

them. i then said hey i can make these myself, started designing them and just started advertising on Blackberry messenger then it blew up, didn’t even expect it, I think it is bigger than the clothing line now.

Q : w h o i S J A m E S B l A C k ?JB: Hmm, well first off the name came from me wanting a cool designer name that people could know me by instead of my given name. I loved wearing black at the time and instead of Jami, which is what my friends and parents used to call me i thought let me just call myself James Black. however, i think it’s even deeper than just a name, i consider it my alter ego just because i have a different personality separate and apart from the good girl that everyone generally knows me to be, “James Black” is more daring, willing to take more risks, more outgoing and the fashion designer within me, which is the opposite of Jami, lol.

Q : w h A T h A S B E E n Y o u r m o S T m E m o r A B l E m o m E n T i n Y o u r F A S h i o n C A r E E r ?JB: Well to date, being featured on the Vogue Italia website, seeing as how it is an extension of vogue I recently realized that it’s kind of a big deal. The person who actually wrote the article had contacted me via email from Amsterdam, saying she had searched for Jamaican Fashion Bloggers on the internet and came across my Blog and she liked it. Afterwards we did an interview via Skype, just asking me about my style and the influence Jamaica has where it’s concerned. Three weeks later I had received an email that her editor approved it and the following morning, completely forgetting about the email i saw, Vogue italia mentioned me in a tweet and there was the article on me. when i saw it was pretty amazed and made me realize how powerful the internet can be when doing your own business.

Q : n A m E T h E T h r E E T o p F A S h i o n i T E m S Y o u C A n n o T l i V E w i T h o u T r i g h T n o w .JB: red lipstick, Queen of the Jungle necklace and Black ankle Boots.

Q : w h A T h A S B E E n Y o u r F AV o r i T E F A S h i o n T r E n D E V E r i n l i F E ?JB: Anything high waist does it for me, I love the style of ladies from the nineteen fifties, I think the ladies dressed very sexy while still being tasteful. And even more importantly i get my inspiration for glamhead from that era, the prints, the patterns and how they wore them.

Q : A n Y A D V i C E F o r p E o p l E w A n T i n g T o p u r S u E A C A r E E r i n F A S h i o n ?JB: i think the biggest thing is ensuring you have someone assess your talent, i personally didn’t have anyone assess my pieces, however, i think it’s extremely important when you can get professional or trusted feedback on how your brand is viewed in terms of presentation and quality of your product. Another important thing is to not let your emotions get the best of you when doing your business, even when you feel down and out, still remain consistent in your work ethic.

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