FAYOLA K J FRASER
In 2023, well-loved designer Keisha Als amassed more than a decade of incredible years designing Carnival costumes. Her first experience playing mas at 17 years old kindled a love for Carnival in her which has not waned ever since, and her name has been synonymous with some of Carnival’s biggest bands over the years, such as Island People, Yuma and TRIBE. Als is also the owner of the brand, TROPIX, which produces swimwear, and Monday Wear for Carnival.
After that first Carnival, Als found herself in a predicament well known to many young people–how to sustain mas-playing annually, on the bare-bones budget often accompanying adolescence. An entrepreneur ever since then, she sought out opportunities to work at mas camps to pay off for her costumes. It was in the years of packing boxes and sorting feathers, that she not only earned her free costumes but simultaneously learned the business of Carnival, understood how to design costumes and built networks in the industry.
At 25, after numerous tries, her first design was accepted by Island People Mas in 2011. Als remembers clearly that first year, and the pride of seeing her work come together, glimmering on the road, but remembers even more distinctly, feeling the palatable joy of the masqueraders loving and enjoying their costumes.
Delving into the process of this creative mind, it is clear that although some may minimise present-day Carnival costumes as simply ‘bikini and beads’, there is so much rich artistry and attention to detail involved in the creation and final product. After Als receives the theme from the band, she first goes fabric/material shopping, without even a sketch in mind, to see what colours resonate with her. This becomes her starting point. Then, after developing a sketch, the first tangible piece she creates is always the bra, which is the focal point, and then lets the rest of the costume flow out from there. Remembering her multitude of costumes over the years, she has an obvious favourite–her design of INTI for the band Yuma in 2016.
While creativity comes naturally to Als, learning to manage the business side of her work has been a greater challenge. The journey of learning how to execute business in the creative industry has taught her a great deal, and her business “sells costumes, sells swimwear, and sells my knowledge and experience spanning well over a decade in the Carnival industry.”
Als carries six key tools in her toolbox that sustain and motivate her and keep her going and growing on the journey of entrepreneurship. These tools are–believing in your choice, remembering your purpose, fostering your self-belief, finding your community, learning your audience and most importantly, doing the hard work, day after day. Als maintains that as a creative entrepreneur, until you are well established and secure, getting a job that may have nothing to do with creative pursuits is an important element to success. Having a ‘day job’ can allow a creative to fund those creative dreams, get loans at the bank, pay bills and ultimately “help you excel towards making a career out of your creative enterprise.”
Expanding from strictly Carnival costumes in 2016, Als pivoted towards her swimwear and Mondaywear brand “Tropix” which has become well-loved throughout the Caribbean over the last few years. “Tropix has allowed me to widen my audience,” she says, “primarily the Caribbean diaspora internationally.” These designs have a unique and distinct ‘tropical’ feel, and give people abroad a little slice of the Caribbean, allowing them to radiate that essence of tropical beauty. Tropix was borne out of one of Als’ most heart-wrenching rejections almost ten years ago. “I did what I thought was one of my best costume designs ever,” she remembers, “and sold it to a popular band, but the costume was shelved because of Carnival politics.”
It was at that moment, with the agonising realisation that her career was hinged on others’ decisions, that she knew that she had to create something that would be uniquely hers. She decided to take the idea of Monday Wear and create Monday Wear designs, making it a viable option for masqueraders. In doing this, she could still be closely tied to Carnival, but establish her own business doing what she loved. It is this ability to pivot, reinvent the wheel and grow through uncomfortable circumstances that have allowed Als to be a lasting figure in the Carnival industry, which often sees quick turnaround of designers. “If I really internalised that failure,” she says, “that would’ve been the end of me and Carnival.”
Als has had incredible career highlights throughout the years, including her name and brand, Tropix Swim, being mentioned in regional and international publications. Some of these publications include Vogue, the New York Times, Nylon Mag, LOOP TT, Caribvoxx and the Jamaica Gleaner. In Vogue, she was acclaimed as the columnist’s designer of choice for that year and noted as “a veteran Carnival costume designer who focuses on vibrant colours and homages to the Caribbean with each of her pieces.”
A rarity in Carnival is a designer who has stayed the course in a difficult and often punishing industry that is forever changing and evolving. The creative mind and resilient spirit that characterises Keisha Als have sustained her throughout, buoyed by her unwavering commitment to our Carnival. Her best advice to women who are anxiously teetering on any passion project is to just start, “Don’t wait for the perfect moment,” she added. Armed with this same courage, a wealth of talent, and her navel string buried deep in the soil of our Caribbean culture, Als continues to blaze the trail and raise the standard in Carnival and Caribbean design industries.