Rodney Alexander's name is one you'd better get accustomed to because this fashion designer is making quite a name for himself here at home and in the Caribbean. His next goal? Conquering the international stage.
Eye for fashion
Alexander shows up for our interview looking like a model straight out of a GQ Magazine. It's a bright Wednesday morning and he's dressed in a Shangtung silk shirt, linen jacket adorned with circle-patterned motif lapels, slim-fitted jeans and black leather shoes. As we converse, however, it's clear that in spite of the lacquer of glamour, this designer is quite laid back and even a bit shy.
"I got into it by chance. Growing up, I was interested in engineering and stuff like that," he says, when asked about his first forays into the fashion world. Pursuing fashion designing proved to be a very rewarding and, according to Alexander, lucrative move. "When I started designing my clothes, the response was amazing. All my friends wanted to buy the clothes off my back because they loved the designs so much." Alexander's road to success was long and winding, as he often experienced the dark side of the industry.
"There's a lot of jealousy. People try to hold you back. Someone messed up a really good opportunity for me but I will get what is mine in due time," he says. The 37-years-young father of three, who initiated his fashion career in Tobago in 1999, making uniforms for the Grafton Beach Hotel in Black Rock and the Tobago House of Assembly, (THA), feels he has paid his dues and believes it's his time to shine. One of the biggest breaks of his career came in 2006, when he participated in the T&T Association of Washington DC Fashion Show.
"The feedback was tremendous. Ladies with credit cards in their hands were all rushing me at the same time to buy my clothes. In a matter of an hour, everything was sold," he gushes. Another break came two years later, when the John Donaldson graduate met US celebrities, actress Ana Maria Horsford and TV personality Abiola Abrams, at Guyana Fashion Week. "They both were in love with my clothes and bought several pieces. We're still in contact today and they promised to open some doors for me," he recalls.
Aiming for the big stage
Today, the charismatic entrepreneur, who copped the 2006 Nedco Apex Award for Fashion and Design and the THA's Garment Manufacturing Award, is emerging as one of the most sought-after fashion designers in the Caribbean.
The owner of Genuine Quality Styles (GQS)–a company which designs, manufactures, retails, wholesales and customises "high end" male and female garments under the trade mark Rodney Alexander, in Curepe–has travelled extensively to promote his unique fashion lines, which he describes as "ethnic, Afrocentric and indigenous."
With a growing customer base, the Tunapuna-born fashionisto, who hopes to one day bring out his very own fragrance line, will not be satisfied until he leaves an indelible mark in the fashion world–both locally and internationally. "My garments are wearable art. I combine my fabrics with natural elements and I do a lot of paint and artistic work. I'm inspired by the natural environment, people and skin tones." Even if the clothes maketh the man, the man inside, he assures, is still essentially the same. "I trust in God and my family keeps me grounded."
