Kristy.ramnarine@cnc3.co.tt
Lisa Faye Sarjeant’s DM (Direct Message) blew up in early April when one of her pieces was styled by Trinidad-born fashion expert Antonia Fifi, now based in Canada.
With over 550,000 followers on Instagram, Fifi’s post featuring the piece sparked a wave of interest, catapulting Sarjeant into the international spotlight. Almost overnight, what started as a simple share turned into a viral moment, as fashion lovers and others flocked to Sarjeant’s inbox, eager to find out more from the rising creative behind the buzz.
It was during a recent visit to Trinidad that Fifi popped into Lisa Faye Silks Boutique.
“I told her if you are going to do this, I want it to be a kaftan because kaftans are my signature pieces,” said Sarjeant.
“She said, ‘Girl, you will be very surprised to see what I can do with this.’ The reach has been absolutely phenomenal. She has taken the product out of Trinidad. I think I’m covered in the Caribbean, but people in the United States, England and Austria have contacted me because she has that large following.
“I admire her work, I admire the story behind why she does what she does, and I admire that she shared her journey with people–like she is not just a stylist. I absolutely loved what she did with the kaftan. I didn’t know how she was going to style it.”
Sarjeant is now faced with the challenge of informing customers that each of her pieces is a personal piece of art.
“There are no pieces alike–when someone gets a piece, that’s their piece,” she said.
“It’s a lot more work, but I definitely see it as my sanity. I love what I do. I deal with everything that I deal with in my head while I’m painting, so at least I have an outlet.”
Twelve years ago, Lisa Faye Sarjeant experienced a miscarriage, cementing her decision to step away from her job as a radio talk show host.
“It happened when I was 45, and I said that’s it,” she recalled.
“That’s when I said I’m done with the media and that I’m going to give my baby my full attention.”
The baby she referred to was her boutique–Lisa Faye Silks–which Sarjeant simultaneously grew alongside her media career. Of course, she also wanted to spend time with her baby girl–now an adult.
“I started off working in radio at 98.9FM and also worked in TV as a production assistant for the late Allison Hennessy on Community Dateline,” she added.
“She was just someone a young girl like me was looking up to. At that time, talk radio was started at Power 102 FM by Louis Lee Sing, Tony Lee and Dale Enoch.”
Sarjeant took the bold step of beginning a career as a radio talk show host.
“When we started Talk Radio it was very casual,” she added.
“You were given a slot, you decided what you wanted to talk about, and let it make sense–and, of course, be respectful to your listeners. My focus was women’s issues because I felt women are the base of everything.”
After spending over 26 years in radio, Sarjeant started having second thoughts.
“I felt media was not going in the same direction that I was going,” she said.
“I was not comfortable with the climate of conversation. It could be because I was getting older and I thought, let’s get someone who’s younger and more excited about this to take it further.
“I also wanted a lot more peace. I paint for a living now. I can block out anything now. It was my job and I had to know everything that was going on all over the world and in Trinidad as well.”
With her father, Reynold Sarjeant, who is an artist and architect, and uncle Micheal Sarjeant who is also an artist, creativity always flowed through her veins.
“I literally paint every one of my designs,” she explained.
“I paint on silk. I literally paint like how you paint on canvas, but on silks. Each one takes about a week from beginning to end–it’s extensive, but it is also my sanity.”
Sarjeant taught Textile Design at UWI for some time, sharing her expertise on tie dye, batik and surface printing.
“I didn’t enjoy any of those. I wanted to flow like how I would flow on canvas,” she said.
“So it was a way of finding out how can I get the dye to do what I want it to do, how can I manipulate it and make it vibrant and become part of the fabric.”
Her choice of fabric is silk, which she sources from various countries – Italy, India, and China.
“Choosing silk is because it never fades. It is a lot costlier, but it is going to last you forever. And after I’ve put all this work in it, I would surely hope that someone would want to keep it forever,” she said.
“I think that women need to feel as beautiful as they look. How many times do we put on a dress, we know we look nice, but do we really feel nice in it? I just wanted us to feel beautiful and look beautiful.
“I use five different silks; different silks feel differently. You can’t come into my boutique and bad-talk yourself. I really want women to love themselves more. We are really harsh on ourselves and if I can do it through clothing, I think it makes a big difference.”
While running her boutique is her mainstay, Sarjeant also spends time painting on canvas.
“I paint on canvas when I don’t have anything else to do,” she said.
“It is different and I have to give it a certain quality time. So I start a piece, and then two months later I’ll go back at it and back at it. During the pandemic, I painted on canvas like crazy because I had time. You can get lost in just expressing yourself.”
In December 2022, Sarjeant held an exhibition of her canvas and silks, ending with a fashion show at Arnim’s Gallery in Woodbrook.
