Top Jamaican Menswear Designers

Top Jamaican Menswear Designers - Dexter Huxtable, Carlton Brown, Phillip (Balla Shawn) Reid and Bill Edwards

Among Jamaica’s top menswear designers are Dexter Huxtable, Carlton Brown, Phillip (Balla Shawn) Reid, Bill Edwards, Romeich Major, as well as Karl Williams and Mark McDermoth of Uzuri International.

Though their journey to becoming top menswear designers are each unique, they also have a few things in common.  
All discovered from an early year their passion for designing and making menswear. For Dexter Huxtable, his passion started during boyhood while helping in his parents’ tailoring business. Similarly, Bill Edwards was a boy when he convinced a neighbourhood tailor to employ him as an apprentice after school.

At the outset pursuing this passion was difficult for these designers, more so in an environment where man’s fashion has traditionally been virtually non-existent.  This led to most starting their working life in other fields. In Romeich case he began as an assistant with a reggae production company. Today he is among the leading reggae music producers, along with his menswear fashion business.

All designer’s dream of their outfits seen at the Oscars. Similarly in Jamaica Reggae Sumfest is for creative menswear designers that lifetime opportunity to make a name, by having a lead performer in their creation. Dressing well-known reggae and sports stars, as well as beauty queens have catapulted their careers in both menswear and the wider fashion industry for Carlton Brown, Bella Shawn, Romeish Major, Karl Williams and Mark McDermoth.

For Dexter Huxtable and others, becoming a leading menswear designer involved living, learning the craft and working abroad for several years to develop their signature creative style and reputation.  

Beach and resort wear are important categories in Caribbean high fashion.  For menswear in this category Bill Edwards and Uzuri International have a long-standing reputation.

There are also menswear designers in the UK and USA of Jamaican heritage, making strides in the fashion industry – Prince Graham, Omar Anthony, and Bianca Sunders.

For more on these designers visit these links:
Carlton Brown      
Bill Edwards  
Dexter Huxtable    
Other Caribbean menswear designers    

Also visit our art gallery for contemporary Caribbean fine art :  EJ Gallery 

Updated 2022

June 2020