Sons of Sons 13
Alleyne’s work is an inspection of his Caribbean culture and an exploration of the attitudes and values that underpin it. By incorporating personal touches and materials removed from their usual context, he challenges the established norms of fashion in general and Caribbean style in particular, and thereby invites his audience to think about authenticity in the representation of oneself. This study involved an earnest exploration of gender and masculinity and led the artist to revisit the prescribed formulas for viewing and dressing the male form. This work was one of 13 original designs that the artist featured in NGCI’s Art of Fashion exhibition (2018).
About the Artist
Jawara Alleyne
b. 1993
Jawara Alleyne is a Caymanian artist and fashion designer whose work deals with questions of cultural identity from a Caribbean perspective. In 2013 he received a scholarship from the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands and Deutsche Bank, further to which he pursued a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design and Marketing at the London College of Fashion. Following his graduation in 2016 Alleyne co-founded the diversity-conscious Nii model agency in London with photographer and collaborator Campbell Addy. Alleyne completed a master’s degree in Fashion Design at Central Saint Martin’s, London, in 2020 and his work was featured in the NGCI exhibitions the Art of Fashion (2018) and Cross Currents – 1st Cayman Islands Biennial (2019). He is an avid representative of the Cayman Islands internationally, representing Cayman at the 2017 Carifesta festival and in London at the UKOTA.
