Yekuno, style on the streets

MONICA PRITO'S sewing in the gallery of her home in Curepe, over 30 years ago, was good enough to attract several customers.

Today, and with emancipation in the air, Prito, a street vendor, has opted to catch the eye of passers-by in busy downtown Port of Spain, by displaying her African print outfits and designs.

Her label, Yekuno is named after her only son and means let him be good.

The 58-year-old mother of five has been plying her trade at lower Henry Street (near the Arima taxi stand) for over two years. Her workshop is at her home where she now lives on the Eastern Main Road, Laventille.

"This has always been my passion but it came out of necessity. I had a need so many years ago and knew I had to use my skills, taught by my mom, to meet that need. It went from filling that need to allowing me to care for my children and send them all to school and to good jobs," she said.

That modest answer, actually doesn't do justice to Prito's many sacrifices to see her children become the professionals they are today.

Her first four children, all girls, are an entrepreneur, nurse, attorney and a public servant at a state utility company. Her son, although now in his 30s, but still considered the "baby", works as a supervisor at a prestigious firm.

While she said she had been a single parent for most of her daughters' lives, she now has the support of her son's father Ryan Walters.

Prito became a mother at only 16 and recalled that while she struggled, the unending support of her mother, Jean Baptiste, saw her through.

Her first two outfits, little cotton skirts and matching tops, were sewn for her daughters on "an old-time peddle sewing machine", she said.

"I simply did not have the money to buy clothes for my children and decided then and there to use my skills to clothe them. I took whatever small change I had then, bought a piece of pretty printed cotton and began sewing for them. That's really how it all started."

Prito's life in her hometown at Maracas, St Joseph was humble and many lived off the land. Her mother, also a single parent, had been selling agricultural produce at the markets for years.

When Prito completed schooling at Malick Secondary, she joined her mother and sold produce as her first source of income.

Sewing, she said, was in her blood and she immediately jumped at the chance to complete a garment construction course at John Donaldson Technical Institute, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.

Prito's desire to learn more led to her also completing a manufacturer's course under the NAR government in the late 1970s. That course, she said, helped her to hone her designing and tailoring skills, so that today she specialises in clothing for all ages and sizes.

She would continue to sell produce with her mother to help provide for her baby, up until she was able to purchase her first industrial sewing machine for $800.

"In those days that was plenty, plenty money, but with saving and my mom really helping me, I was able to buy it. My mother has been and still is a true pillar of support, through it all."

Ever so often, during the interview, people would pass, stop and ask the prices. Some appeared to be new customers, took her number and assured they would contact for a fitting. Others bought on the spot, gushing over the style and professionalism of the African print children's outfits she had on display.

As for choosing to sell on the streets, Prito said she made attempts years ago to run a store at a popular mall in downtown Port of Spain, but the cost of rent would often see her with very little to care for her children.

She added she would not now consider a store in the city, as she only comes out a few days a week. Now that her children are all adults, she sells simply for the love of creating and to now outfit her seven grandchildren.

Prito said she has never really advertised her business. She recalled participating in a fashion show at the Hilton Trinidad many years ago, but never focused too much on marketing her creations. Her business relied primarily on word of mouth advertising and self advertising.

"I would sew an outfit, wear it and people would stop me, ask where I bought it and be amazed that I had sewn it myself. I got many customers that way. It certainly paid off that I always looked nice," she joked.

Prito had, at one time, hoped her son would follow in her footsteps, instead, it was her daughters who now all sew as a hobby. One of her granddaughters, who is ten, is showing "promising signs of being just as good as her grandmum".

For upcoming entrepreneurs, Prito has this advice:

"Never give up, you may meet hurdles, fall down a couple times, fail a few, but pray, keep going. Look for what inspires you and hold on to it. Whenever you feel like giving up, for me it was my faith in God and my children. Wait it out with prayer and believe in yourself and your gifts."