Mas designer Marlon Smart humbled by New York Times article

WHEN Brooklyn-based TT mas designer Marlon Smart was featured in a New York Times article on Carnival costumes he was both surprised and humbled to be included.

Smart and other designers were interviewed for the article Feathers and Female Power: The Costumes of Carnival, written by Ashley Southall and published on February 18. He posted about the article on his Facebook page and said, "It's cool seeing your name and your work in the newspaper, but in The New York Times that’s a big deal. It says to me that your work, your hard work is being recognised."

He added that he was honoured to see his name in the article alongside his amazing friends and designers he admired, namely Solange Govia (TT), Keisha Als (TT), and Natasha Marshall (Jamaican-American).

"A huge thank you to the New York Times for taking the time to feature our work and culture."

Smart told Newsday he loved the work of Govia, Marshall, who he described as his "sister-in-mas," as well as designer Rawle Permanand.

"I love what everyone is doing, especially in modern mas. I love the creativity, the material people use. These people are my peers. If I have an idea I can go to any one of them."

Smart's costume Bliss, which was designed for last year’s Hollywood Carnival in Los Angeles, was featured in the article and described as "a large feathered headpiece that recalls the Indigenous-style headdresses of the old-time, Black Indian mas of Trinidad and the Southern United States."

Smart told Newsday the costume was for a band called Mirage Mas and each designer was given a term from which to design a costume, and his term was "bliss."

"When I think 'bliss' I'm thinking of an explosion of just joy and delight. A blissful feeling."

On his featherwork, he explained he went in different directions, incorporating a modern take on the traditional Indian mas headpiece and falling bonnet. He also utilised bright, neon colours, nude colours, and diagonal and curvilinear (curved lines) instead of straight lines to provide some interest.

He recalled his friend, Claude Desir, asked him to be interviewed for the New York Times article. After it came out his friends, relatives and other people reached out to him and told him, "You're a star."

"I'm not a star; I'm still learning and still growing. But it was a really good feeling."

A journey into mas

And how did a humble kid from a small street in Belmont (Barton Lane) and former student of Belmont Boys' Secondary (now St Francis Boys' College) end up "doing (his) little thing in big NYC, (and) making (his) community and country proud?"

When young Smart was a child his uncle lived in New York but would come down every year for Carnival and play sailor mas in an "old-time band." The elder Smart would make his own costumes and his nephew would always assist him.

"I got my palate whet in a sense."

At age 15 he was part of a dance group called Painted Faces that featured on 80s/90s talent show Party Time. Wendell Manwarren of rapso group 3canal reached out to them to do some work with Callaloo Company, a production performance company, and collaborative of artists, performers, and craftspeople who share legendary mas designer Peter Minshall's conviction "in the mas as a medium in which to do exciting and relevant creative work."

Smart recalled that working with Callaloo Company and seeing Minshall's work and listening to his creative mindset piqued his interest in mas design. He also cited Minshall as one of his major influences on his own creative style, which he described as "strong."

"If you look at my work it always has a strength to it. Not in a warrior aspect, but the strength of a woman. And it is always feminine. No man knows what women want, but I do what I think they like. And there is a strength to it."

After a few years of working with Minshall and Callaloo Company he began making mas on a grander scale with Galvanize Entertainment and now-defunct mas band Poison.

In New York

Smart eventually left TT to study interior design in New York at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

"I was looking for ways to make money and I decided to do mas (design)."

He approached one of the top bands at the time, Sesame Flyers, about doing work for them. They asked him to do a costume prototype, which he did and they accepted. He then co-created a section called Caribbean Passion which he recalled did very well.

He worked with Sesame Flyers for five years before branching off to Ramajay Mas in New York.

"Then other people started noticing my work and approaching me."

Soon Smart was doing work internationally including for clients in London, Rotterdam, and Barbados.

"Name a carnival and I'm there."

Covid crash

And what about Carnival in his homeland? Smart said he has done a few designs in TT but not for prominent bands.

"(This) 2020 was supposed to be my year with the big bands. But then covid came."

The pandemic also caused work he had been doing for clients in Canada to be cancelled.

Smart said that outside of mas design his work had moved from residential projects to entertainment, specifically set design and stages for parties and events. He had previously done work with Trinidad-based event production company Caesar’s Army and New York natural beauty festival CURLFEST.

"But the mas started taking that over and I was doing mas full time. And it was the mas that had been sustaining me. But when covid hit everything stopped. No outdoor festivals, no carnival."

Smart said luckily he had his job as a head server at Sugarcane, a Caribbean restaurant in Brooklyn.

He also contracted covid19 at the beginning of February. He recalled his first symptom was severe body pains about four days before his diagnosis.

"I woke up and my whole body was hurting. Thought I got hit by a bus. I went and tested and it came back positive."

He said, however, that his only symptom was a runny nose, unlike people who had more severe symptoms and some who did not make it.

"I take it really seriously. I lost a lot of friends. I know family members who had it badly. People are saying it's a hoax but this thing is serious."

Shot of hope

He added the covid19 vaccine was being distributed and he received his first shot last week.

"Some people say 'they not taking that crap'. But when the pandemic started they were asking 'When are we getting a vaccine?' Now they not taking it. What do you want?"

Smart predicted that by 2022 things will return to a level of normalcy where carnivals can resume.

And there was a ray of hope on the carnival front as he recalled people began to find other ways to celebrate the festival. Smart started to get work to do design costumes for birthday photoshoots and also for weddings.

"It is not the same as before. But I take it where I get it."

And whenever things do return to normal he was looking forward to showcasing his mas designs on a large scale in TT.

To see more of Smart's designs you can find him on Instagram at

@designedbymarlonsmart or at the website designedbymarlonsmart.com.