Andrew Ramroop: Sustainable fashion a possible forex earner

MASTER tailor Andrew Ramroop believes that sustainable fashion could be a major forex earner for Trinidad and Tobago.

The Order of the British Empire and Chaconia Medal Gold holder joined more than seven designers in presenting garments made from scraps and recycled material in commemoration of Global Recycling Day observed on March 18.

The fashion event took place on March 20 at Glenside Gardens, Tunapuna, and featured pieces from designers like Zadd and Eastman, Sheldon Warner, Paul Drakes and The Cloth.

Ramroop said in an interview after the presentation that the global fashion conversation was now on sustainability, carbon footprints and protecting the environment for future generations.

While there was a perception the fashion industry contributed a lot to wastage, Ramroop said designers in TT and the region always, informally, engaged in sustainable practices.

He recalled making trousers from a pillowcase.

“Here in TT, sustainability has been our language but our silent language, so to speak. But now we are making an impact on the world’s stage.”

TT could leave its indelible mark on the fashion industry by giving the world the blueprint to creating sustainable fashion, Ramroop said.

Often many saw the Caribbean aesthetic as flora and fauna but to Ramroop it was more than that: it was taking scrap and making it useful.

“Waste is not waste until we waste it,” he said.

Personally, he has already seen the economic benefits that could be derived from sustainable fashion. He said he earned approximately $3 million from his sustainable clothing line.

“I made garments for customers in over 60 countries. All of my garments that were sold, at least 90 per cent of them were sold abroad and ten per cent at home. I had very little home trade.”

Ramroop believes the government and decision-makers should focus on this industry as they look to wider economic diversification.

“We have to look far and wide and not only can we earn a lot, not only can we turn over a lot and get a lot of foreign revenue into the country.

“It is not trying to sell to people under your noses. It is not trying to sell to people in your locality. It is the rest of the Caribbean, Latin America and the rest of the world. The world is an open door.”

Part of event was to raise awareness as the average citizen was not very knowledgeable about sustainable fashion, he said.

Uniforms could also be made more sustainable, with the economic benefits from the industry trickling more into the pockets of families.

“If you look at school uniforms, the raw materials are all imported. Some of it is made in TT but a lot of it is imported.”

He suggested these could be recycled and reused helping to save on the country’s import bill.

The TT Trade and Investment Promotion Agency was one of the event's contributing partners. Its fashion manager Lisa Marie Daniel said there were a number of local designers who were a part of the wider global sustainability thrust.

“They are using scraps from their couture clothing to, basically, produce the fusion lines that are very beautiful, trendy and clientele locally and internationally are buying into it.”

Not only was it economical for the country but for the designers themselves as they used scraps to produce other pieces and earn money from it.

Like Ramroop, she said sustainable practices have always been a part of the local fashion industry.

“It is just that it has not been marketed and promoted on a wide scale. I would say, definitely, our fashion community has been exercising as zero waste as possible.”

She estimated that at least 60 per cent of TT’s designers were creating sustainable wear and were already contributing to the economy.

“TT designers operate on producing a premium, niche product that will last you a lifetime and that is timeless in value.

“We are not about producing thousands of pieces that you will wear about twice or three times and then discard. We are about producing garments that are of utmost quality, they are handmade and last people decades.”

Creative director and production designer Richard Young hosted the event, giving a description of each piece. Former Tunapuna MP Esmond Forde also attended.

Young said the world needed to turn around the industry’s contribution to pollution and needed to adopt the redo, reuse, recycle and upcycle model.

Jerome “Rome” Precilla was the event’s first model and he wore Ramroop’s piece which was created from discarded linen strips.