Honouring the past to guide the future

London Borough of Culture can provide a unique platform to celebrate local heritage. As part of Lewisham’s London Borough of Culture, the ‘In Living Memory’ strand funded projects initiated by residents – of which Joy Prime’s ‘A Caribbean Couturier’ project, was one. Part exhibition, part fashion show and workshop, the project celebrated the Caribbean women who designed and produced custom clothing after settling in the UK in the 1960s. It showcased the memories and clothes of those who created, wore and remember them.

Joy Prime grew up in a creative household where from the age of five she knew her passion for fashion would dictate her future. Now an established fashion designer and educator, Joy spearheaded a project celebrating hidden community heritage in Lewisham.

Joy, what drew you to this project?
Well, when I studied fashion, I felt lost. The truth is I never saw us represented. Caribbean culture and identity should be celebrated, and the positive influence we had on British fashion was missing from the British fashion canon.

I developed the ‘A Caribbean Couturier’ as I wanted to bring out what was hidden within our homes and build an archive. The London Borough of Culture grant allowed me to platform this hidden heritage.

The project centred around the experience of my mother, Sylvia, who migrated from Trinidad with my family in 1963 to start a new life in London. She was a couturier who ran her own business alongside working as a machinist. The project was about equity and equality in fashion and the recognition of the Caribbean Couturier. It opened up a space for discussing different perspectives and critically analysing historical contributions and inclusion within the British fashion industry.

Could you explain why you picked ‘couturier’ instead of ‘seamstress’ or ‘dressmaker’?
I reframed the project's title to provoke and invite discussion about how people identify and define their professional trajectory, particularly within the Caribbean fashion and textile community of the Windrush generation. I found there was often a tendency to diminish the role of the Caribbean contribution.

My mother, Sylvia and many of the other couturiers I interviewed designed bespoke pieces specifically for their clients with careful consideration to the style, fabrics and cut. The standard it was completed to, and the materials used made them couturiers above anything else. 

This project depended greatly on community involvement; could you share some of the ways you connected with local residents?
It comprised community engagement stands, interviews, workshops, an intergenerational panel discussion, and a replica living room installation in Lewisham Shopping Centre as part of We Are Lewisham called Sylvia’s Space. While there, I ran an apprenticeship for a young designer Nicole Bastien-Morris and together, while on site for two weeks we made a dress for the show.

Sylvia’s Space was the room where my family lived when we first arrived in the UK, with the furniture and appliances of the time. It was just one room, but it signified so much more, and the community's reception to the room was phenomenal. The space really embodied the shared histories and experiences that bind communities together.

The project ended with the people's fashion show, where the community were invited to come and walk in clothes that they or others they knew had made.

What was the reaction in Lewisham towards the project?
Sylvia’s Space led to such positive engagement with the people of Lewisham that it became difficult to finish the dress! The project celebrated and acknowledged Caribbean women's creativity and tenacity during the Windrush era and raised awareness of some of the struggles faced within the wider community.

Sylvia’s Room became a space for remembrance, healing and reflection through textiles, unearthing histories through the eyes of the forgotten couturier.  Everyone that came into contact with it saw a part of themselves in the room, a reminder that culture and experience transcend age, race and space. 

The project looks at the Caribbean Couturier over the ages. What would you say has changed?
I found many similarities in experiences; 60 years later, Caribbean women are still designing and creating from their homes because that's often what's available.

This project allows people to have a sense of community - reminding different generations of the importance of identity, and legacy and instilling pride in heritage.

What can we learn from the project for future generations?
In opening up and having the conversation, there is the realisation that more needs to be done to celebrate diversity within the industry. The younger generations have this opportunity to ensure the future of fashion represents them too.

How can the project stay alive?
The project left me wanting to uncover more. I felt like I was at the tip of the iceberg. I am now at the London College of Fashion doing a PhD looking at the British Caribbean Fashion designers and their work, and I want to give women designers a voice, I want to expose their histories.

I am grateful for London Borough of Culture funding for starting this journey.  Going forward we have a comprehensive archive and are in the process of developing educational resources that can go into schools, colleges and informal learning spaces. But beyond that, I would love to support other Londoners to replicate this project in other boroughs. It’s about pulling resources and sharing to recognise hidden histories, document them and change the narrative going forward. We can only do that together. There is a bigger story to tell, and I would happily support that process.

Explore a virtual recreation of Sylvia’s Space.