The House of J Angelique

The 28-year-old intends to stamp her brand on the world. “When you wake up, everything must be J Angelique. Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up and live in a J Angelique apartment, put on J Angelique clothes, drive a J Angelique car and just go to work by J Angelique. That is me and that is my world and people like it,” she said. And she wants to bring what she likes to the rest of the world.

Forde runs her business at a clothing store in Valsayn along with business partner, Rian Codrington.

Forde holds a BSc in Sociology with a minor in International Relations and a MSc in Development Statistics, but has always had a love for sewing.

Both her grandmothers were seamstresses, and while attending the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine campus she hosted a number of fashion shows. It was during one of these events in 2012 that she realised she could make her passion a career.

“I started in 2012 when I debuted my first collection. I debuted it at UWI, JFK, St Augustine. My collection was then Caribbean Butterfly, when we did our first Monday wear collection.” Forde said she has always been fashion forward. “Just how I knew I wanted to do Statistics, I knew I wanted to do fashion,” she said.

“I think it was something very much intrinsic and I gave it a shot,” she added.

She uses her knowledge gained at university to run her fashion business.“Fashion is a business as well and it helps when you can manipulate numbers and forecast trends, not only in styles but also numbers.” Sociology, being the study of society, helps to keep Forde’s fashion real. “It is based on people and what people do. We, therefore have collections geared toward everything. From mas to bridal to readyto- wear, if you’re going on a yacht. What you do on a daily basis that is sociology, you know how to analyse the daily living.” Since her debut, Forde says she has grown and her business is less seasonal since she caters to so many things. “Some people might think it is a disadvantage that you’re not focused on, say, swimsuits or one type of dress, but I have to eat every day of the year. So when you’re not playing mas and you’re not buying Monday wear you have to buy work clothes. When you’re not buying work clothes and you’re going out, you buy that. If you’re getting married, you buy that.” Creating pieces that people could relate to and being able to wear everything has helped Forde develop her business even more. In TT, she said, people were open to local fashion. Although she does not like the slogan support local, since “it is not a charity case. I want people to buy it because they want it”.

Forde has taken steps to perfect her art having done short courses in draping, fashion forecasting among others.

“My mother sewed all my clothes when I saw younger. My grandmothers were seamstresses. So it is was a natural ability at first,” she said. She does not sew her own clothing but employs two seamstresses to put together her four or five collections per year.

When she first decided to make fashion her career, her mother, Gillian Forde was “okay with it. It was my dad (Roger Forde, QC) who had the problem.” Her father had ambitions of her being a lawyer like him and was not generally pleased about her career choice. He has since, however, changed his mind, seeing the success of her work.

As to her future ambitions, “I think everyone wants their clothes in Macy’s, but for me clothing is only one aspect. Because I am so ingrained in the Jin Forde/J Angelique world, I want to do clothing and more things.” Forde has since branched into the event management field and is also seeking to try her hands at real estate. Clothing and fashion is just one aspect of what she seeks to accomplish.

She has hosted a series of high teas in Barbados as well as events in TT, bringing how she sees the world closer to people.

She has already launched her new ready-to-wear collection for 2017 called WildFlower and plans to do more business and bridal wear this year.

She defines her style as very feminine, utilising light colours, light fabric using chiffons and nets, as well as creating sexy and easy to wear gowns.

She has styled local television personalities Desha Rambhajan and Hema Ramkissoon, and created a costume for soca artiste Machel Montano in 2015 for Crop Over in Barbados.

She is also a fashion consultant on a Cup of Joe with Joel Villafana on TV6 and co-owns a section in Baje International, a Barbadian Crop Over band.

Forde is patient about her brand being an international household name.

“When the time comes it will come. I think it will be in the form of not a shop necessarily but at least my clothes would be stocked somewhere,” she said. In the meantime, she remains busy building her world.

For more on Janelle Forde’s fashion visit www.jangelique.com