Classic Man
Rhaj Paul – The Alchemist, the Rebel, the Icon
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
“I make for myself first, my clients next, and my critics last. I want them to dwell in it. I want them to leave like damm!”
Alchemist, rebel, tailor, style icon. These are only a few of the words used to describe the dynamic force that I am featuring this week as our Classic Man.
Rhaj Paul is one of the biggest designers out of Barbados. As a designer, Rhaj has experienced success with his striking designs, quality, precision, and originality that go into each and every one of his creations. The demand for his work has grown consistently over the years, and he is single handedly proving that the Caribbean fashion industry has a lot to give the world.
His work continues to bring a unique perspective on fashion and execution, and for this reason, on September 12th, 2021, Caribbean Tales Film Festival will be showcasing Rhaj Paul’s fashion series Hashtag Tailored, where he discusses the changing landscape of fashion, perception of prejudices, and other challenges in the fashion world with industry professionals and creatives.
It was about twenty years ago that he co-founded Rhaj Paul Montaazh, the first ever men’s street wear brand to come out of Barbados. Later in 2010, he began his main project Evolve, a conscious fashion brand inspired in St Lucia, created in Barbados, and marketed worldwide. Rhaj Paul has embraced a wider concept of learning through living the artist life and working with his hands, head and heart. Together with his wife, Rhaj has built the Ministry Of Style Creative Alliance (MOSca), which serves to advance local creative development and enterprise.
I had a chance to dialogue with Rhaj Paul, and he openly shared his experiences as an entrepreneur in the clothing industry, and how he has taken his failures, and turned them into success. In what seems to be his usual fashion, Rhaj came dressed to impress with one of his signature shirt designs; without even talking to him, I knew this was going to be a great interview.
“I was actually born in Barbados. My mom is from Sri Lanka (she passed three years ago). My Dad went to Sri Lanka on a scholarship, and that was where he met my mom, and brought her back to Barbados.
My mom bought a sewing machine from Sri Lanka to Barbados. She wasn’t a seamstress; it was just that ladies were supposed to have certain tools to work with. My sense of style crept in at around ten. At the age of twelve I started to dabble in it. I really enjoyed attending Church services because it became a way to dress up and express myself.”
Rhaj stopped and chuckled before he told me his first story. “I wanted my pants to be tapered (they were called stovepipes back in the day, my dad tells me). I was like, I think I can do that. I made the hole so small that it hitch up on my ankle, but I had my small bottoms. My mom saw something in me, and. about eight years later, I really got into it. She went out and bought me a portable sewing machine. It was my hand luggage going back to school. My mom has always been such a source of support for me.”
Rhaj shares with me a bit more about his family. “My younger brother picked up on everything that I was doing. He gravitated to all the things that I was into: skateboarding, the beach, hair, and clothing. He lives with my dad, and to this day, he dresses my dad.”
Rhaj’s keen eye for fashion was noticed when he went away to college. This was the first time that he began experimenting with fashion, and with different looks.
“The summer before I got the sewing machine, I had returned from my first year of college in Trinidad, and I saw this guy with these green pants. In my head I was like, ‘they were bad.’ I met the designer, and he showed me the stuff he was doing. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I asked him to show me how to sew. I spent time learning, and that was it. Once I learned how to make one thing (jeans), I kept making them.”
Someone asked him for a pair, so he made it. Students started to come to him for alterations, and his name very quickly got around the campus.
In 2000 things really jumped off. He began experimenting more. His star began to rise, and there was an article written about him. That was when things really jumped off.
“I was invited to do the Barbados Manufacturing Expo. This is where I met Joe Brooks. He is great at envisioning displays. He wanted to do a retail display, so we decided to work together. To this day, it is one of the most amazing displays I have ever seen. It was so dope, so impactful. We partnered for about five years.
After we stopped working together, I must admit that I felt a little lost. What was I going to do now? I asked myself, what can you do on your own that doesn’t require tools. I realized that I was already doing something that I wasn’t being paid for, styling. I was already telling clients what to piece my creations with. This was natural for me. I am always thinking, I know what this will look good with. I want my clients to combine in a way to really bring out the piece. I will help put them together.”
He decided to zero in on that part and make it lucrative. His first major styling job was for David Kirton, a Reggae artist in Barbados. His team wanted Rhaj to create looks, not original pieces. They invited him to go on a trip to LA to style for the videos. “We went shopping and put the looks together. It went from building garments, to building the look.”
Since then, Rhaj’s designs have become the talk of the international fashion community. I asked him for some words of encouragement for our young designers
“Don’t resist creating the change that you want. Insist, don’t resist. You see the issue ahead, but don’t take on that battle.”
I would encourage our young creative readers to watch Stitch Straight, the series being showcased at the Caribbean Tales Film Festival. It features a discussion with forty-year veteran of the Barbados fashion industry Roland RoJoe Bascombe regarding fashion culture in Barbados. You can also check out Everybody Loves Camo! It follows Rhaj and members of his styling agency, the Ministry Of Style Creative Alliance, as they ponder the legality of wearing and designing with camo in Barbados. You can join the movement and learn more about Rhaj by checking him out his series, #tlrd on YouTube.
It was a great dialogue, and an amazing time spent with our Classic Man. It goes to show that anything is possible, especially if you have faith in yourself, and your abilities.