YOU! by Calvin French YOU! Magazine - Issue 2 | Page 120

“I love colour because, one, I am a
Caribbean man and two, I am an
African descendant and there is a lot
of great coloured fabric that comes
out of that aesthetic. The concept of
the original dandy comes from right
here in the Caribbean. I love colour
because it reminds you of some of
the most beautiful things on earth
like birds, flowers, the sea, turquoise
is one of my favourite colours,
purple is one of my favourite colours,
greens, blue, also I am really getting
into brows now. I think it is really fun
to have different shades of colour
because they flash out to you so loud
blue glasses, things to get people’s
eyes going. As a Caribbean man,
colour is essential,” he said.
Charles said fashion influences
were all around him growing up. His
mother would try on different things
in her wardrobe every Sunday and
his sister, now the designer behind
the brand Bene Caribe, was always
drawing designs.
There was also the influence of
his maternal grandfather and
great-grandfather who were sharp
dressers.
formal. I have a saying you could
never be overdressed but it is easy
to be underdressed. You could dress
it up or down with a T-Shirt, you
could roll the sleeves up to make it
look casual or pull it down to make it
formal…it is a very versatile piece of
clothing,” he said.
“My favourite accessory is, of course,
a top hat, my choice is a stingy brim
pork pie with straw and in cold
weather a pinch crown fedora. If I
had a favourite accessory it would be
a pocket square.”
Charles said he is a big fan of local
designers, Meiling, The Cloth, Ecliff
Elie, Mark Eastman and Gregory
Mills, who is currently working on
outfits for him.
His advice to young professionals
thinking about pulling together their
looks is that fashion is about where
you are and where you are going and
how you want to feel. Consideration
should be given to things like
weather, he said with dark colours
best for rainy or snowy weather
while bright colours work in sunny
conditions.
“Think about the patterns, be careful
how you blend patterns, small
always goes well with big and vice
versa. Mixing patterns with solids
is always a very safe bet. Pocket
squares always add colour, too much
is a lot of times just as bad or if not
worse than too little. When you shop
you want to buy things you can put
with something else. When you but
“’I am almost always in a blazer cause two suits you should get four looks
it could look dressy, it could look
from it,” he said.
Beyond an interest in wearing
fashionable clothes, Charles also
designs and produced a men’s line
for Bene Caribe and plans to have his
own bespoke fashion line one day.
His favourite item of clothing is a
single button, single-breasted blazer
with peak lapel, slanted pockets and
side vents
120 - YOU!
YOU! Magazine
Magazine by
by Calvin
Calvin
French
French