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Zam Barrett Dialogue/ Zfactorie - Official Affiliate Thread.

Zamb

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Some shots of FW19
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Benesyed

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What shoes are those?
 

Zamb

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What shoes are those?
thanks B,

we have been having both internet and computer issues hence the extended delay in replying.

the shoes are vintage/ thrift store shoes we bought, recolored and customized for editorial and shooting purposes.
I must say, there are some official ZB footwear in the works but we are not ready to speak about them yet
 

Lohikaarme

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The Protological Archetype shirt is probably my favorite of yours this season.

You tell us a lot here but make sure to tell the viewers on your webstore too!
 

Zamb

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The Protological Archetype shirt is probably my favorite of yours this season.

You tell us a lot here but make sure to tell the viewers on your webstore too!
thanks
interestingly all descriptions and measurements are being added to the site this very minute

All descriptions will be up by end of the day. and all measurements by tomorrow. we are taking our time and ensuring everything is done properly

ENJOY:
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Zamb

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black friday 1.jpg

A Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to our friends here at Styleforum,

We are pleased to announce to you the Launch of our BLACK FRIDAY - CYBER MONDAY SALE
The Sale is now Live and will run through Monday at Midnight.

The sales breaks are as follows:

* Up to 40% on Mens FW19/ 20 Items
* Special Black Friday Weekend deals - UP TO 50% OFF, for Men and Women available here
* Up to 70% off on Remaining FINAL SALE ITEMS with Code: BLACK70.
* UP TO 25% OFF ON select Womenswear items.


* NO CODE NECESSARY FOR FW19/ 20 ITEMS
 
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Zamb

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Zamb

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Happy Holidays to the SF family, been a bit since we posted some information in this thread, with being busy with so many different things we don't get to communicate as we'd like,
hope everyone is well and having a great holiday season.


For Boxing day into Sunday, well be having 15% off our webshop with code: BOXING15. the code is valid for all items in the shop, both menswear and womenswear.

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Our New SLIM PROFILE LAPTOP CASE is now available online. available in 3 colors, Black/ Red/ Tan.
the case fits a 13 inch laptop perfectly
 

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Zamb

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Hello Stylefroum,
We want to wish everyone a happy holidays and an early happy New year as we are less than 48 hours away.

January 2020 will be a special time for me personally as it will be several milestones
1. My 30th year sewing
2. My 20th year living in the united States pursuing my career as a designer
3. The 10th year of Zfactorie

For me these are important milestones and a time to celebrate.
For the entire month of January beginning New Years Day, we will be having a series of events activities in celebration of these milestones.

*We will be honoring some of our best customers and supporters and the people who has made it possible for us to continue what we do
* We will be releasing a series of special edition of iconic garments we have made throughout the years. 20 styles in total, one for each year I have lived in America.

* I have also been documenting the memories over the years, of how I started as a 13 year old in sewing, when I decided to become a fashion designer and some of the pitfalls and success I have had.
A lot of it will be posted here, come along for the ride, it will be fun!
 

Zamb

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Along with our giveaways and celebration, I am giving an insight into my years as a designer.
We started with the first three years of how i got into making clothing at age 13, Enjoy!

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ZAM BARRETT - INTRO PART I
---------------------------------------------
Age 13 - 16 | The First Three Years

I started sewing when I was 13. I was just about to enter 3rd form in high school, and like we always did, I had taken my uniform pant to a local tailor in my community to be made for the new school year. I had no intentions of being a tailor or a designer. I didn’t even know there was such a career as a Fashion Designer. That did not exist in Jamaica, at least not on any mass level as it does in first world countries. We had tailors, generally men, and dressmakers who were generally women. Men made men’s clothes and women made clothes for women. That was it. Wherever there was an overlap, it was that men’s shirts were at times made by women, but in Jamaica at the time there was not much in terms of “design” at least not in the ghetto…………Tailors made basic pants, simple cuts, and the customer decided, whether they wanted the pants loose or slim, one or two back pockets, “Kiss Pleat” or “Knife Pleat”
Tailored Suits were a rarity, a tailor could live his whole life in Jamaica and made pants only. The tailor who was able to cut and sew jackets were highly skilled, often specialists who worked for bigger tailoring firms like Spencer’s Tailoring, like Noel A Fray, (of whom I bought several sewing machines when they were closing down that I use to this day!)
The closest the Ghetto had to a fashion designer was BIGGY, He was creative and talented, there were others, but he became the most known. He became famous for making stage clothes for entertainers such as Capleton, Pinchers etc, his most famous client being Shabba Ranks, who became an international reggae icon, placing Biggy on the map. After he became famous you had rappers like Shinehead, etc, who commissioned him to do work…..
But back to the tailors……there were two young creative tailors who came about in the community that were doing something different, Charlie Pride and Tommy. They had started a business together that had a synergistic relationship that could have been great. They were like our version of Dolce and Gabbana.
Pride was a fashion plate, tall, a body builder with thick glasses and wore a lot of jewelry, He had great style. Was almost always well dressed and was always looking himself over to make sure NOTHING was out of Place. He was like a ghetto Dandy, incredibly focused on his personal appearance. For all of his flaws he had an unwavering commitment to quality workmanship. Tommy was a technical genius, one of the most naturally talented technicians I had ever seen, but he was disorganized, often lazy and distrustful. He had an immense talent, but not the kind of work ethic necessary to be a great professional. It was he, to whom I gave my pants to be sewn, word has it that he had learned some of his skills from a great tailor who worked on Saville row that had retired to Jamaica.
The School year in Jamaica begins in September, and every kid going back to school at that time, as much as their parents could afford, has new uniforms, new bags, new shoes and a new haircut (if you are a boy). I had the unenviable distinction that year, of having to wear old uniforms from the previous school year as Tommy to whom I had given my pants and paid in full, did not finish them.
One evening I had enough, so I went to the shop and was adamant that he left what he was doing and finish my pant. At the time, he was doing some embellishment on a pair of jeans. He told me that he’d finish the pant as soon as he was finish with the embellishments on the jeans.
I made a deal with him.
I said: here is the deal, let me finish the jeans for you and you can use the time to finish my pants…..
He said: “you can do this?”
I said: “Sure. I have done them before, let me show you”

He reluctantly obliged and I began to do them until it was finished……then my pants were finished.
Great! I finally had new school pants!
I remember them quite well, Cotton- Polyester poplin, lightweight, two pleats, a slant pocket and jeans like topstitching down the side. One back pocket. I never liked two….I was always a one back pocket man.
By the time all this was done, Charlie Pride had arrived at the shop, and saw the finished customized jeans, he said “wow” these look good, then he was told, that I had done them.
He said: let me ask you, how much would you charge us to do this?
We always get them, and hate doing them, but people pay us good money for them so we do it.
I knew nothing about money at the time, the most relatable knowledge I had, was how much money my Mom gave me each day for lunch money to go to school.
Thirty dollars it is, I said………..and he said OK. Done deal
I guess it was cheap, there was no negotiation, he agreed, thirty dollars it was!

Each day after school, in the evenings I would go to the tailor shop, and do embellishments and customizations on jeans. I was very artistic, I could always draw, from young age, and had good calligraphy skills. I ALWAYS sketched my style of pants and took to the tailors…………interestingly, even then, I had a book of sketches, and people who would come and ask me to make sketches for them. If not sketches for clothing, my mom or my sister or some lady would ask me to “draw a style” for them to take to their dress maker. I made dance posters, Kites, Box trucks, skates…………just natural creative abilities I had even before I found practical uses for them or knew how they would come into play years later.
At the tailor shop, it got to a point where customization and embellishment projects were no more, but the tailor shop became my hung out spot………
Weed was smoked there (I didn’t smoke, I didn’t like weed)
Liquor was there, yes I drank.
Women came, lots of them, Charlie was a notorious ‘Gallis” along with a few of his friends whose privacy I will respect by not naming names…………..LOL, (your secrets are safe with me)
I liked hanging out there, I did my homework there each day, had friends who were older whom I learned a lot from, both good and bad, and it was a place to stay out of trouble.
Crime in Jamaica was not as big problem then, it was the early 90’s and the music was still decent, people had respect and the influx of guns had not yet infiltrated the island to the degree that happened after. In those days young men were more ambitious and there was a large influx of young career people who came to have uniforms made for work, clothes made to attend dances, parties and all manner of social events. I was curious, my mind was restless and I asked them to show me how to thread the sewing machine. At the time there was no Juki industrial, there were the small Singer “black head” machines that used residential electricity. I learned, I took on my first project, a pair of shorts, made in Rayon Challis, white in the front, black on one of the back pants and a floral print on the other…………..took me an entire month of trial, error and mistakes to complete. It was terrible, but I was proud………….I completed my first sewing project.
I decided to try another. I had a Cross Colors bucket had my father who was living in the US at the time had sent me. It had a large X across the front and MALCOM, written in monochrome black below it. At the time I had no idea who Malcolm X was, but I liked the design. I replicated the letters and made a pair of jeans in black and combat green denim with a floral print. Malcom X written in colored letters down the front left leg. It was for me an artistic and aesthetic breakthrough, I was 14!
I made my first pair of pants and I was proud!
I continued, I did alterations, I made clothes for myself to attend parties etc, My friends began to like what I made, and I was commissioned by several of my peers to make stuff for them. Some paid, some didn’t, some owe me money to this day!
As I worked, I began to get better, at cutting pants, at cutting shirts. I was fascinated as to how clothing was made, so I went to stores Like Lees Fifth Avenue, Lees New Kingston, Francis Keane in Half Way Tree who did cut work embroidery, and studied the seam construction of garments. I was often criticized for staring at people……………but it wasn’t the people, it was the clothes. Charlie would criticize me, saying “weh yuh a fallah original Clothes fah?” me nuh look pan Original!
I was enamored by a stich, a seam, a detail, how sleeves hang, how buttons were positioned, all these things fascinated me and as I saw them, my mind began to work. Recording, copying and committing to memory.
In two years I was good perhaps better than the tailors I was among. By the time I got to fifth form, my final year of High School, I was making clothes for my friends, my family members, people in my community, some of my teachers at school, but in all this I had no interest in becoming a designer. Fashion and making clothes was a hobby for me, a side project, I was a naturally brilliant (but often an idle and unfocused) academic student, resting on an ability to “turn it on at will.” I was on on a full scholarship at a private high school (a scholarship that based on my performance at times I didn’t deserve to keep). Being a medical doctor was my ambition, a surgeon like unto Ben Carson (at least the portrayal of him in Gifted Hands). I loved making clothes, but didn’t see being a fashion designer as a legitimate career possibility or something I wanted to pursue……
 
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Zamb

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ZAM BARRETT - INTRO PART II
---------------------------------------------
Age 17 - 20 | Coming Into Being


graduated high school a few days after my 17th birthday. By that time I had already made a name as a talented young tailor. However, I had no real intentions of becoming a tailor as my profession. I had many friends high school, but my two closest were Dave James and Gary McKenzie, we had the same classes, often studied together and all had ambitions of going into medicine or at least doing something in the scientific field. We had hopes of enrolling at the University of the West Indies, but we were young. We thought about studying pharmacology at the College of Arts Science and Technology (now UTECH) and then using that as a stepping stone to enter the medical program at the University of the West Indies. I met all the academic requirements to do so, BUT………..college in Jamaica is very different from most first world countries. Funding for tertiary level education is not easy for the poor, often loans, even student loans required collateral backing. I had wealthy people in my family, very wealthy, but my immediate family was poor so like many other young people from the inner city, tertiary level education was not a certainty for me.

I had an older brother who already was working at a major printing press in Kingston , Lithographic Printers, and through him, a crew of us boys from Chisholm Avenue were able to secure interviews for a Job at the press.
I went and did my interview, just hoping to secure a job, any job. I was interviewed by then owner, Mr Robin Duquesnay. I was articulate and well spoken when I needed to and it is something that has served me well over the years. Seeing my academic credentials coming out of high school, at the end of the interview he said to me………”you are too talented for me to put on the printing floor, come with me let me introduce you to our Proof reader, you will be his assistant.
He took me to the office of the proofreader, Marlon Ellis, and said:
“Proofie! From today, this man is your assistant. I , want you to teach him all that you know”
I got the Job, I was now the assistant proof reader at the largest printing press in Kingston, right out of high school.
In the next few days, I graduated high school, took two weeks off to relax and started my new Job at Lithographic Printers.

On the day of my graduation I had a HUGE fight with Charlie Pride, and I swore never to return to the tailor shop. Ever. Interestingly, as much as my mother did not want or envisioned me doing tailoring as a career, she might have aided this destiny more than she realized. You see, she had bought me a sewing machine as a graduation present for acing my CXC exams. I was sometimes lazy, often idle and unfocused, but when I committed myself, there was very few of my peers who could grasp material as I could. I had, and still have an exceptional memory and that was enough for me to do well………..She was proud.

I went to work at Lithographic Printers with a high reputation. I was well dressed, it was told to my coworkers on the job by my friends, that I made clothing. People at work began to commission my services. I was still doing work for my friends in my community.
Every evening, I left work at 5pm, went home and began to sew. I sewed evenings and all day on the weekends. What money I earned sewing evenings and weekends, was often three to four times what I was paid for my day job. I loved my Job, I got to dressed up everyday, I got to interact with other working professionals and most of all to network. The fulfilment of that was more than the money.
After working at lithographic printers for almost a year, whether fortunately or unfortunately, I got into a huge fight on the Job. I have mellowed a bit, cooled over time, but as a youngster I backed down from NO ONE, I don’t think it was wise, but I was FEARLESS. My fearlessness got me in a fight and FIRED.

I was out of a Job…….It was at this time that the possibility of becoming a full time tailor first crossed my mind. I had more work than I could manage, a long waiting list of customers, and as a then seventeen year old, more money than I could spend.

By this time Charlie and I had patched up our friendship and he had apologized and invited me to return to the shop. Not anymore as an apprentice but as a full partner there. Tommy had left, and the circumstances were different. I was at the time sewing in my backyard, My “shop” was a large piece of cardboard, a bench on which I placed my sewing machine each morning and a chair for me to sit on. It wasn’t fancy, wasn’t professional, but it didn’t stop people from coming. At Charlie’s invitation, I gave it up comradery and facilities and the shop was better. I returned.

My Mom was concerned; she didn’t like the fact that I was fired. She asked me: Aren’t you going to look for another job?
For the very first time, I uttered the first words that meant I began to taking sewing and fashion as a serious profession. I said no Mama, I am going to Sew……….

As in any profession, whether the practitioners be young or old, there is always a good dose of rivalry. As a young Tailor in my community, there were other aspiring practitioners, who claimed to be rivals. There was my good friend Nicolai “Skeng’ Williams, who was a former classmate at primary school. There was Paul and Patrick Gaynor, of Twins of Twins Fame, (many people don’t know they were Tailors before the became Musicians) there were others, some good, but none as good as I was…………they didn’t want to acknowledge it, but I was the best, at least in my local community
Jeans was very Popular then, and designer jeans was very expensive in Jamaica. We made replicas of designer jeans, some our own designs, and one jeans in the early 90’s could easily fetch you 1K (JMD). I was able to make at least 3 to 4 pairs everyday, I was that good. Where I excelled is that there was a very good lady, Sandra Wilson, to whom I am heavily indebted, she taught me how to make shirts, and at least some version of a Blazer….none of my peers had that skillset. I was a Master of Linen suits and white linen shirts. I had friends who worked at the factories on Marcus Garvey drive, that produced shirts and jeans for Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. they’d steal them, and then trade trade me two or three Ralph or Tommy for one ZB Linen!
Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren were nice, but going to party of a dance in Jamaica at the time, if you are not wearing something Moschino or Versace, you needed s Linen Suit
It was a good trade, I’d sell the Tommy and Ralph Shirts to my customers who were working professionals who needed them…………I won Both ways………..LOL.

At age 18, I was making a ton of Money, Fashion was my career now and college was out of the picture, at least for the moment. At the time I was dating a woman who was nine years older, 27. Well truth be told she was one of several women I dated, but my heart at the time was for a beautiful young lady who loved across the street…………N. L. It was she who inspired me to do womenswear. I wanted to dress her, and so I started to make her clothing. I made her a dress, simple shift, in beige linen, a denim shorts and top to match……then her friends came, and her mom, and then other women, and my women’s business was getting just as big as the men’s.
At the time, Fashion in Jamaica began to get exiting. Biggy was on the Rise, I had a friend, Peter, (RIP) who had a business in Half Way Tree. Through him I met THE OUCH CREW a talented set of Women who came to Jamaica and started to take fashion by storm, Paula and Debbie were young and pretty, “Mama Ouch” was the Boss. Through them I met Lady Saw, Ninja Man and several other entertainers some of which I did work for. They wanted to hire me full time, but I was not interested in leaving my business with at the time a large client base to work for anyone.
By this time, I had met my friend Al White, and another friend who was at the pinnacle of Jamaican fashion at the time, the international Icon Les Campbell. White and Campbell became good friends and mentors, and their association opened doors for me.
It was through Les Campbell I got to know Kingsley Cooper, the owner of Pulse Modelling agency and agent to some of the best models from out of Jamaica at the time. I began to be a rising star on the local scene. I did the Smirnoff Jamaica Fashion Collections, the yearly Pulse shows, I dressed Wendy Fitzwilliams. Miss Universe 1998. I showed alongside Roger Rodney (former designer to Dancehall Queen Carlene), Karl and Marc of Uzuri International and a slew of other local and international talents. I was in the big leagues now. Well, as big as Jamaica had to offer at the time. I was 19 years old, the youngest among my peers, earning my respect.




My Mother always wanted me to go to college, for as much as I had done and accomplished, Tailoring in Jamaica has a dirty stigma to it, this stigma extends to a lot of other trade professions. It is the foolish idea, that people who practiced any kind of trade as a profession, were people not academically oriented and as such, less smart that people who perused degree programs.
One day she had heard an interview of a man who had come to Jamaica, as a recruiter from the London College of Fashion. She gave me the contact information, but at the time I was not interested. School was not in my mind. I was making money, accomplishing great success locally and partying all over the place. At the time I had pretty much moved out and was living on my own………My friends and I Partied from Friday evening into Monday morning, we were party animals!
We didn’t own cars, but we had Bicycles, some of the cleanest, most stylish, high end mountain Bikes on the island. My Best friend at the time, Roger Smith had owned a bicycle shop. We made A LOT of money, buying Stolen Bikes, reconditioning them and selling them for large profits. At times he’s come to me and say: Zam, de man dem bring a Canyondale and want a grand fe it!
I’d loan him the money, we loaned each other money, we’d buy clothes together. Id make outfits for him similar to mine, Nike Air Max and Clarks desert boot was out footwear of Choice. Roger was an excellent businessman with a great knack for making money….He is a very wealthy man today.



My business had gotten to the size, where Charlie and I couldn’t share a space anymore, and I had gone through a series of life changes, was moving away from Partying, Women and some friends who were beginning to get violent. I wanted a change of scenery, I rented a location in Richmond Park, close to Half Way tree, where I could be closer to, and cater to the client base I wanted to focus my work towards. For the very first time, I moved from being simply a custom tailor to a Full Fledged Fashion designer. I started to sketch again, to develop my ideas, to design my own work and display it in my space with the intent to sell. I did not want to do custom projects anymore. I wanted to design!
 

Zamb

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Hello All, lots A happy new year to everyone
Lots of great things happening.

1. I will post the final part of the into Tonight. - that will be it for now, there may be a book in the Works.
2. Massive Sale begins tonight. One DAY ONLY - EVERYTHING 50% off on New Years Day - EVERYTHING on Zfactorie
3. every weekday in January, - A Collectors, commemorative item will drop - 20 Items. some one alone, some multiple sizes.


For Tonight at Midnight - 20 PAIRS OF CLASSIC DNA JEANS IN PAINTERS CANVAS
these will be individually number, and comes with a 20 x 20 inch tote bag. the First and last one, the customer will receive his item Free. they will be $220

we are going to celebrate!
 

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