About the Designer
Damian Moore’s heritage is along the waters of the Moruca River at the tip of Guyana; but he is quick to point out that there is also bit of Indian, African and Portuguese blood running through his veins.
In fact, a DNA test shows he is but 5% Indian, thanks to his Madrasi grandmother. Even so, much of his work, first as an artist and now also fashion designer, bears out his Indian and Amerindian heritage.
It was while he was pursuing the Fine Arts programme at the University of Guyana that a friend introduced him to books on Indian culture, including henna design. So when his friend’s niece was getting married, he did her henna designs, and also decorated the hall for the Mehendi night of the wedding.
Had he not stayed over for Carnival after a Christmas trip to Trinidad in 2008, he would probably still be in Guyana. You can’t blame him, really. Which budding designer would pass around Brian MacFarlane’s Mas camp and not be pushing to get in?
Once the opportunity presented itself, he was off to Trinidad to contribute to the famed Trini designer’s carnival band. Not that he would stick to that only.
Back when he was 19, he went on exhibition at the Umana Yana, the massive city replica of an Amerindian house that went up in flames not too long ago. His work, an abstract piece based on music, was quickly bought.
So on the side of working for MacFarlane, he took up his brush whenever the inspirations came. That paid off big time for him. “”Degrees of Self,” based on the Chakra (in Sanskrit “Wheel”), which in Indian yoga and mediations refers to so-called wheels of energy in the human body, was selected for the Urban Art project in Trindiad and a print decorated the walls of the Queen’s Park Oval. Moore became the first Guyanese to have his work exhibited in that way.
As in “Degrees of Self,” Damian continued the Indian influence in his work. His latest fashion collection is called Jaipur – The Pink City, a breezy (spring/summer, if you prefer) ready to wear collection and accessories.
Pink has always been a favourite colour for him, and so Jaipur, painted pink in 1876 for the visit of the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria, was chosen as the inspiration for the collection.
With his new collection, Moore seeks to bridge the gap for today’s woman who wants to keep up with modern trends but also wants to maintain her cultural identity.
Some of the designs are loud, while some are more subtle, capturing various aspects of Jaipur and its association with pink.
Damian Moore still lives in Trinidad, but comes home occasionally to teach the foundation class in fashion design at the Burrowe’s School of Art in Georgetown.
Jaipur, the Pink City collection, was his thesis for the degree in Fashion and Design at the Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design at the University of Trinidad and Tobago.