THOUGH American by birth, it took only a few years of living in her family’s native Trinidad and Tobago, for the Caribbean style and culture to etch itself forever to Shaheda Williams’s heart. Now, this influence that has grown with her since childhood, has been brought out in her work through Shaheda Textiles, her swim and resort wear clothing line.

Sewing was always a big part of her life, Shaheda told the Pepperpot Magazine. In fact, it was a talent that was passed down through the generations, beginning from her great grandmother. Coupled with her island influence, today, Shaheda recalls just how much these things have moulded her life.

“Growing up in Trinidad — it is such beautiful island. My grandmother was always making cool outfits for me and my aunt would always have on these bright, matching outfits. It was always about a lot of colour; I love colour expression,” she said. “The houses are brightly coloured, and the way things are in the Caribbean is so different than where I am now. It is a peaceful life; when you wake up you feel a cool breeze from the trees. And the scenery there is beautiful compared to where I am in the city, which is a concrete jungle.”

As though these things are constantly on her mind, Shaheda admitted that designing now serves as a way for her to escape that concrete jungle in Trenton, New Jersey, where she lives, through creating her own Caribbean experience via her clothing.

Shaheda began designing in 2015, focusing on ‘Monday-wear’- clothing worn traditionally on Carnival Mondays in Trinidad and Tobago. After seeing the similarity of Monday-wear to swimwear, she later expanded her brand to include swim and resort wear. Her brand now features bathing suits, cover-ups, rompers, jumpsuits and other ensembles that can be worn during your typical Caribbean vacation.

“Most of my consumers are Caribbean-Americans or Caribbean people who live up here, and African-Americans. I even have a lot of Caucasians buying my clothes,” she said.

The idea of “community” is a large motivator for Shaheda, who ensures that she gives back in some way.

“I do a lot of projects that focus on giving back to my community. I am working on a concept to educate youth to be entrepreneurs,” she said. She is also the founder of Prom Scholar INc, a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing a unique prom experience to high school students graduating and going to college.

“It includes providing custom gowns for girls who can’t afford it. My final goal is to give them an academic scholarship,” she said. Soon, she hopes to work on a project which will give back to her native Trinidad, but she is working to first ensure that her brand is strong enough and influential enough to make a significant impact. “There is a lot of fashion in the Caribbean and the goal is to make them global, so that when they are, they can help to build their brand and can also help to give back to

their community,” she said.

Shaheda believes that more persons with the opportunity to do so, should ensure that they give back, because it creates an influential example for young people to follow.

“I think that the main problem with people who don’t give back is that they fail to realise that they are teaching the youth the same thing. If we gave back, they would see us doing it and do the same thing, so it reoccurs… it’s a good cycle versus all the bad cycles we and people of colour have been stuck with like single-parent homes and other things. It is about starting a good cycle of giving back and nurturiing a homeland. My homeland is Trinidad– it’s about nurturing those places,” she said.