APRIL, 2023
Victoria Tom creates clothes you want to live in. The composing of an essential ‘made in the Caribbean’ wardrobe. Clothes I’d wear daily.
This idea of wearing anything repeatedly might sound like blasphemy in a time where it seems most fashionable to document every moment and outfit for a digital show. Still, Victoria Tom makes clothing that seems perfectly made for us. — Reversible swimwear, easy jumpsuits, casual soft pants, tops with hand-done details, crocheted and beaded bags… Effortless, relaxed, chic.
I had been admiring Victoria’s style for a while now. Eying her clothing with increasing interest, so I was pleasantly surprised when I met the designer to realise that she was as cool as her clothing.
VICTORIA: It is really hot today. It’s a nice beach day.
Oh no. Am I stealing your beach day?
VICTORIA: No, no I prefer Saturdays when no one else is there. I grew up a lot in nature. I was always at the beach, so the beach is my happy place.
I have to say, I was very honoured when you asked me to do this interview because I’ve been following Designer Island, I think, from the beginning. It’s so cool for something like this to exist. There’s nothing else like it.
Thank you. That means a lot. Especially since we’re just coming back from a year-long hiatus.
So first question; Is your real name Victoria Tom? It’s such a good brand name.
VICTORIA: It is! I didn’t want to use my name initially. I didn’t really want it to be but the name I wanted was too expensive to get the website for, and I just wanted to make clothes, so I decided I’ll just use my name and get started.
It’s a lovely name. Such a designer name… So Victoria Tom. Tell me all about her.
VICTORIA: Well, I’m from Diego Martin. I’ve lived there since I was three. I went to Maria Regina, then to St Joseph’s Convent then Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. I have two sisters who I’m very close to. We spent a lot of time together growing up. We are very close in age, and they have helped me a lot with bringing the brand to life.
Were you always into fashion and art?
VICTORIA: No. I always thought that I was going to do business. When I was in secondary school, I chose business subjects. But my mom used to have a lot of fashion magazines around, and in one of them, I read something about doing a programme for teenagers in fashion design, and I said, ‘Oh, I want to do that.’ I was around 15 or so and it just clicked.
I will say doing business subjects initially has helped me tremendously now, having that kind of background in business, accounts, economics, that kinda stuff.
Before you came across the fashion magazine, was there any feeling or inclination towards more creative pursuits?
VICTORIA: Hmm not really. Or at least not that I’m aware of. I thought art was cool but never thought I had that kind of creativity in me. Growing up I had a weird period when I wasn’t really present; I was just kinda existing, but I have this T-shirt that I guess was the first thing I ever designed. It was from Form One in Art Class when we were doing Colour Theory, creating these abstract blobs. My dad thought it was cool and printed it on T-shirt I never wore it then, but now I wear it all the time with jeans and stuff.
That’s very cool. Would you say your parents had a strong influence on you growing up?
VICTORIA: I think so. I thought my parents were so cool. I told my mom recently – that I used to think you all were so cool. I thought they were amazing and beautiful. I wanted to be like them.
I remember thinking like that as a child. My mom was one of those people who would get ready to go to one of those business meetings and always dressed really well. She went to parties and stuff for Carnival, and had a great wardrobe, so that definitely influenced me. I loved being in her closet and watching her get ready
So when did the ideas for your fashion design life start to seep in? Your aesthetic, your style, your inspiration, when did that start to develop?
VICTORIA: I lived in New York for five years. I went to college at Pratt Institute, studied Fashion Design, and then spent a year working in retail.
Being in NY. In a place with ‘these aesthetics’, there is no one aesthetic. You see all these different things all the time. New York was a space where I don’t want to say ‘merged the two’ (NY and the Caribbean), but whilst exploring these things, I can see the ‘Caribbean-ness’ still there in everything I was doing.
I don’t want to say that is how it was formed because I don’t know what ‘that thing’ is. I like to make comfortable clothes; I want ease and colour. But I am still exploring what the aesthetic is. It’s still developing and I’ll always have a hard time trying to define it.
So when did you actually start the brand?
VICTORIA: I moved back to Trinidad in 2019, right before the pandemic, which was a very intense transitional period for me.
When I returned, I did not have the wardrobe I needed to live here.
I started making things that I wanted to wear, things that my sisters wanted to wear and put my own twist on them. Using materials that suit the climate that we live in. It is formed from where I am and merges with what I want to see.
You have an orange jumper I need to have. Then there are the bags – the beading and the knits.
VICTORIA: I love working with my hands. I really like to knit and crochet. I didn’t intend to crochet a bag. It was more of a hobby and therapy for me. I enjoy working with my hands, whether dying something or printing a T-shirt. I would just start making it.
What has the experience and feeling of producing and selling your own work been like for you so far?
VICTORIA: It is a little strange. It is not something I ever thought I would be doing right now, if ever. I never planned to have my own brand. I always thought I’d work for somebody for a long time, then maybe, later on, I’d do my own thing, but the pandemic pushed me to start.
I have gotten used to putting myself out there now, but in the beginning, I had a tough time putting my work into the world – putting out what I liked, what I enjoyed and what I made. I always felt self-conscious, and I think working for myself has helped me become a little more confident. And then, having my name on it is very strange. Sometimes someone would ask, ‘Oh, you make this stuff?’ And I’d say, ‘Yeah, I do.’ That is so strange to me, but it’s cool. It’s cool! It’s weird, but it makes me extremely happy that people appreciate what I make. Part of the way I express and show love and care for people is by making these things and bringing these things into the world. And when people react positively to it. That’s the best part. That’s the best part, for sure.
I’ve noticed that you often say ‘fashion’, then correct yourself and say, ‘I make clothes’.
VICTORIA: I’m a bit of an overthinker. And yes, I studied Fashion Design, but the word ‘fashion’ literally means the latest trends happening now, and I did have a strange relationship with it sometimes I do enjoy fashion. I enjoy fashion shows. They are amazing and creative, but I also think fashion is a bit of a superficial, toxic industry. So, I have a hard time fully embracing fashion as an industry and a concept. Clothes feel slower, more natural, and more connected to people.
So, let’s talk sustainability in Caribbean fashion a bit…
VICTORIA: I try to be mindful and conscious in everything that I make. I also had that battle with working in the industry because I know how bad it is for the environment. However, there is a way forward, and my way of dealing with that is to be extra conscious of the materials I use.
“I will not say that I do everything perfectly and am a sustainable brand. I am not going to say that, but I try to be conscious. I do my best.”
SHOP: VICTORIA TOM
Interviewer: tanya marie portraits of victoria tom by : Errol John – – – Victoria Tom black +white jumpers and shorts in the yard photos by Jesica Sadler, blue tie dyed swimwear, crocheted bag and Green Monday/Swimwear photos by Victoria Tom
