Blaqson grabbing attention with art
Published:Sunday | March 20, 2022 | 12:09 AMPaul H. Williams - Sunday Gleaner Writer
You cannot see Blaqson’s clothes and look away. The already standout pieces are emblazoned with the art of its owner, Barrington Brissett, a New York-born and bred artist/designer whose parents are Jamaicans. They are artsy, arresting, free-spirited, and political while celebrating the black woman at the same time.
“Most of my art and designs are influenced by black culture, and more specifically, often inspired by black [women]. My goal with my brand is to create a platform where I can use my art to make people of colour feel seen, heard, and valued,” the 25-year-old graduate of York College CUNY explained. He majored in English and is a freelance designer.
In describing his clothing as “suited for the streetwear aesthetic”, the son of Cornwall College ‘old boy’, Andrew Brissett, said his art has always complemented his designs and that he had used “multiple mediums” such as sewing and painting to create his art.
Brissett has been drawing since he “was old enough to hold a pencil”, but started designing in 2019 during his senior year in college when he took a costume-designing course to fulfil an elective requirement. That course taught him how to sew clothes.
“I have always been passionate about art since early in my childhood, but my journey in creating my brand started in 2019. While taking the course, I realised I had the potential for fashion design, and other people saw my designs and encouraged me to pursue it after finishing the course,” he shared with The Gleaner.
He continued: “My artistic style of painting art on clothing is something I developed on my own later that year. While I was accustomed to drawing, I never painted prior. My first time successfully painting was actually on fabric instead of canvas. After I realised I also had [the] potential for painting, I kept practising my brush skills.”
Months after finishing the course, Brissett decided to come up with a strong pro-black name for his brand. Blaqson was decided upon as he knew black people were the ones he wanted to wear his clothes. His designs are thus “specific to highlighting Afrocentric features and culture”. And, “everyone I have encountered approved my message,” he said.
“Black people are my target audience because I understand a lot of people of colour undervalue themselves due to systemic oppression and being socially ostracised. My brand is my personal way of coping with the world’s social injustice as well as sharing the beauty I see in black culture,” he explained. “It extends to all people of African descent, who include Jamaicans as they are strongly influenced by African culture.”
In the long run, in this “very competitive field”, Brissett wants Blaqson to be a household name associated with black excellence and positivity. The message he is conveying through his artsy fashion is: “That being black is a beautiful experience; we are more than our pain.”