Jah9 unveils edgy, classic ‘Style Phyle’ at Lost in Time Fest
Dressed by fashion vet Syntyché Clarke
Published:Friday | March 1, 2024 | 12:08 AMShanel Lemmie/Staff Reporter
At the recent Lost in Time Festival, while Jah9 was reeling from the high of performing for the first time in half a decade in the country of her birth, many were still awestruck by her fashion, both on and off the stage. Catching up with Syntyché Clarke, the woman responsible for the ensembles, she explained that the partnership is still in its infancy.
“I got the phone call maybe two weeks or a week ago literally. I’m telling you, when I say this has been divine, how this all came together.”
She continued, “When they called me, I was just like ‘Who, me? Okay, cool let’s do this’, and we put it together. It really is teamwork, from Celia to Midline Fashion, we all did this. It was not just one person, this is really teamwork.”
Emerging on stage in her signature updo, Jah9 donned a calf-length shirt dress with diamond cutouts circling her midsection. Peaking through the fabric was a silver body chain that caught the light as she danced around. Finishing the look, the Avocado singer wore bronze and turquoise and black strappy heels.
Not confining the drama to the stage, following her performance she switched gears and donned an emerald green crimped crop top and an olive leather pleated skirt. She kept the jewellery in the family, the turquoise and bronze remaining consistent and the drama dialled up to 11.
With both looks from Clarke’s closet at Style Phyle Global, the stylist said the inspo just came from the music.
“All I did was listen to the music,” Clarke began, “tune everything out and listen to the music. Everybody had their ideas of what it should be, but we’re talking about our first time back in Jamaica on the stage. What was that going to represent and how was the movement of the pieces gonna flow when she walked on. We added all of that and this is what you got.”
She continued, “I think she radiated so much beauty, so much power, strength, femininity, all of that came through in her pieces. And that’s what Style Phyle Global is all about - ensuring that our clients express themselves because style is an expression of self and that’s exactly what we wanted, to make sure she’s expressing herself. Stepping out and maybe sometimes pushing her outside of her comfort zone, but also making sure she was confident in what she stepped out in. And I believe she did that.”
Though new to Jah9’s team, Clarke said she has been toiling away in the fashion industry for over 20 years.
“I started my first fashion show is the New York tri-state area, shout out to IrieJam Radio. I did ten years producing New York City fashion shows, I started in 2006 or 2007 and I’ve been in the industry from then.”
Her latest project, Style Phyle Global, is her second coming.
“Launching Style Phyle Global most recently, it was kind of me just stepping back into that. It’s one of my passions, working with women that do really dope things no matter what industry they are from. Style Phyle Global is where a woman discovers, cultivates and elevates [her] style.”