From Boy Wonder to Phillip Green: Aspirations of a Designer
Having designed since his teens, talented London designer Romero Bryan has had his designs worn by the likes of Rachel Hunter and Kelly Rowland. Known for his penchant for floaty fabrics, the 26-year-old now is ready to be a successful household name.
Romero Bryan is very gregarious, not to mention well-dressed. Today, in a checkered short-sleeve shirt teamed with jeans and a face-cap, he leads the way to a quaint Chinese eatery in Soho cracking jokes along the way. But then again, what else does one expect from a young and upcoming designer/stylist whose designs have been worn by the likes of Brandy Norwood, Rachel Hunter, Amerie and Kelly Rowland?
It has been a long journey for the 26-year-old Londoner born to Jamaican parents and known for his multi-colored, pleated silk designs and sexy chiffon numbers. And while the talented designer says “his signature style is still developing,” he also is very sure about what he wants: one high-end label, specializing in one-offs for designers and the other “haute street” brand, where beautiful designs are more affordable for the everyday women. So wrap up, relax and get comfortable for his story.
Bryan was born into a family with fashionable sensibilities—his mother was a buyer, his grandfather a tailor and his grandmother a seamstress. But it wasn’t until the age of 11 that he discovered his interest in the industry.
Wanting a customized look for his final primary school disco, the designer popped into a local tailor, not knowing the price would be too much of a burden for an adolescent’s pocket.
The owner took pity on him and set up an agreement: Bryan would help with cleaning and running errands, and in return, he would spend a few hours every day teaching him the basics of tailoring.
“It started off with me going just for a few weekends, and I stayed on for four years. I wasn’t allowed to play out; my mom was very strict because we lived in a ghetto area and kids get off the rails if left unwatched. So this was an easy way of getting out of the house and doing things,” Bryan says.
Through his brief foray into music, he also became acquainted with renowned stylist Cynthia Lawrence-John, who at the time was working with ‘90s girl group Celeste and Daphne. Impressed by his designs, she dressed the chanteuses in Ryan’s outfits and continued to use many of his clothes as her clientele grew. She has styled for the likes of Missy Elliot, Nelly Furtado, Mystique and Sugababes.
By the age of 19, the designer had catapulted in mainstream attention by coming in fifth in the 2003 Royal Bank of Scotland’s Rich List 2020, a list which predicted that he would be worth 30 million by 2020. The attention earned him, amongst many, a mention in Vogue.com, which christened him a “boy wonder.”
Bryan, while flattered decided to go ahead with his plans to study fashion designing at London College of Fashion.
“Now I teach and I would never have been able to do so if I hadn’t finished my degree (in women’s wear),“ he says. “And I am going back to do my master’s this year.”
Even today Bryan has mixed feelings about the list. Although he appreciated the recognition he believes “the media needed a black figure to push the idea of equal opportunity.”
He continues, “I have never got big-headed by it or anything; I always had people around me telling me what’s important and not.”
Since graduating, the designer has showcased at various fashion weeks include those in the Caribbean, Croatia and New York and has presented designs for London’s popular Kulture2couture.
“I like it when people appreciate my work and my style. It sounds really fickle but I like when celebrities like my stuff,“ Bryan says. “It’s like a hundred normal people could say, ‘It’s really nice,‘ but then one celebrity and I am like ... Wow!”
While he finds the industry fun and rewarding, Bryan says, “I like being able to create something in my head and actually seeing it in real life—best feeling, very satisfying.”
For a long time he lacked the insight to see it as a business and to work more cost effectively.
“I want two brands—one high street, or rather ‘haute street.‘ I want to live. I want to eat. I don’t want to be starving and living in a council flat. Not that’s there’s anything nothing wrong with living in a council flat. I am more about, sounds like I am all about the money. But no, fashion is a business and I want to make money out of it,” Bryan says.
This approach only followed after some rough times.
“I went through a really bad patch,“ Bryan says. “You know when you don’t believe in yourself as much as you do and a friend of mine, actually who became my brand manager, got me ‘The Secret.‘ It’s a life changer—it really is. In the first chapter, it tells you to write a list of things that will make you happy, and one by one I began to tick these off.”
“I can see a niche; I have researched it and that inspires me! Not everyone is going to be Galliano, but you can do something else. I always identified a gap in high street level,“ he adds. “My mom and dad don’t buy haute couture clothes; my level was always high-end high street. And that’s what I want I know. I don’t want to do the high level; if I wanted to, I would have done it a few years ago, or when I got out of LCF, that support would have been there for me to do it. But that’s not me. I am not going to be forced into doing anything I don’t want to do. I want to be the next Phillip Green.”
Photos Courtesy of Romero Bryan
Please contact romero@romerobryan.com for information on samples and prices.
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