Imagine Caribbean : Ailene Bailey of Ailocious

Photo Credit: Errol John Photography

I recently caught up with Ailene Bailey, the designer behind the Ailocious jewelry line and the last of the creative trio from St Vincent to be featured on the blog. Ailene is passionate about her art and dedicated to her business. Not surprisingly, her jewellery has been gaining popularity on the local Vincentian fashion scene. The pieces are unique, eclectic and edgy and have the potential to transform any outfit from blah to fabulous. This free spirited, Vincy/Bajan, wild child believes that people essentially wear their personalities so she customizes jewellery that seeks to embody that. She incorporates rustic metals, wire, polished stones and other jewels to create whimsical bohemian inspired statement pieces. If you are keen on letting your accessories speak , Ailocious just might be the brand for you. 

 Did you always know that you wanted to do this? How did you get into this field? 

I believe the universe chooses us. We are all born with special abilities and functions that we need to fulfill in life. I am a certified Early Childhood Educator and a trained office administrator, but I have always been artistic and creative. If you met any of my school mates they would describe me as “weird” or “different”, but I guess they didn’t understand that to mean “unique”. About three years ago a started a degree in Creative Arts online, I finished the online modules but I needed to be there physically for the rest of the program, so I put the program on hold until my kids are older and I can travel for an extended period. After I did this I stumbled onto a local fashion design course hosted by Vincentian designer Alex Grant. She gets the credit for reawakening my creative awareness and helping me to realize my true potential. So I guess I didn’t choose this field, it chose me and I am totally prepared to accept my calling and go where it leads me.

 Who or what inspires you? 

 I am inspired by people, I tend to feed off the energy of my family and friends. I am very free spirited so I’m inspired by freedom; of mind, and of movement. I am also inspired by culture, shapes and music. I love rock music, strange I know, but I love bands like Led Zeppelin, I’m also a big fan of Buju Banton. My kids also inspire me, they are artists as well.

How would you describe your personal style?

I would describe my style as very gypsy, rock & roll, bohemian. I love colour. I guess I wear my personality, I wear who I am on my sleeve so perhaps I say that my style is soft but hard and edgy at the same time. Imagine the street style of homeless person living out of a suitcase, I am very eclectic in my taste. I tend to switch up my hair a lot, I have even had blue hair. I wear my friends stuff all the time so my wardrobe has a lot of items from Fashion is Payne and Ikesha Art. 


What is a typical day like for you? 

No day is typical, I have an unconventional household and I have teenagers. I usually wake up early and although I have a studio room I prefer to work from my breakfast nook . I listen to music and work on wirebending or string art and I tinker around until I create something I like, people don’t even get to see half of the things I make, I don’t share everything. I don’t really have a set routine, I do sketches or create when I’m inspired. I am what you would call an introverted extrovert. I’m very much inside my own head especially when I get creative, I need that space to recharge and create but it’s also important for me to be around my friends and family because I feed of their energy. 

 What has been the most amazing moment for Ailocious so far? 

 Partnering up with other persons who are just like me, I have a close relationship with Ikesha and Jeremy, we work together and each of our work is featured in the other's photoshoot. I love the dynamic that we have, we just “get” each other in a way that nobody else does and I love that. It’s just important to have persons to encourage and share with.


 What has been your biggest challenge? 

 I have trouble sourcing the raw materials to make my jewelry, I love organic stuff and I love my jewelry to have a very rustic organic feel. Also the tools that I use to work the metals are expensive to import and the cost of production tends to be high. My biggest challenge right now is finding a way to be creative on a budget and make a profit. This has challenged me to improvise with materials, I also recycle and re-use material in a creative way. I have also had to find out the hard way that everyone is not around you because they want to help or support. Some persons are very opportunistic, you just have to weigh persons properly and learn from your mistakes and associations. However I think this will be my defining year, I have become more self-aware, I have been putting my products out there and I am becoming more committed and doing the market research. 

 If you could pick one celebrity as the brand ambassador for your line who would it be and why?

 I can’t just pick one. Locally I would have to say that my muse is Zen Punett because she is so free spirited and zen. Internationally, I would have to say Lisa Bonet. They are the embodiment of a lifestyle and essence that I try to articulate through my craft. They’re the vibe I feel when I am creating; freedom, nature, peace and love. 

 How are you currently marketing your brand?

 I primarily use social media and my clients also tell their friends about my pieces so word of mouth helps. Initially, I created my Facebook page as part of a project for a course that I was doing but then it took off and now it’s an excellent marketing tool for my business. People visit the page, they tell their friends and the orders roll in. The response from the public has been favourable, they just can’t get enough of the jewelry.

How would you like to see the brand evolve?

I would like to work with other metals such as copper and to expand the range of my jewellery. However I have big dreams of starting a company that provides support for other Caribbean creatives not only artistically but from a business perspective. I want to leave a legacy of building the industry and providing a safe space for creatives. I want to guide and empower them so they would not be exploited. This company should give a home to artists who have no voice, it should be a safe space where artists can be seen, heard and understood by like-minded persons. This company should be like a springboard to help artists launch into their business. 

 What advice do you have for aspiring designers/creatives seeking to make a career in your field?

 I would tell them to find your inner child, embrace them, love them and then introduce them to the world. You will be criticized but you must be strong for you and your inner child. If your child is collecting rocks, people will wonder and as “why, why? Nobody else is doing it” just ignore them and believe in yourself. 

 If you are in the market for eclectic handmade jewelry check out Ailocious Jewellery here: 

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Trees without roots.

"A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots "

Marcus Garvey

Every year the various territories at the Hugh Wooding Law school host a cultural night where the culture and food of the territory is displayed for our colleagues and lecturers. It's a great opportunity to showcase your culture and earn bragging rights for hosting the best cultural night.  I fall into the OECS grouping so last November for OECS night my colleagues and I had to represent Vincentian culture. We wracked our brains trying to thinking of unique aspects of our Vincentian culture to display.

We considered folk singing but being small in numbers and some (like myself) a bit tone deaf that didn't work out. In any case, I discovered to my surprise that the folk songs I knew and thought were indigenous to St Vincent were in fact Jamaican. We didn't know how to do the Garifuna Punta Dance or any Garifuna drumming or anything remotely fascinating or amazing. We drew a lot of blanks and I had a sinking sense of dread  that our colleagues coming to view our presentation would surely have surmised that we were a culture-less, talentless bunch. At the last minute we managed to pull it off I performed a dialect poem/monologue, another colleague performed a song tribute to St Vincent and another colleague performed a poem. Not disastrous, but not by any means a satisfactory representation of Vincentian culture. I was blown away by the Barbadian and the Guyanese cultural presentations, granted they are larger in numbers and had more resources to draw on, but all the same I was envious of the portrayal of their culture and their obvious sense of national pride.

 Since then I have been obsessed with finding out more about the Vincentian culture and the ways it can be preserved  for future generations. I realise I don't know enough about Vincentian culture and I know even less about how to capture and depict it. I am making efforts to correct that and I'm hoping that this blog will eventually reflect this.

Culture is something you live and you learn, it's not static so it evolves and can be made and remade.The issue is that the pervasiveness of foreign media means that it is easier to assimilate foreign culture which can result in a form of cultural imperialism and the eventual erasure of the indigenous culture. Case in point: many West Indian children today know all about Diego and Dora, Peppa Pig and the host of other characters on Nickelodeon  but know nothing about Anansi or any of the interesting folklore or the indigenous aspects of our culture.  This is worrying. We have to do better than this. Failure to preserve our cultural legacies makes us like the proverbial trees without roots, easily toppled by winds of foreign cultural imperialism. We cannot continue to allow ourselves to be defined externally. Where is our original programming and cultural content? Where are our West Indian animators? Where is the West Indian children's literature? We aren't we creating educational content which is reflective of our history, our traditions and our culture.  We need to start telling our stories, it's the most basic way to articulate and preserve our cultural legacies.

I read voraciously as a child but apart from my school assigned reading books I can't remember reading any West Indian Children's literature and I certainly did not see any West Indian cartoons on television. I read about winters and fairies and goblins and a lot of foreign things that stimulated my imagination but they were things I did not identify with.  I think that's why for me there is nothing like delving into a well written West Indian book, it evokes a visceral feeling that is comforting in its familiarity and reassuring in its authenticity. You know intrinsically what the author is speaking about, you feel that the characters can easily be your family.

I believe representation matters. It is necessary for us to see our cultural reality reflected in the stories we read and the programs we watch, it anchors us and shapes our identities. I think children who are exposed to indigenous culture and content will inadvertently grow up to be adults with a strong sense of identity and a strong sense of national pride. This is not only important for their personal development but for the development of our countries.

Long live our cultural legacies!