DESIGNER CALVIN 'Mooney' Haye is intent on becoming the 'next big thing'.
With 12 years of experience up his sleeve, Haye is set on taking first Jamaica, then the world, by storm with his creations, which are inspired by the world's top designers.
"Armani, Gucci, Fendi; I always wanted to try to be like them," he says. "I look at their stuff and sew it like that, in my way."
Haye says he works with the 'Italian cut' similar to an Armani. "The fitted look, the young shirt dem," are what Haye says many entertainers love to wear, and therefore he designs with their market in mind, he says.
In an industry where image is everything and a designer's worth is measured by how 'original' their creations are, few would admit to patterning other designers but Haye has none of that pretension. The animated and optimistic young designer sees a world of opportunity ahead of him. In six months he hopes to have his own store complete with his own designs.
"Mi always put myself as a challenge to things and get my things done the right way," he says.
'The right way', is how Haye has been doing his thing since the first time he made something for deejay of the Monster Shack crew, General B. After all, local entertainers with an eye for international fashion are very hard to please attests Haye. "Mi haffi sew mi tings neat and convince dem fi wear it," he says.
Half Moon designs, as Haye's creations are called, have adorned the bodies of other entertainers such as Vybz Kartel, Predator, Singer J, Pinchers and Warrior King, for whom he is currently making a number of outfits for the upcoming Bob Marley Festival (an annual festival that travels to different sections of the United States celebrating the legendary artiste). Female entertainers Spice and Macka Diamond are also on Haye's hot list of clients.
The brown leather suit he brought to The Gleaner's office to show is a fine example of an unusual and wonderful outfit and the attention to detail that Haye has in making his designs.
Of course, the fact that this designer can provide a 'quick fix' to clients who live in the fast lane is a plus. "If a artiste come from 8 a.m. and want a suit fi done by 1 p.m., him can come an' get it," he says. "I can mek a pants in one hour, cut and sew well done," he continued.
However, Haye maintains that artistes who want multiple outfits for a tour must give him adequate time. While a large portion of his clientele are artistes, Haye maintains that he also designs for the 'normal man'. "Mi sew fi all type of people," he says.
- Alicia Roache
