Freelance Correspondent
At 33, Nakita Hyatali stands as one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most versatile creatives, with a career spanning fashion design, carnival production, and creative direction. Her journey has been shaped by patience, education, and hands-on experience, a path she describes as deliberate rather than rushed.
“I never wanted to skip steps,” Hyatali said. “I really wanted to understand how everything worked from the bottom up.”
Hyatali grew up in Cascade, spending much of her childhood moving between urban and rural life. Her mother, Alana Hyatali, is from Mayaro, where she spent extended periods with her family, while her father, the late Richard Hyatali, had family ties to Toco, where beach life and nature played a significant role in her upbringing.
“I had the best of both worlds, town life, but also bush, beach, and countryside,” she explained. “That balance definitely shaped how I see colour, texture, and movement.”
She attended Holy Name Convent, where her early extracurricular activities included ballet and gymnastics. As she grew older, her interests shifted toward more tactile creative pursuits, including art, clothing, and textile studies, which marked the beginning of her fashion journey.
Hyatali also comes from a notable lineage. Her grandfather, Sir Isaac Hyatali, was one of Trinidad and Tobago’s prominent Chief Justices after the country gained independence. She had one brother, Steven Hyatali, who has since passed away.
Despite where she ended up, fashion was never part of Hyatali’s original plan.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to do fashion at all,” she said. “I wanted to do chemistry and geography.”
However, subject availability at the time forced her into art-based courses, a decision that quietly redirected her life. Around the same time, she and her best friend were already designing and sewing outfits for outings, parties, and everyday wear.
“At 15, 16, 17, we were already making what we wanted to wear,” she recalled. “It just felt natural, even though I didn’t realise it yet.”
A turning point came when the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) visited Holy Name Convent to promote its newly launched fashion design programme. Hyatali discussed the opportunity with her father, who encouraged her to pursue it. Shortly after, he passed away.
“That conversation stayed with me,” she said. “It felt like that was the last thing he gave me permission to chase.”
Stitching the path
to success
After completing Form 5, Hyatali moved straight into an internship with celebrated designer Meiling, spending nearly two years immersed in the technical side of fashion.
“I learned everything there, hand sewing, beading, cutting, pattern making,” she said. “That foundation is still what I use today.”
She worked in Meiling’s store, assisted with photo shoots, and participated in fashion shows across Trinidad and Tobago. At the same time, she began working as an assistant to fashion designer Anya Ayoung-Chee, gaining exposure to international fashion as Ayoung-Chee prepared for Project Runway.
“With Anya, I saw fashion on a different scale,” Hyatali explained. “Planning between Trinidad and New York, travelling for shows, working under pressure, it was eye-opening.”
Those early years exposed her to editorial work, runway production, client services, and behind-the-scenes logistics, giving her a broad understanding of the industry.
Hyatali later left Trinidad to study Fashion Arts in Canada, focusing on both design and business. She interned with Canadian-owned brands before returning home with a wider international perspective.
That growth translated quickly into Carnival design. In 2015, she designed her first costume for Yuma, titled “Vuitton,” inspired by French royalty for the band’s theme Reign.
From there, she joined KDK (which has since closed its doors), where she learned mas production from the ground up.
“I learned feathering, gemming, cutting, everything,” she said.
She later started her own carnival production company, designing and producing costumes across Barbados, St Lucia, St Vincent and Antigua, before officially launching her fashion brand Kitanilly in 2017.
In 2018, Hyatali returned to work with Ayoung-Chee while continuing to build Kitanilly. She managed Exhibit A, overseeing social media, visual merchandising, and creative direction for the store.
When Exhibit A closed, Hyatali took another major step by opening Golden Pineapple in Maraval, alongside close friends and fellow creatives. The space became a shared retail and creative hub.
“We sold together, did pop-ups together, hosted events together,” she said. “It was a real community space.”
Golden Pineapple operated for several years and allowed Hyatali to grow Kitanilly consistently, even through the COVID-19 pandemic.
After COVID-19, Hyatali planned to design one final carnival costume before stepping away. That costume, “Bliss” (2020), performed strongly and changed the course of her career.
Soon after, she met with the chief executive officer of Spirit Mas, where she shared her ambition to move into creative direction.
“I told him exactly what I wanted to do, creatively direct the band,” she said. “And he gave me the space to do it.”
By mid-year, she officially became the Creative Director of Costume Design. For Carnival 2026, she designed two major sections for Spirit Mas’ theme “Spirit People: A Trinbagonian Portrayal,” called Versailles and Mayura.
Both sections have emerged as among the band’s strongest.
“Because those sections did so well, I decided to finally go all out with Monday Wear,” she said.
The result was a full-scale campaign featuring professional photography, models, styling and custom designs aligned with each section.
Hyatali is open about the challenges she has faced.
“It takes confidence, capital, knowing people, failing a lot,” she said. “You have to work for it.”
She emphasised that growth comes not only from learning the industry, but from understanding oneself.
“It’s about knowing who you want to design for, what it means to you, and what it means to the customer,” she explained.
What’s next
for Hyatali?
Hyatali has already begun planning for Carnival 2027, including Spirit Mas, Monday Wear, and the launch of Nakita Hyatali Resort 2026, a resort wear line rooted in Caribbean aesthetics.
“Resort wear is really where the Caribbean sits internationally,” she said. “That’s the next focus.”
Her advice to aspiring designers is simple but firm.
“Go to school. Get the work experience. Do the internships. Take the courses,” she said. “Don’t take the easy way out.”
For Nakita Hyatali, success has been built on patience, persistence, purpose and a willingness to do the work long before the spotlight arrived.
