What does T&T’s world-famous Carnival have in common with Brazil’s colourful Samba Carnival?
The feathers, beads, cosmetic gems, rhinestones, fabrics, glitter, lace, ribbons, sequins and other materials that go into Carnival revellers’ mas costumes all come from the same source from the other side of the world; China.
To paraphrase the Mighty Cypher “If the priest and Brazil could play, who is we?”
As the build-up to “The Mother of All Carnivals”, T&T Carnival 2023 scheduled for February 20 and 21, begins, some mas bands usually import materials from India, Pakistan and especially China, many mas camps are a beehive of frenzied activity with designers, artisans, seamstresses, wiremen, copper-men, welders, and workers, putting the finishing touches to their bands’ costumes.
It is the importation of mas costumes, partially or whole and primarily the made-in-China label and talk of setting up Chinese Carnival costume factories in the country that causes division in the Carnival industry.
On China’s biggest online commerce company Alibaba’s site can be found complete Trinidadian, Brazilian, Caribbean, Miami and Oktoberfest Carnival costumes for sale, as well as Carnival costume materials.
One of the manufacturers on Alibaba, Guangzhou Naixin Clothing Co Ltd advertise their prices for complete and customisable Trinidad Carnival costumes at US$108 each for 30-49 pieces, US$98 each for 50-99 pieces and US$88 for 100 pieces, and 30 and over costumes are negotiable, with the supply capability of 100 sets per month and delivery within 30 to 45 days.
Guardian Media spoke with costume designer Rawle Permanand, YUMA director/production manager Tanya Gomes, band leaders Ronnie McIntosh of Ronnie and Caro and Lionel Jagessar Jr, CEO of Jagessar Costumes Ltd and a mas designer, on Carnival costumes made in China.
According to Permanand, who has visited manufacturing factories in China, the importation of Carnival costumes in various stages of assembly was not a new phenomenon and has been ongoing way before the COVID-19 pandemic, especially with the creative sector, every dollar counts more so now post-pandemic.
He said, “From my perspective, we face so many challenges as designers, whether from a material side, or the creative aspect side.
“Most times we have to put out all our money way in advance and then we’re normally reimbursed after the band launch into the registration period.
“We also look for the most affordable avenues, China, of course, is like the world is made in China.
“Though we may have suppliers in New York, Miami and Los Angeles and other areas, who actually have these retail stores, they would also have their factories in China that could easily customise something for us.”
Permanand gave as an example, if he wanted to customise a certain part of a costume with certain materials or a particular colour scheme, the Chinese manufacturers would do it.
He said with any production it depended on quantity; the more costumes you have the cheaper it will be.
Permanand said the China avenue was 100 times cheaper and the workmanship was impeccable.
He explained if a band was catering for 5,000 masqueraders and each costume had a certain amount of 100 rhinestones or gems, if it had to be produced locally, they will need to import fabric, pay seamstresses, pay people for the actual labour to decorate the costumes, and also import the gems and materials.
Permanand added that the band leaders will be charged exorbitant duties for the imports because every successive Government did nothing for the Carnival industry.
Soca veteran and masmaker Ronnie McIntosh of Ronnie and Caro said about five years now, they stopped importing costumes from China, all the band’s production was done locally.
He said, however, that the variety of raw materials was limited in Trinidad, so they imported them from China and the US.
McIntosh said they were not in a dependency syndrome waiting on costumes from China.
He replied they just imported their materials earlier and produced their costumes themselves and they were good to go and were currently in the production phase.
Lionel Jagessar Jr, CEO of Jagessar Costumes Ltd, said he didn’t have a negative connotation for other bands or companies that used made-in-China costumes, any businessman looking at his business and cost-effectiveness to make a profit was where he will go.
He said there was more than one school of thought on mas; there were the people who cherished actually making their traditional Carnival costumes such as Indian, Devil and Fancy Sailor and want to be part of the whole process versus the Carnival reveller.
Jagessar added that the typical reveller who played mas in a band and only focused on the Carnival jump-up just wanted to enjoy himself for Carnival because that was part of his culture and he came out to free up. He said these masqueraders were not judging a band or company for giving them a Chinese costume; what they see was a beautiful costume and most times it was designed by a Trinidadian.
Jagessar commented that his personal take on this was as his company did the production of costumes for other bands, he, his workers and his family took pride in being able to say they made those costumes.
He said they supported local businesses by buying materials that were normally used for non-Carnival purposes and made inventive costumes out of them.
Jagessar gave some examples such as fencing wire, curtains and drapery, foil used for lighting and decorating, wallpaper, and dowels.
He said they would prefer if local artisans get work to put the costumes together, and buy the materials from China, but don’t have them totally outsourced and still retain the essence of brand T&T Carnival.