LU: It’s a great strategy. It doesn’t feel like you’re selling anything; it just feels like you’re celebrating.
AAC: I also decided to veer away from the seasons, because I come from a warm place, and we dress one way—all the time. Whether it’s some combination of contemporary womenswear mixed with swimwear, mixed with resort, like its all mixed up. For a while I battled with fitting in to autumn, winter; spring, summer, resort, holiday like all the millions of rigid rules that occupied [the] fashion space. I could be completely wrong, and it may not work, but I believe if I stay true to what feels right to me, it’ll make sense in the long run. Ideally, I want to feature warm-weather clothes all the time—service the Northern Hemisphere when its warm, and the Southern Hemisphere when its warm, and just really be a global brand for “warm-wear.”
LU: Talk a little bit about the upcoming Carnival Season for 2015.
AAC: cANYAval is not only a fashion entity, it’s also covering mas on the road, in Trinidad, [the] second largest carnival in the world. The best one, as far as I’m concerned. [laughs]. I design for Tribe, which is the biggest [masquerade] band in the country in Trinidad, and it’s the fourth year going on. I also do an event called cANYAval, which is on the Saturday before carnival. It benefits my charity, which is the Tallman Foundation, an arts education foundation. I wanted to establish myself strongly in Trinidad, and there’s no better way than having a section in carnival, and having a fete.
LU: Caribbean culture is definitely taking over globally; LargeUp just covered carnival in Scandinavia!
AAC: Yes, Berlin has one, Johannesburg has one, Hong Kong—and that’s why I believe in cANYAval. I believe that it’s a global market. I really think that even my brand, Anya and Pilar, my actual clothing line, have much more of a chance of going global, via the authenticity of my culture. I really believe that.