The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

WITH the Bahamas’ 41st Independence just around the corner, we are sure to see the creative 242 paraphernalia emerging all throughout the islands.

Jump-starting this Independence season by way of demonstrating cultural expression through clothing is a new line known as BAHARI. The brand is an amalgamation of life in the Bahamas, its symbols and culture onto garments, resulting in a stylish and unique clothing line that transcends beyond typical Bahamian urban-wear.
BAHARI Creative Director Morgan Fernander said he likes to look at the brand as “style enculturation”.

“I think the common thread between our 41st Independence and our collection is realisation. I think with 41 years as an independent nation we’ve witnessed and experienced some monumental moments. Forty-one is the age that most people start to ‘get it’, and I think that it can be applied to us as a nation – we get it,” Mr Fernander said.

“Now it’s just a matter of us taking that step forward to fulfil our potential as a country. With BAHARI we’ve realised the extent to which our journey with BAHARI can lead us, and we understand what Bahamians really want in terms of a Bahamian clothing line. It’s now up to us to go beyond the point of realising our potential and fulfilling it,” said the 25-year-old Grand Bahama native.

Mr Fernander said it is amazing how one small summer job at age 13 changed his entire career aspirations.
Working at a local web caf� in 2002, he said he discovered that his supervisor happened was an artist and web developer. At that time, he had never been exposed to graphic design and web development, but his interest was peaked.

“I literally asked him every possible question about Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe Photoshop. After that summer, I immersed myself in learning everything about design and development. I would design anything in high school my teachers would need – invitations, logos, websites. Anything that I felt provided an opportunity to sharpen my skill, I did. By the time I had graduated high school at 16 I had developed enough experience to land my first job as a graphic artist at Xerox,” said Mr Fernander.

After a year at Xerox, he went off to university where he studied marketing. He has not looked back since.

Mr Fernander said people around him told him that he would be a politician when he grew up, and he always felt he would follow that path as well, but sometimes following your passion provides more fulfilment than prestige does.

“I literally love branding and marketing. It’s my career, my hobby and my entertainment,” said Mr Fernander.
“Sometimes I just sit back and smile when I see a commercial I produced being played on TV, or my ad campaigns in a publication, or when I’m wearing a BAHARI shirt and someone stops me and asks me, ‘Hey, is that one of those BAHARI shirts?’ That has to be the greatest benefit of creating and developing products, content or experiences – witnessing people appreciate and enjoy them.”

With BAHARI, Mr Fernander said he wanted an identity and name that was reflective of the Bahamas.

“I wanted a name that screamed Bahamas in the most refined way possible. As I was searching online, I came across a Lucayan Indian dictionary and saw the word ‘bajari’, which means a title of high regard and distinction. The second I saw it I knew that was it, I loved the meaning, I loved that it had a ‘baj’ prefix and the name just rolled off of the tongue,” said Mr Fernander.

He said BAHARI is not just an Independence clothing line, it is much more than that and this collection is a only prelude to the brand’s official launch.

Mr Fernander said his company did not just create designs and screen-print them on blank shirts. They chose every single detail on the shirts – from the fabric reams, to the specific colours, to creating the leather and metal emblems, the garment specification sheets, the garment tags with the logos stitched inside, and even the hang tags; they created a brand that Bahamians can appreciate and value.

With the sky being the limit, Mr Fernander said with the BAHARI brand comes more opportunities; it more like a journey than just a destination.

“There is a quiet but strong transition happening in our country now where young people are transcending beyond what’s been indoctrinated in us as to what we can do and how far we can go. As long as there isn’t any limitations on our creativity, there won’t be any limitations on the line,” said Mr Fernander.
He said the biggest influence in his life at present his is faith. He said he sometimes does not feel like he even deserves the extent of God’s favour he is experiencing.

“Over the past five years I have accomplished every single dream and goal I set for myself; things that people told me couldn’t happen or were over ambitious of me to want to accomplish, and it’s only through God’s favour over my life and his blessings in the form of talent that I can and will continue to make every single one of my dreams a reality,” said Mr Fernander.

For all interested persons, BAHARI can be found and purchased at the website www.shopbahari.com, FLOSSIT or Cool Running in Downtown Freeport as well as at LAVISH inside the Circle Mall in Freeport and at YNG on Rosetta Street west in Nassau.