We recently connected with Jerome Brammer and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jerome, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

In 2016 I chose to leave my career in education and pursue my passions for clothing and sneaker design permanently.

I had already launched my clothing line in 2014 and had been throwing Hennessy sponsored cultural events in the Washington DC area ever since.
Once I realized how many patrons at my event came from my teaching background I knew that I had local support and it was a great opportunity to blend my educational background with my fashion one using the mantra “educate and entertain”!

It’s been my best decision to date and I haven’t looked back since.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Jerome Brammer, in the streets they call me “Bramma!”, I was born in Trinidad and Tobago to a Jamaican father and a Trini mother.

As a teenager (circa 1990s) clothing brand Karl Kani was dominating the fashion space especially among black youth worldwide. It was a favorite brand of mine.
I saw an interview where he spoke of his Jamaican and Costa Rican roots and at the time his surprising admission that he had never sewn any garments in his life. It instantly struck a chord with me, as someone who could not sew or draw I felt as if I too could do what he does.

In Trinidad, my friends and I entered the event and party throwing space in our late teens.
In an effort to promote our events we produced promotional items such as tees for committee members to wear at other branded events and physical hand held flyers. I didn’t know it then but it was my introduction to design, as I was tasked with formulating ideas, designs and executing the printing.
This experience would be a precursor for things to come.

In the early 2000s I was a founding member for a Trini hip hop group called Third World Famous spear headed by rapper Sef Gaines (RIP).
In an effort to promote our music, we created tees which we wore in our music videos with our logo and the phrase “TRINIBAD®️” which was first coined by Sef circa 2006.
These designs were an instant hit with our audience, as so many fans inquired about its availability for sale.

This informed me that there was a hunger for Caribbean inspired designs in fashion and that there was a great opportunity for my team to fill that gap. I would fulfill this a few years later when we no longer pursued music and became strictly a fashion lifestyle brand.

As a teacher and a Caribbean historian I was uniquely aware of the lack of knowledge of our own history that my community had, so I decided to educate them through my design motifs. The aim was to create aesthetically dope clothing that folk would be excited to wear yet at the same time inspire them to research the design’s meaning as well on their own..

I have dressed many celebrities such as Affion Crockett, Phife Dawg (RIP), Angie Martinez, Amara La Negra to name a few but truthfully nothing brings me more pride than the looks of people when they first discover our thought provoking designs, it still brings a smile to my face.

Our designs reflect the lifestyle that is common among folk that live in the global south or the “Third World” , we have categorized them as music meets fashion and history meets fashion.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

One of the more difficult experiences I had as a creative was explaining to my family why I would leave a secure job that paid me every two weeks , with health benefits etc to pursue a career in entrepreneurship that has no guarantees and thus no real security.

Family members, especially parents want the best for you and hope to guide you with their experiences so that you may avoid some pitfalls in life.
The thing is their experiences are just that! their experiences. Many times folk that mean well project their insecurities and fears on to you and because they are loved ones there is a very real chance that you may internalize them.

Even though my family struggled to understand my choice , I have been able to show them that I’m running a marathon not a sprint , and that if I apply all my life lessons learned thus far with hard work, I will succeed!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Society can support young creatives in their decisions to pursue their art especially when they show interest during their formative years .ie middle and high school years. Many times parents will dissuade their children from pursuing the “arts” , music, fashion, mixed media as they don’t see them as viable as other professions like, doctor, lawyer, engineer etc.

The advancement of technology and social media has afforded us opportunities like none other.
Even without spending a dime , society can support creatives by liking, commenting, sharing posts with others, reposting which will naturally create a culture of support for creatives.

Contact Info:

• Website: 3rdworldfamous.com
• Instagram: @3rdworldfamous
• Facebook: @3rdworldfamous
• Youtube: @3rdworldfamous