Oct. 13, 2008 — Kenneth "Afra" Dailey, clothing designer and musician, left his job as a bus driver in Philadelphia 32 years ago for St. Croix to find out if his creator really takes care of his people.
"I was raised in a spiritual family and taught God takes care of the sparrows of the field and us," he says. "So I thought, 'Show me' — I wanted to find out. I lived in the bush for four years, I was fed and found out God does take care of us."
Dailey hurt his back farming and realized he couldn't grow into his later years living and working as a he was. He had to find something else to do. His friend Carl Christopher asked him to fix his wife's sewing machine, and from there he got the spirit to sew and design clothing.
Dailey is basically self-taught in the design end of his creations, which he has been doing for more than 20 years.
"I had a home-economics class in junior high where I learned the basics of sewing," Dailey says. Otherwise he had on-the-job training before he began his business, I Am Inn Designs.
"My first pair of pants ripped on me — they were too tight," Dailey says.
Now he makes loose-fitting designs in cotton, linen and silk. His favorite fabric to work with is cotton, in all colors and prints. For example, one shirt he designed is a simple short-sleeved Henley with a small, brightly colored fish print on black.
"I don't make tight-fitting clothes," Dailey says. "The design is loose and cool for wear around here — or for New York or Chicago in the dead of summer."
Everything but his hats and bags are made freehand, with no patterns.
"Someone shows me a picture, I take measurements and make designs from there," Dailey says.
He also designs and sews African pillbox hats, called kuffies, and golf-style beaked hats for men.
"The golf style [hats] are for bald heads or big enough to put locks in," Dailey says.
The hats are made of faux leather, striped lame and African prints, among other designs. The hats are one thing Dailey can make in a mass-production time frame, cutting out eight pieces for each small, medium and large hat, with completion in 45 minutes. He has been teaching a local woman to do piecework using templates for the hats and bags.
"Some men buy Afra's hats to match all of their outfits," says Millie Calvin, proprietor of Cultural Creations of the Virgin Islands, a consignment artisan's shop that sells Afra's clothes.
"Hats are a cash crop for me that keeps the money flowing in," Dailey says.
He plans to buy a stainless-steel trailer to sell his clothing, hats and bags at horse races and public venues.
"Have store, will travel," Dailey quipped. "It will be my rolling store — I just open the doors and the shop is open."
Dailey, 65, is slim and fit. During his interview with the Source he wears black cotton pants and a black-and-tan tie-dyed shirt of his own design. He also sports a black microfiber golf hat with his locks down.
He stays in shape swimming two miles a day and bicycling when he can. He calls himself a testament to eating and breathing right. He also teaches people deep-breathing techniques. He does the breathing workshops at Bamboula Haven and privately.
"Whatever emotion you are feeling can be taken care of with proper breathing," Dailey says. "Life changes can be controlled with breathing."
He has played drums for more than 50 years. In the evenings Dailey plays at the Blue Moon Café in Frederiksted and the Buccaneer Resort with the Elvis Pedro Trio, made up of Pedro, Roy Davis and Dailey. Their repertoire includes jazz, rock and roll and more, Dailey says.
His designs can be purchased at Cultural Creations, 66 King St., Frederiksted. The separates are usually one size fits all, and prices start around $40.
"I would say his designs are 'Afracentric,'" Calvin says. "You know his design when you see it. They are very impressive, one-of-a-kind styles."
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