Trinidadian-born Clifford Smith Jr. has been a carnival costume designer and craftsman for over 60 years. However, he felt that the skill is becoming a dying art form, as the younger generation has no interest in continuing the tradition of wire bending.
This reporter caught up with Smith at Mango Tree Production’s massive encampment on Parkside Avenue in Brooklyn, the day before the Labor Day carnival. He was putting on the final costumes for his personal road march on Eastern Parkway, returning after a two-year hiatus in hopes of winning another title for his brilliant designs.
The master designer, wearing a tape measure around his neck, patiently cuts, glues and joins the costumes to pieces of wire that he bends to fabricate the creation, which he designs from start to finish in about two weeks.
He applied glue to secure the design fabric to the wire mold, then decorated it with beads, sequins and rhinestones to finish the design, bringing to life head-to-toe pieces heavily embellished with feathers in a burst of color. .
Smith stayed focused on his design concept, which sometimes kept him over 14 hours a day at camp. He joined the design business because at the time, artists and factories made more money at a carnival costume camp in Trinidad & Tobago.
It was clear that Smith, who was born in the capital of Port-of-Spain with a talent for bending wire and started working at the age of 15, took the job seriously in a country where carnivals became a wonder of the world, attracting thousands of people. masquerades every year.
He got his big design gig working with the wildly popular Merry Makers Steel Orchestra, a group that helped hone his skills and allowed him to travel throughout the region designing costumes in, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Croix, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica and Canada, among others.
Craft got better over the years, joining bands like Minshall Mas, Hearts of Steel, even becoming one of the 14 founding members of the award-winning costume group D’Midas International.” which was registered in Red House, in T&T, and in Washington as a business.
His extraordinary talent has also appeared in cities across America. Smith has stocked mascaras in Miami, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Boston, Maryland, New York, California and Texas.
As his skills became more and more in demand, Smith in the seventies, joined Guyana’s number one group, Solo Productions, founded by the late Neil Chan. He worked alone as a master wire bender, Claire Goring, for twelve years.
Smith has a record of 428 costumes among the many others he designed over time, from wire bending to finishing. He became a world-renowned, award-winning fabricator, taking individual King and Queen titles at the New York Carnival costume contest, for Mango Tree Production and others.
In addition to the Miami Carnival, Smith worked in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Maryland and New York, exhibiting his work. He said he does not brag about his creations. “I let my work speak for itself.”
He said he doesn’t appreciate the section costumes, but leaves it up to the gang leaders. His prices for large intricate King and Queen individuals vary, depending on design and size. They cost $7,000 and up. This is also determined by the material and decorations, due to the increase in cost, which is now double the amount of two years ago since the closure of businesses during the pandemic.
Most revelers who go through the camp buy the designs on a payment plan, making installments leading up to the carnival.
During the two-year hiatus, Smith said he traveled to Florida and Boston, where small pop-up carnival events were held, noting that only two groups disguised themselves in Boston.
“I would love to pass this skill on, but the younger generation has no interest in wire bending. They ask me what I’m paying, – he laughed. He indicated that he has conducted workshops in Trinidad, Canada, California and worked with Sesame Flyers International, but not to an extent that allows the tradition to continue.
He said wire bending is a deadly skill. “There’s not a lot of flex in costume camps these days. Some guys brag about being wire benders, but he denies it, adding, “what they’re doing is just adding fabric to a piece of wire, not bending it to create a design, and they’re not the best,” while. recognizing that what you are doing is extraordinary.
