Following the success of its Jadire´ Batik Painting Techniques Workshop on the North Coast earlier this year, the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) turns it focus to the capital city Kingston, the hub of fashion. These trainings will take place on Saturdays for the first time on November 15 & 22 at the JBDC’s Incubator & Resource Centre (IRC) in Kingston.
The Saturday scheduling (dubbed ‘Creative Saturdays’) is the agency’s response to ongoing market demand for production spaces and entrepreneurship training from persons who are unavailable on weekdays. The JBDC has been working feverishly in recent years to develop Jamaica’s textiles industry through Jadire´.
Side Hustle Opportunity
Robert Hall, Fashion Designer at the JBDC says Jadire’ is a commercially viable skill, “There are lots of people who are looking at ways to diversify what it is they are doing outside of their mainline 9-to-5 jobs,”.
The JBDC has positioned this particular workshop specifically for those individuals because Jadire is very easy to learn.
“So, it’s deep and rich in terms of its history, but it’s also fairly pretty easy to acquire the core skills. And so, it is a really a good option for people to use to either to start a new side hustle or to also augment their actual creative pursuit in terms of their business,” Hall explained.
JADIRE’ is an African-Jamaican fashion fusion. The word Jadire’ is coined from combining ‘Jamaica’ with the Yoruba word ‘’Adire’’ meaning ‘tie and dye’, an indigo-dyed cloth made from southwest Nigeria by Yoruba women using a variety of resist-dyeing techniques.
Among these techniques are Adire Alabela (candle wax), Adire Eleko (starch resist), Adire Oniko (tie and dye), Adire Alabere (stitching method) and Adire Onipatan (batik or silk painting). The resist dyeing involves creating patterns, either by stamp or free hand treating certain part of the fabrics in some ways to resist dye.
As the JBDC targets 9-5ers who would normally not be able to attend the trainings during the week, the Workshop will expose participants to techniques which allow them to comfortably design fabrics, create Jadire´ batik fabric/products for sale and innovate Jadire products or add the technique to an existing product.
Hall continues, “Most of our workshops have been in the daytimes when people have been at work. So, outside of somebody taking time off, then basically they’ll be left out of that particular grouping. In an effort to give them an opportunity, we’re actually starting from basics per se. So, even if it is that you don’t have design training, we literally start you out from how to just design your own motifs, and then we literally go through the whole process. So, you will not be shortchanged in any kind of way.”
With the aim to create a cohort of Jadire´ producers and strengthen the local brand, the agency is encouraging Textile Designers, Fashion & Interior designers, Craft Producers and side hustlers to register for the upcoming workshops.
As a commercially viable skill, JBDC has trained over 100 people in the Jadire´ Technique. Some have taken it to the next level, “From those that we’ve trained, you know, we have a cohort of individuals who are actually producing the fabrics and selling the fabrics, basically,” Hall points out.
The Jadire fabric can be sold as a final product or be moved up the value chain where it can be turned into jewellery, footwear, household pieces, bags and clothing.
“Of course, Christmas is coming up, everybody wants to look different, that kind of thing. So, there is that part, definitely. It also feeds into, let’s say, your interiors. So, cushion covers, sheet set that you have or a bedroom set. Or even like, let’s say, cushions for your living room that can actually spruce up, very easily spruce up and jazz up an area,” he said.
The JBDC’s Fashion and Craft Incubators are equipped to facilitate the production of Jadire products. The incubators are also ideal for clients who want to experiment and develop new product concepts and prototypes.
Participants in the Jadire´ Batik Painting Techniques Workshop will learn how to:
– Design fabrics – motifs, cutting blocks, fabric layout, dyeing, dewaxing and finishing.
– Create Jadire batik fabric for sale
– Innovate products using Jadire
Registration is $7,500.00 (including materials and lunch) and interested persons may send an email to . Registration Deadline – November 12, 2025.
An agency of the Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce, the JBDC seeks to strengthen the craft value chain and create a sustainable market for high quality Jamaican products. By focusing on the entire value chain, the JBDC is empowering local producers to not only create culturally relevant products but also to enhance their marketability and profitability.
