In March 2025, the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) extended its Jadire´ Batik Textile Printing Workshop beyond Kingston to Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, empowering 37 artisans from the North Coast with skills to blend Jamaica’s rich African heritage into wearable fashion. As the rapidly growing textile cottage industry aimed at the tourism-craft value chain moves forward, success stories have already begun to take root demonstrating the impact of the training.
The Jadire´ technique is a culturally rich textile printing method, merging the Yoruba “Adire” resist-dye batik tradition with Jamaican identity. Born from a bilateral initiative between Jamaica and Nigeria in 2018, Jadire´ stands as a symbol of Jamaican artistry designed for a tourism sector hungry for authenticity.
Robert Hall, JBDC’s Fashion Designer and the Facilitator of the March workshops, explained, “Our goal was to equip creatives and entrepreneurs from these key tourist hubs with the technical know-how to refresh and diversify their product offerings.”
Over two intensive days, participants produced a minimum of two samples each, experimenting with multi-colour dyeing techniques, original designs informed by cultural motifs, and fabric layouts.
Two participants reflect the shift from learning to commercialising, emphasising the workshop’s impact on their businesses which form part of Jamaica’s rich Cultural & Creative Industries (CCIs).
COMMERCIAL IMPACT
Dr. Asha Mwendo originally from Trelawny, travelled to Montego Bay for the Workshop. She runs a wellness-focused business, Wellness in Motion and has been creating tops since 2018, blending her creativity with her passion for holistic living.
Before attending the Jadire´ workshop, she made her tops using conventional fabrics, selling some to tourists but not yet fully tapping into the potential of designing her own textiles.
“Before, I made tops, but I didn’t really feel like a designer because I was relying on fabrics other people made. Now, I create my own fabric designs. That gives me the pride to say, ‘Yes, I am a designer,’ for the first time,” she explained with a warm enthusiasm.
Creating her own bespoke fabric has already started generating buzz among her customers. “When I show my tops, people ask, ‘Where did you get that fabric? I haven’t seen it anywhere else.’ That is the unique factor and it’s something I can offer that stands out from everything else on the market.”
Dr. Mwendo has ambitious plans to grow her product line beyond tops. She is considering making loose-fitting pants specifically designed to complement the batik fabrics she now produces, as well as exploring handcrafted bags to showcase alongside her apparel.
“I want my customers to feel the freedom and uniqueness when they wear my designs, just like I do when I create them,” she said.
She aims to enter wholesale distribution, targeting craft shops and boutique vendors in Montego Bay and tourist-heavy areas like the cruise ship piers. “I have friends who used to work on the pier and connections with the managers. This opens a real commercial opportunity to get these products in front of tourists who want authentic Jamaican wearables.”
Dr. Mwendo also expressed a desire to see more Jadire´ workshops in rural parishes like Trelawny, where she believes young creatives can find new economic opportunities by reviving and modernising traditional crafts.
“There used to be a batik factory here years ago. The tradition is there. It just needs to be brought back. This workshop is a step in the right direction, helping people build their skills and apply them for today’s market,” Asha remarked.
Nadine Pennicooke, a seamstress who participated in the Montego Bay leg of the Workshop has a clear vision for her craft. She specialises in designing and hand-painted dresses made from natural fabrics like linen and cotton. For Nadine, the Jadire´ workshop offered a fresh opportunity to enter the tourism crafts market with something truly authentic.
“I create unique pieces that attract people because they carry that personal Jamaican touch. When a friend told me about the workshop, I knew I wanted to learn the techniques and connect with others who share this passion,” she shared.
“What makes this [Jadire´] so special is the freedom to create any pattern that comes from your own mind. Each design is unique because it comes from you. When you print your fabric, it becomes yours.”
Her goal is to establish a presence in craft markets and resort shops where people can discover and buy pieces that are genuinely unique and rooted in Jamaican culture.
Motif Design, Fabric Layout, Stamping and Dyeing are just a few of the areas covered by the workshop. Participants leave with the skill of turning a plain fabric to a one-of-a-kind hand printed Jadire´.
“That’s the uniqueness they bring here because you can make any pattern that comes to your mind. And that is unique in itself because it’s coming from you. So, whatever pattern you make up and then you put that on anything, it’s going to be just you. Nobody else can have it and get it from you because it was your original pattern”.
She noted that the training taps into a growing desire among Jamaicans to return to natural materials and traditional cultural expressions, a gap that Jadire´ aims to fill.
“Everything is Shein. I make dresses and paint them and I put my things out so that I can show to local persons in the town. And people come up to me and all I’m hearing is, ‘Miss you must come back because we are tired of Shein’. I was surprised that people respond to the natural things,” she explained.
MORE TO COME
The JBDC Incubators provide short-term production facilities for Micro, Small & Medium-sized Entreprises (MSMEs) in Craft, Fashion & Sewn Products, Essential Oils and Agro-processing.
The fashion incubator is available to designers who have a need for small manufacturing cells to satisfy demand for their products. Within the facility are several cells of industrial straight stitch and serge machines. Additionally, there are other specialised machines such as cover stitch, button hole and button tack machines are also available.
The space also provides use of a cutting table, steam pressing and other auxiliary services and is able to accommodate multiple users simultaneously.
Also integral to this incubator is our garment label design and printing service, where clients are able to get customised small batches of printed nylon care labels.
With over 200 trained in Jadire´ in Kingston, the workshops on the North Coast have furthered JBDC’s goal to diversify and strengthen Jamaica’s tourism-craft value chain.
“To date, we’ve engaged a range of individuals. The hands-on nature of the workshop ensured that each participant could take these techniques back home and deploy them in their own businesses,” Robert Hall noted.
He emphasised the workshop’s dual impact: enhancing industry development by adding fresh, culturally rich product lines to the tourism market, while building entrepreneurial capacity through skill-building and greater creative confidence.
Inspired by these promising developments, the JBDC plans to expand the programme into other parishes with tourism potential, like Trelawny and beyond.
With Jamaica’s National Craft Policy and government backing, Jadire´ is well placed to mature from cottage industry to a major contributor to Brand Jamaica’s cultural economy.
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