A native of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Jessel Brizan is an experienced founder, educator and fashion professional with a demonstrated history in the apparel and fashion industry.
Jessel possesses over eighteen years experience in fashion with international experience in New York having worked at Macy’s Merchandising Group, and Solo Licensing Corporation, a licensee for Betsey Johnson and Spalding.
An alumnus of American International College (AIC), Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, Jessel graduated at the top of the 2002 class with a 4.0 GPA earning magna cum laude and Valedictorian honours along with a bachelor’s degree in communication and minors in marketing and sociology.
He would serve as a staffwriter for The Yellow Jacket, AIC’s student-run newspaper, moving up as executive editor, and ultimately taking over the helm as editor-in-chief his senior year.
Following a Summer 2000 internship as a staffwriter with the Springfield Union-News / Sunday Republican, Jessel was the recipient of a Non-Sustaining Scholarship from the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Mary A. Gardner Scholarship from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
At AIC, Jessel garnered several awards including The McGown Award, the institution’s highest honour, Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, ALANAI Honor Society Pinnacle Award, and Alpha Chi National College Honor Scholarship Society. In 2012, AIC would bestow him with their inaugural Co-Curricular Hall of Fame Award.
“Through his business ventures Jessel promotes the concept and philosophy - ‘Philanthropy through fashion’ - dedicated to nurturing a culture of giving in all aspects of life and business.”
While there he acquired his first taste in retail fashion as an employee of Gap Inc. having worked as a sales associate at both The Gap and Old Navy.
It was at AIC that Jessel nurtured his passion for working with disadvantaged children serving as a member of the Partner’s Program where he helped mentor and tutor elementary school children, and also as a mentor at Dunbar Community Center.
His formal education in fashion would begin at the world renowned Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), New York where following a 2003 Summer course in Design Room Techniques he matriculated in the Menswear Design program that Fall.
While at FIT Jessel gained key exposures in fashion design and production, management and merchandising as an intern at both Macy’s Merchandising Group and Solo Licensing Corporation.
Shortly after returning to his homeland in 2004, he rejoined the corporate world serving as Corporate Communications Manager at telecommunications startup Laqtel Ltd.
Jessel’s journey in education commenced in 2007 when he submitted a proposal to offer computer-aided fashion design to the newly formed Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design (CAFD) at The University of Trinidad and Tobago. His tutelage as an instructor would begin from the programme’s inception in 2008, where he helped establish the school having provided instruction for the Diploma in Fashion Management, Diploma in Fashion Design, and Bachelor’s in Fashion Design programmes.
During his ten-year tenure at CAFD, Jessel developed the curricula, lesson plans exams, and administered the course materials for nine different courses including Basic Computing: Office Applications, Basic Computing: Graphic Applications, Digital Workshop: Photoshop, Digital Workshop: Illustrator, Technical Illustration I, Technical Illustration II, Graphic Applications for Fashion Marketers, Fashion Presentations, and Portfolio Development.
Jessel is responsible for coining the term and introducing the subject ‘Technical Package Development,’ which is a key component of the technical design process in the global fashion industry. He would later host workshops and independently publish a book of the same title.
As an entrepreneur Jessel helped transform the fashion sector in Trinidad and Tobago.
Founded in 2006 as a fashion design and merchandising company, Jessel Brizan Design Group Ltd. (JBDG) is the first local fashion design company to establish an ecommerce platform, and sell, fulfill and ship its merchandise globally. The company registered its first online sale on March 3, 2011 having shipped to Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Subsequently in 2012, Jessel founded Blue Basin Department Stores Ltd. (Blue Basin) with a mission to provide an omnichannel retail platform that connects Caribbean designers and artisans with their customers globally. Blue Basin launched in August 2014 with its annex at the Cruise Ship Complex, Port of Spain, Trinidad setting a precedent as the first local brick and mortar retail concept devoted to Caribbean fashion and design.
Jessel played a major role in establishing the first fashion co-operative in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region serving as inaugural Vice President of The Fashion Exchange Co-operative Society Limited. Along with creating the name and logo, he oversaw the development of the bye laws and business plan as a member of the steering committee that guided the Co-operative through its registration and eventual launch in May 2013.
For his contributions to local fashion, Jessel was featured in the Fashion & Beauty section of MACO People Trinidad Magazine, Issue 3 2016, in the article titled ‘Jessel Brizan - A Caribbean Fashion Revolutionary Emerges.’
In April 2017, Jessel was approached by the Trinidad and Tobago Fashion Company Limited (FashionTT) to propose and facilitate workshops for their Business of Fashion workshop series hosted that July. He subsequently developed and conducted workshops on Fit For Retail and Preparing for the Buyers Meeting presented to fashion industry stakeholders.
FashionTT subsequently enlisted his insight in January 2019 as a committee member for their Global Value Chain Evaluation Committee to appraise proposals for their Value Chain Investment Programme Consultancy.
Jessel was later approached to develop and facilitate workshops as part of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) Fashion and Contemporary Design Accelerator held from May 6 – 16, 2019 at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, John S. Donaldson Campus, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Via his workshops in Technical Package Development and the Business Model he had the privilege of helping to train and develop twenty designers from the Caribbean region including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname, Tortola, and Trinidad and Tobago.
In his ongoing mission to help establish a sustainable, globally-competitive Caribbean fashion ecosystem, Jessel would host his own learning and development workshops via JBDG - ‘Technical Package Development’ at COSTAATT and ‘Selling Your Collection’ at Blue Basin - in Port of Spain, Trinidad in May and June 2019 respectively.
Under Brizan Publishing, the publishing imprint of JBDG, Jessel officially donned the title of author publishing two books in July and October 2020 respectively amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Costing for Fashion provides a simple yet comprehensive approach to the three stages of costing and; Technical Package Development for Excel focuses on the art of the Technical Package (Tech Pack).
Through his business ventures Jessel promotes the concept and philosophy - “Philanthropy through fashion” - dedicated to nurturing a culture of giving in all aspects of life and business. In line with his personal giving philosophy, his philanthropic efforts include active volunteerism with at-risk youth.
Jessel served as a mentor/tutor at St, Mary’s Children’s Home in Tacrigua, Trinidad for several years, and continues to champion various causes through his charitable giving and support for organizations dedicated to advocacy for children’s rights.
Launched in February 2018, I Heart TT is a charitable initiative established as a collaboration between his sister companies JBDG and Blue Basin in response to the pervading social ills in Trinidad and Tobago. Every month all profits from the sale of I Heart TT merchandise is donated to support a worthy cause, charity, NGO, and/or organization with a national focus, particularly disadvantaged children and/or at-risk youth.
Bibliography
Costing for Fashion: A Guide for Startups and Small Businesses, First Edition, Brizan Publishing, July 2020
Technical Package Development for Excel, First Edition, Brizan Publishing, October 2020
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Member (Lead Body Specifications Committee), National Occupational Standard - Fashion Designing Level 2, National Training Agency (NTA), Chaguanas, Trinidad, August 2022
Facilitator (Selling Your Collection Fashion Workshop), Jessel Brizan Design Group Ltd. (JBDG), Blue Basin, Cruise Ship Complex, Port of Spain, Trinidad, June 2019
Facilitator (Technical Package Development Fashion Workshop), JBDG, COSTAATT, City Campus, Port of Spain, Trinidad, May 2019
Facilitator (Fashion and Contemporary Design Accelerator), Caribbean Export Development Agency, University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), John S. Donaldson Campus, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, Trinidad, May 2019
Member (Global Value Chain Evaluation Committee), The Trinidad and Tobago Fashion Company Limited (FashionTT), Long Circular Road, St. James, Trinidad, January 2019
Participant (Fashion Stakeholder Meeting), Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS), Macoya, Tunapuna, Trinidad, April 2018
Panel Member (Buyers Bootcamp), Fashion Focus, Estate 101, Maraval, Trinidad, July 2017
Facilitator (The Business of Fashion Workshops), FashionTT, Victor E. Bruce Financial Complex, Scarborough, Tobago, July 2017
Speaker (Leadership Workshop), Common Purpose UK - CSCLeaders for Students Trinidad, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad, May 2014
Co-Coordinator, Fashion Fundamentals Fashion Camp, MIC, Port of Spain, Trinidad, August 2012
Co-presenter (“Mobilisation Towards A Sustainable Fashion Industry” Seminar), National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain, Trinidad, June 2012
Participant (Fashion Branding Workshop), Global Fashion Management, Eteck, El Socorro, Trinidad, May 2012
Honours and Awards
Chevening Scholarship, UK Government Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, 2023
Inaugural Co-curricular Hall of Fame Award, American International College, 2012
ALANAI Honor Society Pinnacle Award, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2002
McGown Award, American International College, 2002
Outstanding Achievement in Marketing Award, American International College, 2002
Dean’s Award, American International College, 2002
Alpha Chi National College Honor Scholarship Society, USA, 2002
Ivy Orator, American International College, 2002
Who’s Who Among Students In American Universities and Colleges, 2001
Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Men’s soccer), Northeast-10 Conference, USA, 2000-01
Non-Sustaining Scholarship, National Association of Black Journalists, Maryland, USA, 2001
Mary A. Gardner Scholarship, Assoc. for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, USA, 2001
American Marketing Association Award, American International College, 2001
Junior Achievement Award, American International College, 2001
ALANAI Honor Society Golden Eagle Plaque Award, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2000 & 2001
ALANAI Honor Society Scholars Award, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2000, 2001 & 2002
International Student Award, American International College, 1999 - 2000
Outstanding Sophomore Award, American International College, 1999 - 2000
Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (4.0 GPA), American International College, 1998 - 2002
Dean’s List (4.0 GPA), American International College, 1998 - 2002
Endowed Scholarship (4.0 GPA), American International College, 1999 - 2002
Academic / Athletic Scholarship, American International College, 1998 - 2002