00:00For Trichelle Leacock, this isn't just another carnival. It's the first time the internationally
00:06recognized designer will present a section in the Tobago October Carnival. A milestone,
00:11she says, brings her career full circle. I think this year I really wanted to
00:16participate in Tobago Carnival and I had a couple of friends reach out for my iconic
00:21and they wanted me to do their private section for them and I was like I had to go for
00:27it because
00:27I've done costumes in Bermuda, St. Lucia, Grenada and I was like it's time for me to come home. This
00:34is
00:35where I was born, this is where I grew up, this is where I fell in love with Carnival so
00:39I was like
00:40it's definitely time to create something for my island that I can be a part of and participate in
00:47and enjoy seeing on the road. For Leacock, Carnival is more than a profession, it's a family tradition.
00:55She says, growing up alongside veteran radio announcer and mass producer, her father George Leacock,
01:01helped to shape her love for the art form from an early age. I've been on the road with my
01:07dad for
01:07Stigler Mass, so if you've seen that, yeah, I usually play with him. I enjoy that special kind of moment
01:14with him because I've been doing that since I was young. The first backpack I actually created was for a
01:19juve with him back when I was in I believe in high school or primary school so being able to
01:26kind of
01:26keep that tradition going so she'd have to come back from school, it was really nice and I know
01:31he appreciated having me out and he wrote at him as well. Over the past 80 years, Leacock has built
01:36a
01:36career designing resort wear while also creating costumes for Trinidad Carnival. Her Tobago October
01:42Carnival section where Ella draws inspiration from the goddess of the sky, combining flowing elements
01:49with gold accents to capture a sense of freedom and light. When you think goddess, you think light,
01:56free, feather, she's of the sky so I kind of tried to lean into the goals and he melted goals
02:03to give
02:03that kind of look of she's floating, she's free so I think the process for this costume, it was really,
02:11it was fun getting to play around with the different materials like the wire bra is actually really a
02:18bracelet. The designer says every costume presents its own creative challenge with some completed in
02:24just days and others taking months to perfect. She's encouraging aspiring designers to remain committed to
02:31their vision while learning from those who have helped shape the industry. Both my grandfathers,
02:36you know, my grandmother, my father, I grew up in mass so the opportunity to really express that
02:44right around the corner from where we used to come down for mud, come down for pretty mass, we used
02:49to
02:49start right up by tambourine squares so starting out there and playing in costumes and growing to the point
02:57where I'm actually creating costumes for carnival, it has been a blessing that I can't even really describe.
03:03Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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