I knew the late designer Scott Crolla a bit, because we moved in the same circles in London. He had a shop in the early 80s. I got three or four of these shirts. His use of exotic fabrics presented in this traditional English style was what first caught my eye, although he did have a thing for the Nehru collar. He favoured floral velvet and paisley, but what really set him apart was that the fabrics he chose seemed more suited to making sofas and curtains. I remember lending this shirt to Ziggy Marley for one of the early videos that I made for him.
The shop was open for about 10 years, selling shirts, trousers and suits, but utilising unusual fabrics that flew in the face of the trends. It made for a cool juxtaposition that appealed to the eternal dandy in me.
I’m all about the culture clash. I guess what would have appeared to be exotic fabrics to Caucasian folk had an instant appeal to me, because they had references to Indian and African fabrics. The shirt I’m wearing looks to me very much like something from Nigeria – it appealed to the duality of my existence, which was black and British.
For working-class kids raised in the 60s and 70s, the only way we could achieve any sort of status or identity, find our tribe and express our sexuality, was through the clothes we wore and the music we listened to. We turned that into an art form. I was very much of the generation that used clothes and art to achieve status and identity.
I’m not really into fashion because, by its very nature, it comes and goes. I’m about style – that’s for ever. Style is inherently part of who I am as a black, working-class kid of Jamaican parentage. I’m a child of the Windrush generation. Look at those people when they’re coming off the boat; how are they dressed? Gaberdine suits and floral dresses. We brought flavour and colour to the UK.
When I wear it now, how do I feel? Slimmer than I ought to be, but I don’t wear it that often, because I have to hold in my stomach to wear it. I don’t hang on to much because I’m about moving forward, but it has stuck in my wardrobe and I guess it’s because it’s outside fashion; it has eternal style. You could pull it out then, you could pull it out 10 years after that and, indeed, here we are 40 years later.
Don Letts’ debut solo album, Outta Sync, is out on 26 May on Cooking Vinyl
