Creative people are plagued with the worry of making their ideas a reality along with marketing their products and ensuring their work gets the traction it needs.
But Made868 aims to reduce that stress.
The Made868 facility, set up by Sandra Carr, its supervisor, programme leader and senior lecturer at the Academy of Caribbean Fashion and Design, offers them the space to produce any and every idea they may have.
She said with great emphasis that everyone with an idea can use the facility, as it is not just for fashion designers.
Made868 is based at UTT's John S Donaldson Campus on Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.
Carr said with its state-of-the-art machinery, people in numerous branches of the arts have created products such as jewellery, plush toys, handbags and even plant pots. The services it provides include CNC milling with a computerised machine used to create woodwork, 3D signs and Carnival floats; laser cutting, which gives precise cuts or intricate engraving on acrylic, wood, metals and textiles; vinyl-cutting, which gives designers the chance to create their own banners; and 3D printing, which is used to materialise creations from earrings or coasters.
Carr said she hopes to get more creators to integrate technology into the process of production.
"You name it, whatever the creatives have envisioned, we have brought it to life. So people see that and they're very pleased with the quality of work. So...they are now saying, 'I can come, I can have all these dreams, I could create all these things – and now I can see them come to life.'"
Carr added, "What we are telling designers is, 'Let us do your production for you.' Because the thing is, the way this industry is, designers do everything. They do the marketing, sewing, illustrations and stuff, so we're like: 'Focus on your target market, your marketing, and bring the production for us, because this way you can merge into new markets and still have the products so that you can cater to your target market.'"
[caption id="attachment_986175" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Fashion TT general manager Lisa-Marie Daniel, centre, with the Made868 team, from left, project manager Raenelle Simmons, project lead Aisha Stewart, manager Anna White and supervisor Sandra Carr at the Made868 facility, John S Donaldson, UTT campus, Port of Spain. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]
Made868 was launched on January 17 with the idea of being a fashion hub for graduates of the academy.
"Initially we were looking at a fashion incubator, where the graduates will come into that for, like a year, develop their brands – then they will go out and then we would have another batch.
"But we saw there was a greater need, and in collaborating with FashionTT, there's a greater need to fill the gap in the industry to have manufacturing for the designers. So from that incubator idea came what we have today.
"The business model was actually devised as a three-year business model, where the first year we will cater to our local designers, the second year to regional designers,
