From Finance To Fashion: How This Nigerian-British-Caymanian Designer Found Her Calling In The Caribbean

For some, embarking on a journey abroad is less about travel clout and more of a soul calling. That was certainly the case for fashion designer Isy Obi, founder of Isy B. Design, an award-winning fashion brand birthed in the Cayman Islands. The resortwear collection is inspired by Obi’s love for exploring the natural world, travel, multicultural heritage, and her innate desire for artistic expression.

The Nigerian native grew up in England, pursuing a path in accounting after university. However, after incessant nudges from the intangible, Obi made the difficult decision to hang up her career in banking in search of something more fulfilling.

A Soul Calling From The Cayman Islands

What began as a search for the right place led Obi on a deeper journey of discovering her truest passion. Her unique journey — one not unfamiliar to many creatives — is a winding road of pursuing possibilities.

“My soul is very loud and it calls me very loudly,” Obio shares candidly with Travel Noire. “I’ve had many uncomfortable moments in my life because whenever I’m doing something that doesn’t sit right, no matter how much I’ve worked for it, invested, [or] trained, my soul just doesn’t work until I hear it and do something about it. This is what happened in England when I was there.”

Early in Obi’s career, after landing a successful role in banking in London, she realized this version of life wasn’t authentically fulfilling for her. Trusting that a better way was possible, she began her search for the right next place to call home. Her criteria were simple: somewhere beautiful and warm, with culture, traditional values, and English as a prominent language. In her early 20s, she also needed a location with ample work opportunities.

“I had a map of the world out and I started triangulating the different places around the world that fit that description,” Obi shares. “I had a few countries mapped out so I started doing a bit more research and applying for jobs.”

After shortlisting Singapore, San Francisco, and a few other destinations, Obi ultimately landed a finance position in the Cayman Islands. Not long after, her soul came knocking again. This continued to happen time and again as Obi transitioned from finance through roles in insurance and recruiting.

“In all of this, there are self-confidence [and] self-esteem issues because it feels like you’re never making the right decisions,” says Obi. “Like, ‘Why do I keep messing up? Why do I keep choosing one thing, then I have to change, build up this whole life, and throw it in the bin?’”

Yet, an underlying knowing continued to fuel her quest. Finally, after turning down a partnership deal in the finance realm, and opening and closing her own web development agency, the stars aligned for Obi’s creative side to take center stage.

From Fashion Muse To Fashion Week

During this season of Obi’s life, in preparation for attending a London wedding, she was faced with limited fashion choices in Cayman. Instead of lamenting over the lack of options, Obi designed a collection for herself. Before returning to Cayman, at the recommendation of her sister Uju, Obi found a studio to capture images of her collection. She also built a website using her web development agency skills, admitting, “I just put it up and was like I’ll leave it on there and come back to it at some point.”

Then, she got a call from a representative on behalf of Cayman Fashion Week. Initially declining the invitation, Obi eventually accepted the offer to present a collection at the island’s premier fashion event.

Saying yes led her back to nurturing a love she’d had all along — fashion. Pulling from her mother’s teachings as a child, Obi then trained in a highly competitive fashion design program at Phoenix Fashion Week. Standing alongside fellow designers with credentials from the who’s who in fashion institutes, Obi attributes her clarity and focus to winning Lifestyle Designer of the Year, a title coveted by more than 20,000 applicants.

“I really tried not to be intimidated. Just focus on yourself and focus on what you’re doing,” she shares on the experience. “Try not to look around too much — be clear and focused.”

After the win, Obi admits that while fashion felt right, there was still much to learn about the industry. Following the traditional designer path, Obi showed her collections in London and Paris, obliging all the formalities of fitting the mold.

“I had lots of successes, but I was trying to do what other fashion designers did,” Obi says. “I was trying to do what I could see people doing and what the traditional path of fashion design was — getting consultants, going to trainings, [and] watching the trends.”

Four years into the business, Obi had reached the end of her rope of what felt like meaningless work. The simultaneous arrival of COVID-19, and the subsequent slowdown globally, gave her the space to make changes. Wanting no part of the fast fashion clothing culture, Obi sold her equipment and gave up her rental lease.

However, the dream hadn’t completely died. The opportunity for aid from the Cayman Islands government, which extended grants to local businesses, opened the door for what Obi said would be her “last ever collection.”

“I’m going to create something that is me, has the story I want to tell, has everything that I love in it, and helps other people in the local community.”

Preserving The Legacy Of Caymanian Culture Through Fashion

A lover of writing, drawing, and things connected to Spirit, Obi identifies the throughline of her African, English, and Caymanian backgrounds as storytelling.

Obi recalls, “I recognized that when I grew up in Nigeria listening to stories that were told in a certain way. A lot of those stories had morals behind them — folk tales [and] fables. I started looking at Caymanian storytelling to see how that storytelling tradition came from Africa and made its way into the Caribbean, especially into the Cayman culture.”

Through research, and connecting with local storytellers like Nasaria Suckoo, Obi began unearthing the stories of Caymanians long held exclusively in oral tradition. The result was an intuitive storytelling collection, effortlessly weaving the ideas and concepts of Cayman culture into colorful prints that have a story behind them. Her creations effortlessly tie in important cultural symbols such as the traditional Caymanian cottages and silver thatch palms, a national symbol of the islands. Each Isy B. Design is accompanied by a QR code tag that holds the intuitive story that inspired it.

Now working on her eighth storytelling collection, Obi seems to have found a groove in fashion that suits her best. These days, she prioritizes quality over quantity, only creating new designs for her signature swimsuits, kimonos, and kaftans when they come to her.

“The great thing about the story is that I can’t chase fashion trends because I don’t know what the story is going to be,” she reveals. “It doesn’t matter what they’re doing in London, Paris, [or] New York. The stories help me stay on my own track.”

The story of Isy B. Design, much like that of its creator, is a colorful, expansive expression of a life well-lived. While you won’t find a standalone store to shop Isy B.’s designs, the brand’s footprint is felt throughout the island. Select items from the collection are available in partner hotels in Grand Cayman. The collection is also available on the brand’s website and ships internationally.

“The garments are meant to be something that you connect with, that remind you of something about yourself,” says Obi. “The thing that makes me feel most alive is encouraging and supporting women in feeling good about themselves. If I can do that through color and clothing that’s comfortable, easy to wear, and [makes] you feel special — that’s what I aim for in the clothes and swimwear that I design.”

This article has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.