Jamaican fashion designer Ivy Ralph is dead

Ivy Ralph, well-known Jamaican fashion designer died on Monday at the age of 90. The government, in a statement issued by Culture Minister Olivia Grange, described Ralph as “one of the most creative Jamaicans.”

Ivy Ralph, the mother of actress/singer Sheryl Lee Ralph was noted for the once famous Kareba formal and informal shirt/jacket, which gained international attention as a signature outfit of the late Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley and other Jamaica men in the 1970s.

The outfit also became the standard dress for other leaders including the late president of Tanzania Julius Nyerere and the late Prime Minister of Barbados Errol Barrow.

The New York Times reported in 1976 that, “The Kareba, the styled, open-neck, over-the-pants shirt, and matching trousers suit has become the universally accepted dress for formal occasions, work and leisure wear.”