Known as the visionary behind Tribe Nine Studios, Troy Oraine Williamson, popularly known as Troy Oraine, has lived a very eventful life before dancing into the fashion world.

Born in Kingston, Oraine, the son of a seamstress, is the middle child of five. He spent his early childhood living between Denham Town and Portmore before migrating to London, England, at the age of 10. During his adolescence, he learned how to adapt and acclimatise to the environment and the way Jamaicans are viewed in an international environment.

He completed his studies in drama and music up to sixth form at the George Orwell School, which later became known as the Arts and Media School Islington in the Finsbury Park area of north London. It was during this time that he was convinced by other dancer friends to learn and join dancing.

“I’ve been a dancer for most of my life, touring mostly in the U.K., I was always interested in performing arts, but mostly drama, I’ve really been a creative all of my life; I would draw and sketch all the time, but dancing for me really took over,” said Williamson.

The dancer turned fashion designer spent his early 20s learning different styles of dance, at which he became fairly skilled and popular in his craft, eventually learning, joining dance troupes and eventually an agency, where he auditioned for Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston. He later performed with notable figures such as Missy Elliot, Boyz II Men, and Beyoncé.

However, during this time, although he had the skill, he was unable to go on tours internationally due to restrictions stemming from his citizenship at the time.

“Dance was all I knew for 12 years, but around the recession time, some of the agencies were having trouble securing payments for dancers and were folded during that time, so I decided to take a step back and explore other things,” recalled Williamson.

“I spent a year working in IT selling project management courses but decided that wasn’t for me, so I left and began working in temp sales jobs at Tommy Hilfiger and then Lee and Levi’s but they didn’t feel quite right and I eventually decided that it was time to leave the U.K.,” he added.

Williamson then visited New York City in the U.S. and spent his time there interning in a showroom where he got his first chance to “actualise his design world” as he puts it. He got to witness a lot of high-end clothing and apparel and got to observe the nuance behind clothing.

Williamson said he developed a fascination for clothing design after learning conspicuous details about how international brands adjusted their clothing depending on demographics and geographical factors. After the end of his internship, he decided before returning to London that he should take a vacation in Jamaica for the first time in over 20 years, which gave him the opportunity to reconnect with his love for Jamaica.

“After moving back to the U.K., I started flirting with the idea of moving to Jamaica, I was asking myself things and along with my friend Andre’, we’d plot about things like what would I do here and so forth,” the eclectic designer revealed.

“My family and I visited Jamaica again for a funeral, a few months later. We stayed here for a month and when it was time to go, I told my mom and grandmother that I’d decided to stay in Jamaica, much to their dismay,” he said as he explained the genesis of how he launched his clothing line in downtown Kingston.