5 Questions With Septimius The Great

Grammy Award-winning artiste, fashion designer and actor, Septimius The Great, headlines Fashion Elevation 2026: The Essence of Style, this Saturday at The Summit, 16 Chelsea Avenue in New Kingston. This showcase, presented by The Mahogany Entertainment Network in collaboration with fashion production company LA Fashion Closet, features a distinguished line-up of designers, including Heather Laine, Endlesz Dezigns, Shades of Africa, Polka Dots, Earl Williams, Yard Pop, and Pepper Jacques Collection, alongside guest designers and surprise performers from the international fashion community. It is expected to bring together models, creatives, and cultural tastemakers from across the globe in what the organisers say will be “an evening celebrating couture, creativity, and cultural expression”. This week, 5 Questions With ... had the pleasure of sitting down with Septimius The Great.

1. Is this your first time in Jamaica?

No, not at all. I have a lot of family and friends in Jamaica, but I haven’t been back in about three years. But this is the first time business wise ... I always come out just for family and friends. My stage name is Septimius The Great, but my last name is Simms, and we have a lot of family... on my mother’s side... in St Elizabeth.

2. You won a Grammy for a reggae album. What album was that, and how did that link come about?

That was on Kabaka Pyramid’s The Kalling. It won Best Reggae Album [at the] 2023 Grammys. I got like five Grammy nominations total so far ... spoken word, blues, Afro, Afrobeat reggae, EDM ... I collaborate with different artistes. I was talking with one of my producers, and I said I really want to collaborate with a Jamaican artiste. [Kabaka and I] never met, never knew each other or anything ... but my producer said ‘I know the perfect person’. I’ve been a part of the Grammys since 2017, and I’m a voting member. So, [my producer] introduced me to Kabaka and the team, and I was like, great. I said, ‘Whatever you need, let me know’. I’ll make sure it’s submitted to the Grammys. I’ll promote it, get it out there ... and see what happens. And it all just flourished. I did a few vocals on it ... collaboration on it. They listed me as one of the producers, even though I didn’t musically produce it, but I produced it marketing-wise.

3. You have a fashion line. Tell us a little about that.

I’ve been a music artiste for about 15 years, but fashion is where it started. I started as a model, straight from high school. I was kind of a quiet kid, but a good kid, and my girlfriend was like, you should model. I was like, no, I would never do that. And fashion [was born]. So, actually, all the clothes that I [have worn] over the last 15 years have always been my own. And I decided to release a whole couture men’s line about a year ago, and we’ve done Paris Fashion Week, London, Milan, Dubai ... It’s about 50 couture men’s pieces that blend a period of 18th century and modernise. The line is called the Modern Man, and it pushes the envelope on how men dress.

4. What is your material of choice?

It depends. But it can be anywhere from satin to wool to gabardine. I don’t do too much in polyester because I like my fabric to last a long time. But we do a lot of expensive fabrics that will stand the test of time ... At Fashion Elevation on Saturday, I’m gonna do 15 looks, and they’re all menswear, but I think I’m gonna take two women and put them in a menswear outfit as well [as] a matching outfit.

5. You will also be performing at Fashion Elevation. What’s in store for patrons?

Well, I like to do like an interactive runway ... almost like Victoria’s Secret Fashion shows ... where I start with my song, which is called I Am Fashion and then midway through the song, the runway starts. And then I kind of step to the back or to the side and let the fashion show go while I’m performing. I designed it so it’s a real high impact and memorable, even though it will probably be like 15 minutes. I am so excited. I remember doing a fashion show as a model about 20 years ago in MoBay at Sam Shop Square with Mahogany entertainment, with Brent Maxwell, but now I’m coming back as a designer and a Grammy-winner.

BRAWTA

What has your journey in entertainment been like?

I didn’t even want to become a musical artiste ... [or even] a designer. I didn’t have any of that in mind. I just woke up one day with an inner voice that said, ‘hey, you might be good at this. Try it’... And I did. Everything that I try, I give 100 per cent, and a lot of the time, it comes out successful ... Of course, I fall many times, dust off my knees, and keep going. I created Septimius The Great in 2010 ... I Googled black kings and emperors and found out that Septimius Severus was a real Roman emperor from Africa who ruled the Roman Empire ...[when] I realised that I said I want to be the emperor of entertainment. So I created Septimius The Great.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com