Ivy Coco Maurice ascended the storied steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ready to bear witness to a moment in personal, family, and fashion history. When she saw the Kareeba, the original suit style designed by the pioneering fashion designer and her late grandmother Ivy Ralph, she “cried two rivers—maybe three.”
“It was a moment of spiritual release. I hadn’t cried much since her passing, but on that day, I felt her with me. Her spirit walked beside me in that gallery,” she tells Vogue. Ivy Ralph’s design features as part of the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”
Ralph’s signature piece became the Kareeba (also spelled Kariba) suit—a style of jacket that’s like a more formal version of the common bush shirt and safari jacket worn across Africa. It is worn without a suit and tie, making it more comfortable in a warmer climate. Over the years, the suit was worn by notable politicians—presidents of Tanzania, Barbados, and Guyana included—and musicians like The Jackson 5.
“The Kareeba was a revolutionary expression of Jamaican pride. When Jamaica was seeking independence from British rule in the ’60s, my grandmother took it a step further in the ’70s—decolonizing the way men dressed. She believed our liberation had to be cultural, too,” affirms Maurice. “She saw how the suit-and-tie dress code didn’t serve our climate. Men sweating through their clothes wasn’t her style. So she created something breathable, sustainable, bold, and uniquely Jamaican. The Kareeba was her answer. Through her sharp eye and effortless design, she redefined Jamaican menswear.”
A sandy-toned, exquisitely tailored original design from the ’70s is now on display in the Met.
“I had to pause, breathe, and remind myself: My reality is my grandmother’s wildest dream. She ran so I could walk. And that day, I realized I wasn’t just representing my family, I was representing Jamaica. The Kareeba is more than fashion, it’s an artifact. It’s history. ‘Her-story.’”
For her visit to the Met, Maurice wore her own piece of Ralph history: A hand-woven, ankle-length red tweed skirt that, when she found it among over 30 designs in her mom and Abbott Elementary actor Sheryl Lee Ralph’s garage in Jamaica, still had the dry-cleaning tag on. The skirt was made from fabric Maurice’s grandmother bought in Italy and created 64 years ago. “To wear something made with her hands and spirit—it was an honor beyond words,” says Maurice.
Ivy Ralph was born an orphan in Chantilly, Mandeville, Jamaica, and as an adult took a boat, plane, and train to reach New York City, where she worked as a housekeeper, and then became a nurse at Harlem Hospital, where she met Maurice’s grandfather, Dr. Stanley Lee Ralph. She later went on to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Ivy Ralph O.D. passed away in 2018. Since then, Maurice—a stylist, designer, creative director, and co-founder of wellness nonprofit WalkGoodLA—has dedicated herself to her grandmother’s legacy. She relaunched the House Of Ivy atelier in 2021 with limited edition re-designs of pieces from the ’60s and ’70s, like colorful kaftans and delicate crochet pieces.
In September 2024, Maurice was approached by Professor Monica L. Miller Ph.D., curator of the “Superfine” exhibition, to showcase one of Ralph’s original Kareeba designs at the Met. The answer, of course, was a resounding yes.
“She always told me, ‘Class, yuh have it, or yuh nuh have it. Style, yuh have it, or yuh nuh have it,’ which means you either have it or you don’t,” shares Maurice of her grandmother, who she calls grandy. Every morning at 5 a.m., Ralph would wake up for her devotionals, and a young Maurice would sneak out of bed to follow her into her factory attached to their home in Jamaica. The sound of whirring sewing machines soundtracked her childhood.
“I’d sit quietly on the steps and watch her cut garments in preparation for the day. Even when she caught me and said, ‘Coco, you need rest, guh back to bed,’ I wouldn’t budge. I was learning. Watching her work instilled in me the value of preparation. If grandy was up, I was up. I followed her everywhere, from fabric shopping to delivering pieces to Carby’s souvenir store, to managing her boutique at Devon House.” Ralph inspired Maurice to become a stylist; she taught her how to hand-sew, sketch designs, and shop for fabrics. “She once told me, ‘How can one learn without a teacher?’ And she lived by that. She made time to pour into me.”
For Maurice and her family, Ralph’s story and arrival to the Met is a testament to the power of believing in yourself and identity. She says, too, that new Kareeba designs will be released from the House of Ivy. “Her story is living proof that your environment doesn’t define who you are or who you can become,” says Maurice. “She never forgot where she came from. She stayed loyal to the soil of Jamaica. And that’s what made her so powerful—her ability to stay rooted, yet rise.”
