As he sits on his verandah in Orangefield, St Catherine, carefully stitching each suit with the same precision that has defined his career for decades, veteran tailor Osmond Stephens fears he may be witnessing the slow decline of a trade once in high demand.

“We need tailors ... and nobody’s learning it. Nobody is doing the tailoring,” said Stephens, threading a needle as he insisted his eyesight remains sharp after all these years. At 78, he has spent more than six decades in the profession.

“My old lady use to do dressmaking and I am the one that use to hang out with her until about age 13 I went to Kingston and start the work.”