'Dare to be different and express yourself': this is the mantra that 15-year-old new designer Jeannie Beck remembers her mother drilling into her from she was a child.

Jeannie 'Didi' Beck poses with her mother and muse Jeannie Beck.

"She always told me never to follow the crowd, be myself and an individual," Jeannie recalls. Being born to an artist and band player, she was never far from creative spirits. The young designer, who prefers to be called Didi, has been creating and recreating things from the tender age of 5.
"My mom used to make things all the time and I used to find ways to make them unique by adding a bow or beads." She recalled while sitting with TEENage that her first piece was a mermaid dress made from her mother's curtains.

Do not be deceived by looks: this small framed 15-year-old speaks like a designer way above her years.
She told TEENage that it takes her at least one week to create any one of her pieces. "The two pieces that I created for Caribbean Fashion Week (CFW) were created for over a year before I actually got the chance to enter CFW," Didi recalls.
Her big break at CFW came when she met Jackie Cohen, the designer of Mutamba at this year's Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival.

"I was looking at her stall, it was the only stall that caught my interest, and I decided to buy a shirt and change it up a bit, she heard and offered me the chance to show two pieces with her at this year's show," Didi said.

"The response was good to the pieces I showed at CFW. it was so fun and exciting I can't wait to do it again next year with more pieces," Didi gushed. Didi loved the quality of the Caribbean Fashion Week show and cited designers such as Posh Punk, Lubica and Mutamba as her favourites.

When asked about her inspiration, Didi said that she gets her inspiration at school when she is bored. Then when she gets home she finishes them after doing some homework. "I draw inspiration from anywhere or anything, I love old school clothes and colours."
For her international inspiration Didi loves Betsy Johnson and Marc Jacobs.

For right now she is in fourth form doing eight subjects in CXCs at Campion College, and that for her is top priority.
But for her, the school of choice is Parsons The New School For Design in New York.

"At the end of fifth form, I really want to go to a design university named Parsons, in New York and possibly intern with one of my favourite designers." She, however, let TEENage know that she is creating a whole new line of things every day and plans to bring them to life soon. "I never know what is going to pop out of my head, but once I'm done, I know it is unique and special."