10 Times Reggae/Dancehall Artists Grabbed Attention In A Mesh Marina
The Mesh Marina, more popularly known as the String Vest, is an iconic Jamaican fashion piece popularized by Reggae and Dancehall artists, that ironically originated in Norway.
According to I Never Knew TV‘s recent short film on the netted garment, Brynje, a company based in Norway, had created a woolen string vest at the request of Captain Henrik Brun of the Norwegian Army in the 1930s. Captain Brun was said to be unhappy with the undergarments provided to his troops by the military, and asked the textile manufacturer to develop a top made from woven yarn with holes in it. The resulting garment, which later became known as the ‘health vest’ in the United States, was designed to provide warmth, regulate body temperature, and reduce moisture.
Throughout the 1940s and ‘50s, due to its depiction in the comic strip ‘Andy Capp’, which featured a character who was essentially a caricature of a working class drunk, the undergarment gained notoriety in the UK. That association of the undergarment with the working class was further strengthened in the 1980s, when the character, Rab C Nesbitt, in the comedy series of the same name, began wearing one.
While most of the data surrounding how and why the vest exploded in popularity in Jamaica remains largely speculative, it is at least clear that once it did reach Jamaica, it found new, vibrant life among the Dancehall and Reggae community in the 1970s.
From Busy Signal to Bob Marley, below, we round up ten times artists grabbed attention while wearing the Mesh Merina.
Busy Signal
In 2013, Dancehall star Busy Signal broke out the string vest for his feature in the flashy, Dancehall fashion-inspired music video for Watch Out For This (Bumaye), the Platinum-certified song by Major Lazer. The Jay Will-directed music video, which currently sits at 46 million views on YouTube, was set in in 1993 Jamaica, and Busy Signal opens it wearing his red mesh marina beneath an oversized shirt, complemented with big, colorful shorts and a headband.
Popcaan
The garment’s contemporary appeal even swept over into the Unruly camp, with Popcaan being one of the more recent mainstream figures to indulge in it. As recently as two years ago, in 2020, Popcaan broke out an orange and a black mesh marina as part of his fit for his feature on the cover of the UK-based WAVE Magazine.
In 2020, he also sported a black, green, red, and yellow Merina for his appearances in Koffee’s Lockdown music video.
Cocoa Tea
The mesh marina has also been donned by Roots Reggae star Cocoa Tea on multiple occasions. He even wears one throughout his 2010 music video for his song Poverty. An easy and practical choice for Rastafarians, the mesh marina was, and in some cases still is, a minimalist piece of clothing that was unique enough to be symbolic, and inexpensive enough not to be a deterrent to members of that and other groups.
Bob Marley
Perhaps its magnetic appeal to that group wasn’t more evident than in the case of Reggae king Bob Marley. Bob had worn a mesh marina on multiple occasions, and his efforts on that front – whether intentional or not, largely influenced the garment’s mainstream appeal and its widespread acceptance as an icon for Reggae fashion. Beyond its accessibility, that enduring symbolization of the piece may explain why it has become so ingrained in the culture of Dancehall and Reggae music.
Chronixx/Protoje
Chronixx is no stranger to the fashion piece, having been photographed wearing versions of it before. In 2014, however, he and Protoje drew for it for use in the music video for their song, ‘Who Knows’. The first official single from Protoje’s third studio album, ‘Ancient Future’, ‘Who Knows’ became a global hit and in the video, which has since amassed over 181 million views, Chronixx dons a red mesh marina beneath his unbuttoned black, red and yellow jacket, while Protoje sports a multi-colored one beneath his jacket, also unbuttoned.
Protoje continues to rock the garment as a base for a host of other wardrobe decisions over the years.
Koffee
The video for Koffee’s NAACP Image Award-winning song, Lockdown, features Popcaan and Skillibeng, and both Koffee and the Unruly Boss can be seen wearing iterations of the mesh marina.
Koffee wore a white Merina beneath her jumpsuit.
Styled by Yishat Akanbi and Tamo Ennis, the Toast singer wore an interaction of the Merina for the cover of MixMag in May 2022.
Buju Banton
Dancehall legend Buju Banton was pictured in Times Square, New York City, on July 4, 1993, posing for a photograph with rap legend Busta Rhymes. The Destiny singer was photographed wearing a yellow mesh marina in the busy tourist-swamped spot. Buju, whose real name is Mark Myrie, would go on to have an extensive shoot in the area, serving a number of looks in his yellow mesh marina.
Gregory Isaacs
Reggae crooner Gregory Isaacs was always a fashionable man, and it speaks volumes that he made space for the mesh marina in his wardrobe. Isaacs was pictured wearing a dark green while being flanked and bumping fists with Peter Broggs and Flabba Holt.
Aidonia
The mesh marina is a constantly featured palette upon which many Dancehall fashion choices are created. For Aidonia, it was the quintessential ingredient for the classic Dancehall ‘rude bwoy’ look he wore for the music video for his aptly named song, ’80’s Dancehall Style’.
Rihanna
Rihanna’s 8x Platinum Dancehall-inspired Work featuring Drake, played up all the tropes of a 90’s Dancehall party in its music video. Fully committing to the role, the Barbados native figured out how best to communicate that she was visually representing Dancehall, wearing a sleeved red, yellow, black and green dress-like version of the Mesh Marina.
Given the mesh marina’s popularity, it wasn’t long before it was picked up by global fashion trends. It has made multiple appearances on mainstream fashion shows, despite its strong connection to Dancehall and Reggae – genres of music long revered for their rejection of the status quo and mainstream ideals. Even so, the string vest’s list of mainstream fashion features includes some variation of it making an appearance on a few runways.
Fun fact: Though Reggae and Dancehall have popularized the use of ‘Marina’ to refer to garment, the official word is ‘Merino’, which is a direct reference to the Merino Sheep, known for its fine, quality wool used in clothes manufacturing.