Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Author with VI roots pens book on journey in ‘white’ fashion industry

Author with VI roots pens book on journey in ‘white’ fashion industry

Don M. Martin is a poster child success story of hard-working Caribbean immigrants who moved and settled in the United States (US). Mr Martin was born in Harlem and raised in the Bronx; however, has strong ties to the [British] Virgin Islands (VI).

Don M. Martin’s father is from Luck Hill, Tortola and his mom is from North Sound, Virgin Gorda. His Grandmother on his father’s side is from Great Harbour on Jost van Dyke and is a 3rd generation Virgin Islander.

Entered fashion industry by accident


Martin’s latest success, a book entitled ‘Black Man White Industry: My Journey through the men’s fashion world, is a story of a young black man arriving in an industry by accident in 1975, straight out of high school, and breaking all barriers.

“It's a riveting story of bonding with my white counterparts in the textile menswear business. It tells how I became the only black man in the United States to form my own textile corporation. The book has many twists and turns that will take you on a journey of race relations, politics, marketing, and tremendous adversity,” the summary shares.

The book also tells the history of men's tailored clothing and how it was in the golden years. Martin also writes about the great people that shaped the entire industry, past and present.

While one might have expected the story to chronicle experiences on racism, systemic oppression and other related topics, Mr Martin, Speaking to Virgin Islands News Online (VINO), said his journey was quite the opposite.

A positive story


“There’s nothing negative about… it’s a very simple and it’s a story about me and me traveling the world… and I had a tremendous following in the US in the south where racism was supposed to be very rampant and quite frankly I never received it,” he added.

He said one of the reasons he decided to write the book was through inspiration from colleagues who felt he should chronicle his journey and unique story.

He said another reason was due to current events with racist charged incidents that are frequent and, as such, he wanted to write a book of positivity about how blacks and white succeeded in working together without any racist barriers.

“My story ultimately is one that teaches that we as people of colour, we need to be positive and just go about doing our business and have no kind of inhibition that we should be stopped because of our colour,” he added.

Much to learn from book


Mr Martin said the book also teaches about values, marketing, perseverance, business, and more where sales are doing extremely well, including through support from his colleagues in the industry over a 40-year period.

With the book having been launched on July 5, 2022, successfully and well received, according to the author, he is currently in the VI and will speak more on the publication at an upcoming Rotary event on Thursday, September 1, 2022.

The book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in paperback and hardcover as well as electronically on Kindle. Mr Don Martin can be contacted on (845) 729-7948 or via donmartinintl@gmail[dot]com.

Don Martin at a recent book signing event.


Don Martin said the book has been well received and is doing well as it relates to sales.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×