It’s Crop Over . The truck stops, the music swells, and every first-timer realizes Carnival isn’t a costume. It’s a homecoming. For Lauren Senkbeil, the founder behind Azul Mas, that moment came years into her own journey between two worlds: The Jamaican-American upbringing that shaped her identity from a distance, and the island life that eventually pulled her in completely.
- Caribbean culture has always been part of my identity, she said. But living in the Caribbean gave me a completely different perspective.
- From Observation to Vision
- [Additional Read: She Carried Haiti to Spain and Built a Luxury Brand in Both Hands ]
- Redefining Luxury, Caribbean-Style
- Beyond the Road: A Year-Round Lifestyle
- Protecting Authenticity While Going Global
- The Little Jumby Launch
- Identity in Motion
- Looking toward 2026 and Beyond
- I want Azul Mas to be part of showing the world that Caribbean brands can define luxury, set trends and create something truly unique without compromising who we are.
Caribbean culture has always been part of my identity, she said. But living in the Caribbean gave me a completely different perspective.
Two years in Barbados, nearly two more in Antigua, and a first Mas experience at Crop Over changed how she saw the entire culture, not as a spectacle, but as history, freedom, creativity and community stitched into every bead and feather.
From Observation to Vision
That shift in perspective didn’t happen in isolation. As she moved through Carnival seasons and connected with women across the region, she kept hearing the same frustrations on repeat: pressure to achieve the “perfect Carnival body,” a lack of representation beyond one narrow body type, and social content that felt increasingly staged rather than joyful.
She also noticed a gap hiding in plain sight. Women were investing thousands of dollars in costumes, flights and the full Carnival experience, yet the accessories meant to complete the look rarely matched that level of craftsmanship.
“I wanted to create pieces that were beautiful, practical and elevated enough to complement the memories they were making,” she explained. That instinct became Azul Mas, a brand built to bring luxury design language to Carnival without losing the culture that inspired it.
[Additional Read: She Carried Haiti to Spain and Built a Luxury Brand in Both Hands ]
Redefining Luxury, Caribbean-Style
Ask her what luxury means in a Caribbean context, and she pushes back on the usual definition. “Luxury isn’t about being unattainable,” she said. “It’s thoughtful design, exceptional quality and creating products that make women feel confident before they even step onto the road.”
That philosophy shows up in who she pictures wearing the pieces: a woman leading her section on Carnival Monday, boarding a yacht in Antigua, dancing at a beach fete in Barbados. Someone designing her life to look as good in motion as it does through a lens, without sacrificing authenticity for aesthetics.
Beyond the Road: A Year-Round Lifestyle
While Carnival remains the heartbeat of the brand, Azul Mas was never meant to live in a four-day window. Collections are designed to travel to beach clubs, pool parties, music festivals and tropical getaways long after the trucks have rolled through. “We want our customers to think of Azul Mas every time they’re packing for somewhere warm,” she said. “The Caribbean lifestyle isn’t seasonal, and neither is the brand.”
Protecting Authenticity While Going Global
As island culture increasingly gets flattened into a trend for outside audiences, the founder is intentional about where Azul Mas is built from. “Azul Mas is being built from within the Caribbean, not from the outside looking in,” she said, pointing to partnerships with local creatives and a commitment to representing the region’s varied traditions.
Her growth strategy isn’t about scaling past the culture. It’s about scaling with it. “That growth should always honor and uplift Caribbean culture, not change it.”
The Little Jumby Launch
For the brand’s next chapter, she chose The Hut at Little Jumby Island, a setting she describes as “beautiful, elevated, distinctly Caribbean and effortlessly luxurious.” After more than a year of conversations with the property’s team, the launch became less about a product drop and more about building an experience that mirrors the brand’s own ethos: Carnival as lifestyle, not costume.
Identity in Motion
Perhaps the most resonant thread running through Azul Mas is its relationship to movement. The founder, who has lived across the Caribbean and in Mexico and now balances entrepreneurship with medical school, designed the brand for women who move constantly between cities and selves: New York one month, Kingston the next, Antigua for Carnival.
Even the name carries that duality. “Azul Mas” plays on the Spanish for “more blue,” a nod to a color that’s followed her through hair, shoes and personal style for years, and a symbol of the adventure behind the brand.
“She does not have to choose between where she comes from and where she is going,” she said of her customer. “Azul Mas is about more than accessories. It is about culture, movement, confidence and carrying a little piece of the Caribbean with you everywhere.”
Looking toward 2026 and Beyond
As Azul Mas heads into another Carnival season, the founder’s ambitions stretch past product lines. She wants the brand to expand into Monday wear and everyday pieces, eventually bring pop-ups to islands across the region and, most of all, prove something bigger to the next generation of Caribbean creatives.
I want Azul Mas to be part of showing the world that Caribbean brands can define luxury, set trends and create something truly unique without compromising who we are.
