Your collection is so playful. What did artistically settling in to your vision look like?

Well I feel like when I started, I started making hats for myself. I was doing a lot of editorial for David LaChapelle, and just random, crazy pieces like these feather faux hawks - really editorial pieces. I was spray painting faux hawks in the hallway of the loft that I shared with like 3 girls, and then I got a storefront, and started making costume pieces that were slightly more commercial. Shortly after, celebrity stylists and editors started coming in to my store and I started making hats for celebrities, with my first one being J. Lo. You know, that era, late '90s, early 2000s, when it started dawning, that age of the celebrity. So for a while, I was in my store and kind of incubating my creativity. And I think that every designer when they’re younger, they have to go through an incubation period. And the store afforded me a good combination of being able to be creative and work on editorials, and also of being able to understand the customer. I have so many types of customers. Ones who come in off the street and order hats, and then I make pieces for Beyonce’s concerts, Madonna’s tours. So we’re basically covering this wide niche of all types of hats for all types of women.
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