These are some of the costumes I had designed in the 2000s.
Lil’ Kim and the puppy’s costumes in Trick Daddy’s “Sugar” Video
My earliest gigs as a costume designer were mostly hip hop related. Below are the pink costumes I designed and made for Lil’ Kim and the little puppy for Trick Daddy’s “Sugar” music video featuring Lil’ Kim, CeeLo Green, and Ludacris in 2004.
The stylist of this video, Misa Hylton, told me that the director wanted Lil’ Kim and the puppy to be like the naughty version of the girl from Legally Blonde. That was the only guideline I received. Other than that, they let me design freely. So, this jumpsuit is what I had come up with. The white accents around the neck and thighs are leather, and the front is open down to the waist. I made a hooded jacket for the puppy with the matching fabric.
Tops and jewelry for Apple Bottoms’ ad campaign photo shoot
Around the same time, I made tops and jewelry for the rapper Nelly’s Apple Bottoms jeans line’s promotional ad campaign photo shoot. At the time of the photo shoot, Apple Bottoms jeans only had jeans samples, and did not have any tops. So I was asked to make tops to go with some of their jeans just for the photo shoot. I was only given two pairs of plain blue denim — one with a pink embroidered logo, and the other one with red embroidery — to get inspiration from. I wasn’t given any design ideas, scenes, or restrictions. So I was able to design freely.
I didn’t think it would be a good idea to make a highly intricate high-end piece. That’s because there would have been a misalignment between what’s advertised and what would actually be available for consumers. On the other hand, I didn’t want to make the top into an ordinary inexpensive-looking mass-produced piece of urban clothing with unnecessarily busy designs or logos. So, these are what I had come up with.
I didn’t know that there would be a pink girly bed at the photo shoot set. The top and the matching jewelry I made blended so well in the room.
The above is another piece I made for the same photo shoot. The logo was added in post-production.
Olivia’s blue silk costume in 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” video
I designed and made the baby blue silk corset and skirt ensemble worn by Olivia in the “Candy Shop” video in 2005. For this outfit, color was the only thing specified, and I was able to design the whole outfit freely as long as I used the right color. This corset has the clear lace trimmings that I made from PVC, and transparent resin and crystal charm ornaments. I also used a lightweight aluminum chain, which is comfortable on human skin, for the shoulder straps and the corset’s back laces.
Red costumes for 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” video
These are the red dance scene costumes I had worked on. I designed five pairs of legwarmers in five different styles as I made them in an improvisational style. They were made of rabbit and fox furs.
It was the very first and the last time I had accepted the work that involved fur. I have not worked with fur ever since. There is something that I would like to share. A story that needs to be told. What I’m about to say is the truth. While I was working on this red fur costumes around 2 or 3 a.m., I saw an outline of bloody fox on the fur. I remember his face. He was laying on his side, and he had his eyes closed. He was a cutie, but sadly bloody. While I was working on these costumes, I only had about 3-hour sleep every day for about 4 days. So, you can say that it was easier for me to see an illusion in such a physical state. However, it was vivid, and precise. The soul of the fox was there with me. I couldn’t believe how brutal that was! Just for the records, of course I wasn’t drinking, smoking, or doing any drugs.
Camouflage vest made for G-Unit Olivia for her promotional campaign photo shoot
For this photo shoot held in TriBeCa, I designed and made one more custom outfit for Olivia in addition to the above vest. It was a white dress with hologram ornaments which I cannot find the pictures of.
Other items designed for Olivia
In addition to making costumes for photo and video shoots, I also created a few pieces of clothes for Olivia for her appearances at parties, such as the hooded yellow short length bubble jacket worn at 50 Cent’s birthday party at his mansion.
50 Cent’s bomber jacket for the movie “Get Rich or Die Tryin'”
It’s an ordinary army green bomber jacket. The reason why they had paid me to have such a plain item made was because they couldn’t find (didn’t bother to look for) the 1980s-style jacket with the orange lining in a good condition at the time the movie was filmed in 2005.
Eve’s baby doll corset-back dress for her “Give It To You” video featuring Sean Paul
Source: YouTube
I designed and made this outfit for Eve with the fabric she brought back from South Africa. The stylist for this video, Lysa Cooper, let me negotiate directly with Eve and her managers for this project. I brought and showed Eve a few dresses I have made in the past, not pictures or drawings, but actual pieces, as samples. And this is the design she chose for her costume for the music video, “Give It To You.”
I also made other outfits for her, both her personal use and her other work such as her performances on tour. This was around 2007 and 2008.
Rihanna’s black spandex short shorts for her concert tour
In 2007, I made many pairs of high-waisted plain black spandex shorts for Rihanna for her Good Girl Gone Bad tour. Though the shorts were made to last for a long time, it was decided that she should wear a fresh brand-new pair for each performance.
Rihanna also requested me to make a dress for her to wear at her friend’s wedding party in Barbados. For this, I made her a pink baby doll dress.
Other Costume-Related Works I’ve done
I created a custom fitted leopard and copper bathing suit for the rapper Trina in 2007. Other than designing and making costumes, I’d also worked as a tailor on set at photo shoots, video shoots, concert tours, TV shows, and various filming projects. I also worked as a tailor visiting homes of celebrities including Mariah Carey where I was required to sign an NDA.
Custom outfits made for Supreme New York’s online launch
I worked with Supreme New York as the stylist for the photo shoot for their online launch in 2006 with photographer Jamil GS. Before the shoot, I was given as many girls’ T-shirts and tank tops as I could take at the Supreme office in SoHo. There was going to be only one model for the shoot, but I customized those plain Supreme T-shirts into my own style for the shoot. I was also given a few pieces of men’s T-shirts, men’s long sleeve T-shirts, and other items. I created several bikinis out of those Supreme outfits for a female model to wear in the photo shoot. All the outfits I’d created had been kept by the photographer Jamil GS after the shoot.
Ready-to-wear outfits sold at Patricia Field in Lower East Side
All the while, I was also selling ready-to-wear items such as corsets, other tops, dresses, jeans, and accessories at Hotel Venus and Patricia Field since the early 2000s. I had sold my items there until Patricia Field closed its physical store.
Clothes, accessories and jewelry sold at A New York Thing
When the store A New York Thing opened in LoHo around 2005, I sold my clothes, accessories, jewelry, and sewing patterns there. I was also the Visual Artist for the display case at the store. I brought my merchandise and artwork to be displayed, and rotated them every season. I worked with A New York Thing (aNYthing) until it closed its original location on Hester Street around 2010, the time when all the original members had left the business.
Fashion was out of fashion.
During the great recession of 2008, being fashion oriented was literally out of fashion. I’ve always enjoyed being creative, but I always hesitated to call myself a fashion designer. My image of the fashion industry was never pretty. Most successful designers in the New York fashion industry were not making the actual pieces themselves. Instead, they outsourced it to “cheap” workers. Yet, it was understandable tactics because without being cost effective, business won’t thrive. Therefore, I never pursued my clothing line in a larger scale, and I kept on making all the pieces myself. I was, after all, a true artisan. This perception of mine grew more than ever before during the recession.
Making something meaningful
Out of all the costume and styling projects that I’d worked on, the most meaningful opportunity I had was to design and make the simple black mourning ribbons and truck masks to cover the gold ball at the tip of the Japanese flag post. I was commissioned to make four sets of those, right after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, to pay condolences to the victims.
I prayed for the victims of the catastrophe while I was making these very easy simple pieces. Those pieces were placed and displayed at the residence of the Japanese Ambassador, the office of the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, the Consulate General of Japan in NY, and Japan Society—all in NYC. These are still being used every year on March 11th.
Concert tour with Ms. Lauryn Hill
By 2012, I had a regular job, so I had to be selective with types of costume design gigs I had accepted. When I received an offer to go on a national tour with Ms. Lauryn Hill as their stylist, there was no way I could say no. However, because of my regular job, I was only able to join Ms. Hill for a couple of days. Even so, she accepted me to go on a tour with her, which was amazing.
I remember the aforementioned earthquake in 2011 hit a month after I came back from the concert tour with Ms. Lauryn Hill, and I also remember that she and her management remitted payment very fast, within a couple of weeks, which was rare in the industry. No matter what the media spoke of her delinquency with the IRS at the time, I believed she did take care of her people.