What is your full name and where are you currently living?
My name is Shaun Samson, and I currently reside in London, England.
I always need fresh flowers and a lit scented candle on my desk when I work. It turns ‘work mode on’ for me. I collect Mens fashion magazines from all over the world, and strive to have each and every issue in numerical order. I buy earlier copies on Ebay to ensure I have them all. I’ve moved 3 different times since I started my collection, and have parts of it stored in 3 different places: Los Angeles, London, and my parents house in San Diego. My dream is to one day amass it all together and display it in a custom-built, ebony wood library, with black marble fireplace and black leather club chairs. I’d lock myself in there and never leave.
How long have you been a part of this amazing crazy fashion world?
I’ve been a slave to fashion since the age of 6. That was the first time I remember fighting with my mom about that I wanted to wear. She usually dressed me every morning before elementary school. I don’t know how or why it happened, but on one particular day I became very aware that I wanted to look a certain way in order to be viewed by my peers as more ‘cool’. Whether or not my classmates really did see me as more ‘cool’, I will never know, but I knew I felt better about myself that day and have since been fighting with my mom about how I dress, LOL. She loves it though.
How has this journey been for you?
I’ve graduated with multiple degrees from 2 different colleges, in 2 different cities around the world. I wanted to get a taste of it all before I made my final decision to pursue fashion. I studied everything in design from manufacturing and product design, to cultural studies and fine art. I’ve visited factories in Hong Kong, and attended the shows at Paris fashion week. There is so much to experience and learn out there and it is only when I stepped outside the box where the World really opened up for me. The journey has been very eye opening.
What is your sole purpose being in fashion, as a designer?
To give my 2 cents. I think it is most important that I take all my experience and infatuation of design and inject it into my work. It’s a daunting thing to put into words, but that’s how my design process works.
For those who dont know, who have you worked with, accomplishment, and who would you love to work with?
I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with many amazing creatives that I both admire and consider my friends. Many of them are behind the scenes people whose names don’t immediately ring a bell, but once you have talked with them for 5 minutes, realize they helped to make really influential things happen in cultural history. One of my biggest influences, and my mentor, is Jeremy Scott. I worked directly with him for 2 years, and have since assisted the team during fashion week in Paris. I haven’t missed one of his shows for the past 5 seasons! It’s amazing. He’s amazing. He let me help him with many outside projects as well. I assisted him for his collaboration line with Adidas, and helped to make custom outfits for his celebrity friends. I made costumes that Madonna used on her Sticky and Sweet Tour, and even assisted Jeremy to fit a custom dress for Beth Ditto of The Gossip, to just name a few special projects I helped with. I could probably write a memoir of all the amazing things that I experienced while working with Jeremy. But alas, I had to ultimately leave his studio to finish school. I would consider school an accomplishment in process. Central St. Martins has so much history, and before I matriculated there, I didn’t realize how many stories there are. Not only does it have an alumni roster that pretty much is the face of influential fashion designers today, but did you know St. Martins is the venue where the Sex Pistols played their first gig? There is even a placard in the lobby that commemorates it…above a decrepit door. The building is falling apart, but that’s what I really love about it. It’s really raw, and you can feel the spirit of the place; the same halls that Galliano, McQueen, Chalayan, and McCartney walked; to have to the same lecturers that tutored them. It’s a special place, and I’m very fortunate to be able to experience it firsthand. I was invited to do the MA (Masters of Arts) Program under the guidance of Professor Louise Wilson OBE. She’s a legend. Louise is notorious for being verbally aggressive with her students and mentally breaking them down only for them to have to build themselves back up again. I’ve accepted her offer and I’m sadistically looking forward to the torture.
When did you realize "This is what I want to do?"
Both my parents are business owners, so my first and only reference to what ‘work’ was while I was younger, was owning a business and offering services or products to customers. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to follow my parents footsteps and have my own business. In highschool, while I was in Business Club, I entered a competition where I had to write a business marketing proposal and I created one for a fashion business. I got to the state finals with that project. I was also in Fashion Club and I entered a separate project for another state competition where I had to design a capsule collection for a store. I had to do all the background research including fabric sourcing and costing and present it to judges who worked in the industry. Come to think of it, that was a very busy year for me, and was the point where everything pretty much fell into place and ‘clicked’. I felt comfortable doing fashion and continued it from there.
Where do you like to see yourself in 5 years?
Well, if the world doesn’t end in 2012, I hope to be working for a mens design house in Europe. I also see myself continuing Costume Dept. as well as my Mens Luxury Line.
AMAZING. I’ve never met such an incredibly advanced group of young individuals who are so in tune and confident with who they are and their sense of style. I applaud PRMTVE PASSE’s work, and look forward to what they have to offer in this world.
Any words of wisdom, advice, for people out there?
Wisdom:Find your own personal style, and master it. No one can take that away from you.
Advice:Don’t rely on other people to do the work for you. You need to be involved with it all in order to know what’s going on and know it’s being done right.
...Special thanks to Shaun Samson and plenty of success... from the people and P:Passe.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment