WEBVTT - Walker Wear: From Fashion Boutique to Pioneering Streetwear Brand of the '90s 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:05.560 Jay Z was at this time buying stuff from us, 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:08.160 and one day Biggie came in the store. He was 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:11.760 fifteen years old and he was another one of our 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:16.160 first customers. These kinds of stories are important because for 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:20.360 any aspiring entrepreneur, I credit a lot of my journey 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:24.360 to relationships, and I don't mean just texting and think. 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:26.520 You have to be courageous enough to live in your 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:30.640 discomfort zone, to invest into people and to look at 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:31.400 the long game. 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:45.600 Welcome to Ourdea Generations All Angles, a podcast about culture's 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:50.080 most influential brands and the teams that build. If you're 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:53.720 an entrepreneur, creative, or anyone interested in harnessing the power 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:57.680 of collaboration, join me Noah Callahan Bever each week as 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:00.680 we dissect the most dynamic companies in culture, because the 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:03.640 only way to truly understand success is to look at 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:08.360 it from all angles. Idea Generations All Angles is a 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:15.440 Will Packer Media podcast. In nineteen eighty eight, April Walker 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:18.480 opened Fashion and Effect, a custom clothing boutique for the 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:21.440 burgeoning hip hop audience in New York City. In the 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:24.200 years that followed, April would launch her own streetwear brand, 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:27.840 Walkerware and become a pop culture phenomenon, working closely with 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:32.200 a listers like the notorious Big Tupac and Shaquille O'Neill. 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:34.920 But just as Walkerware started to ascend from hip hop 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:38.520 staple to mainstream recognition, April made the shocking decision to 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:41.759 shut down the brand. On this week's episode of All Angles, 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.640 we talked to founder April Walker, assistant Miles Hopkins, lead 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:49.120 stylist and designer Gloria Sharubin, and head of marketing Kimmia 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.000 Range to hear the full story of how Walkerware became 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:54.560 the hottest streetwear of the nineties and how the brand 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:58.880 has re emerged today with a refreshed approach. But before 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:01.600 any of that happened, years before Mike Tyson would hit 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:04.480 the ring in Walkerwaar shorts or Tupac would fly her 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.639 out to la for an emergency video shoot, April Walker 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:10.359 was just a young kid moving to Harlem with her parents. 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:16.360 My childhood was very interesting. I had a different mix. 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:21.799 My mom is Mexican and Navajo, and my father is 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:27.360 black Cherokee and probably Heinez fifty seven. There's probably some 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.280 other things we don't know about, but it gave me 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:31.560 a unique Lens. 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:33.840 This is April Walker, founder of Walkerware. 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:40.040 My father his family is from Culpepper, Virginia, and my 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:45.320 father is an avid music lover and was part of 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.200 the music industry, but growing up he just had a 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:52.000 love for jazz and music and all the things in music. 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:58.600 My mom is from Colorado. She was very organized, very cerebral, 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:03.240 and just really really focused on creating a life for 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:07.480 us in stability. My father was going to a university 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:12.000 here in Colorado and my mom was from Colorado. Then 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.760 from there we went to La. From La, we went 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:17.919 to Harlem. We lived in Roxbury. We moved around because 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:22.760 my father was chasing those music dreams. As a result, 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:28.800 I got to see different backgrounds, different environments, and in 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:32.120 your formative years, those are everything. So I think it really, 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.560 you know, widened my scope, so to speak. And then 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:37.880 I think in terms of traits, I took a little 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:40.200 bit of both of them. Things you love and then 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.240 the things you don't. But I think in my DNA, 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.680 being as organized and as focused as possible is important, 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.560 and at the same time, creating is just in my 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:55.400 bones and just making and moving towards your dreams. 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:59.000 Creativity and organization serves as the two main pillars in 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:02.440 the Walker household. But then April's father opened her eyes 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:04.600 to another world, entrepreneurship. 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:08.800 My father was always finding ways to connect us with 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:14.200 the arts, whether it was dance lessons or music lessons 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:18.080 or acting lessons, all these different things that we grew 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:22.480 up participating in. And he always had these great cocomanni 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:26.000 ideas that were like, oh my god, so embarrassing as 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.159 a kid, but looking back in hindsight, I know he 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:34.880 was just trying to spark that imagination and create possibilities 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:38.280 in our minds. One year, it was the bi centennial. 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.760 It was huge. It was nineteen seventy six, I believe, 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:46.159 and it was two hundred years they were celebrating. My 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:48.400 father said, we're gonna make some shirts and go out 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:51.280 and sell them for the bi centennial. And I'm like, 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.279 how he said, We're going to create a design and 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:56.880 then we're gonna make it. So we actually did that. 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.640 We created a design that celebrated the bi centennial. And 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.040 then he took me and dragged me to Pearl Paint, 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.719 which was it's legendary in New York for any artist, 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:10.919 and it really just had everything in there that a 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:14.120 creator would want we picked out paints for the shirts, 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.839 we picked out colors, we actually had a silk screen 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:20.880 made with our design, and then we went home and 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:23.840 we stayed up all night and we actually made those shirts. 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.800 We bought the shirts. We actually had to use the 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:32.880 screegee and actually manufacture them by hand and make all 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.440 of these shirts. And then the next day we went 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:40.359 to the bi centennial and actually sold the shirts. And 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:44.720 as a kid, it was very jolting. It was very 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.880 kind of embarrassing because you know, you're doing something different. 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.120 No one else is out there doing that, they're enjoying it, 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.760 and you're out there hustling, so to speak. But what 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:56.240 it did would show us shewed me because we sold 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:58.760 all the shirts and I remember him like with a 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.160 wide showing it to me, like you see this, this 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:03.880 is what you just did. That always stuck with me. 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:07.240 April went on to college, but the creativity instilled in 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:09.400 her by her parents and the idea that she could 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.279 make a living from her own creations would supersede anything 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:13.599 that she could learn in the classroom. 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.080 By the time I got to college, I knew I 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.520 didn't want to work for someone else, but I didn't 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:20.640 know what it would be. I was going to school 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.719 for business and communications, and one time I thought I 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.840 might be a broadcaster. I wasn't sure. I was definitely 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.839 interested in electronic media, so I was taking some courses 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:35.440 there as well. But I was always innately into fashion. 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:38.320 I never owned it, but looking back, there were clues. 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:43.720 I want, you know, best dressed, saved all my tags 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:46.120 and would put them on the wall, and all of 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.880 these things. I was different. I would try something different 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:52.440 in fashion ever since I can remember. 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:57.200 April's pulled towards entrepreneurship naturally led her interest in college 0:06:57.200 --> 0:06:57.480 to win. 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:00.919 I was in my junior year in college and I 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:03.400 basically told my dad that I don't want to go 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.159 back to school. And he looked at me and he 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:10.920 was taken aback, and he said, why you know? And 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:13.480 I pointed to this girl that was on the phone booth. 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:15.240 She was in a phone booth and she had on 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:20.320 like some big ear rings and bamboos, and her jacket 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:25.200 was all studed up and crystals and writing all over. 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:27.680 It was really cool. I said, that's what I want 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.920 to do. And he said to me, not too long ago, 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:33.160 he told me this story, and he was like, I 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.320 looked at that Jackson, and I was like, that's whack. 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:40.400 But I didn't say it out loud. He said, but 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:43.360 I thought it, but I couldn't say it because who 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:45.760 was I, you know, because he was a creator too, 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:47.760 so he supported me on it. 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.080 I think the support of her father was massive, but 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:56.560 an encounter with a one of a kind fashion icon 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:58.239 would be the turning point for April. 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.000 One night, I was at the Powow Theater and after 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.600 my friends and I we walked over to Deva Danda. 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:08.400 It was this Willy Wonka for me, a fabulosity of 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:11.679 everything that wasn't being created in the stores for us, 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:14.280 and he was doing these one of the cons that 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:18.000 were incredible, that was speaking to my tribe, my culture, 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:21.680 and I wanted in. You know, at that time, the 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:27.320 world was very different and I was very much still Brooklyn. 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:32.240 I hadn't seen the whole world, so Burrows were everything 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.400 to me. You know, you had all these pockets. I 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:37.600 just wanted to rep for Brooklyn at that moment and 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:41.360 create for my tribe, and so successfully is Clues and 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.800 that's what happened. I reverse engineered into it from the 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.959 north Star of hip hop, and I started creating things 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.959 that spoke to me that I felt the music was there, 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.440 but we didn't have the uniforms, and I just wanted 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:57.840 to create what I was feeling and pour that out. 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.880 With a spark of inspiration from Dapper Dain and the 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.600 unwavering support of her father, April decided to leave school early, 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.480 and even though she had two secure job opportunities in 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.200 front of her, April instead opted to sign a lease 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.440 on a small retail space for seven hundred and fifty 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:17.560 dollars a month and to start her own brand. 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:20.920 I got called for two state jobs, I think while 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:23.720 I was in college. I applied for. One was the 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.839 fire department, another one was corrections. I got called right 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.080 when I was signing the lease, and I remember my 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:35.000 mom was so destroyed because those were considered good jobs. 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.000 Everybody thought I was crazy, except for my dad. I 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:41.280 remember one time in the beginning going to the fashion 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:43.880 industry and getting a role of fabric, and I can 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:47.160 remember us being on the train carrying a big role 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:51.679 of fabric home. So he was always like cheerleading. 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.600 As April started her boutique fashion in effect, she knew 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:58.760 hip hop would be her north star and set out 0:09:58.800 --> 0:09:59.839 to build a wardrobe for the co. 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:03.800 The magnet was hip hop and our little shot Fashion 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.600 and Effect was literally a hole in the wall that 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:09.720 we created with a homemade signs. We didn't have money 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.600 for a sign, so we made our own sign. We 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:15.080 went back to our Pearl paints and we got this 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.880 phone board. It was maybe We made it about six feet, 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:21.840 We connected it. We painted it Fashion and Effect with 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:22.360 like this. 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:29.000 I druid this like graffitiish style and colors neon colors, 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:33.520 and we hung it up over the glass storefront and 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:38.240 in the storefront we would hang up different airbrush, sweatshirts, 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:39.880 different cool outfits that. 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:40.560 We were making. 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:44.600 April started to buy fabrics, textiles, and machinery needed for 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.520 her cutt and sew operation and recruited other creatives to 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:48.880 help bring her vision to life. 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:53.360 We amassed a tribe of like minds. And with those 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:56.560 like minds, I think when your passion is fueling you 0:10:56.720 --> 0:11:00.800 so so much, you can figure out the rest because 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:02.960 you can look at models that created. And while we 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.480 didn't have any models there in what we were doing, 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:09.320 we did have Dapper Dan. So I knew, Okay, I 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.880 have to buy jukie machines and I have to buy 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.720 industrial singer machines, and then the rest was just figure 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.240 it out. So there was the New York Times would 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:22.160 have a liquidation section. That's how I got my singers 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.000 and my jokies because I couldn't afford that out the box. 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.720 And then I created a cutting table. But that was 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:34.720 literally like putting a big piece of wood and polishing 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:38.200 it and stabilizing that, and that became our cutting table 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:42.160 and just really figuring it out and making something out 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:44.080 of nothing. That's exactly what we did. 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:47.120 April started creating and selling one of a kind statement 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:49.640 pieces right there in her shop. In addition to being 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:53.080 her production facility in retail space, Fashion Effect also became 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:54.520 a staple hangout in Brooklyn. 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.040 When you came in the store and then entry way 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:01.439 to your right would have one wall that had a 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.360 big dog on it with the hat to the back 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:09.079 that said FIE, which stood for Fashion and Effect, and 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.440 then he had a big clock on that said don't 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.600 believe the hype. The dog the had gold teeth in 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:18.000 his mouth like it was a whole vibe. And when 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:20.160 you came in, we had Marcus and you had to 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:22.640 tag your name on the wall. So at one point 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.920 the whole wolf was tagged up around this dog, and 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:30.520 then to your left when you came in was a 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:35.320 actual cool sofa that we made. And then we had 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.760 these showcases that we got from liquidation and we would 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:42.400 have beeper covers and little trinkets that you could buy. 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:47.000 So for the people that couldn't afford something really expensive, 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:51.480 we had low hanging fruit and spontaneous purchases in the front. 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:55.160 But we didn't know that was the terminology. Then we 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:57.640 just knew we had to pay our rent, so we 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:01.120 had to figure how different way to do that. So 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.160 we were like, everyone can't afford in a suit for 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:07.720 X amount. We made fashion and effect T shirts as well, 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:10.480 and we sold those and that those had the dog 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:11.040 on it. 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.000 With a store on Point, April expanded her team of 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:16.920 creatives to help produce bold and beautiful pieces that would 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:18.760 become synonymous with nineties hip hop. 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:22.800 I had a great, amazing artist named Linda Avery. She 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:26.480 was from Pittsburgh. She actually came up and stayed with 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:30.280 us and started doing the acrylic painting in the air brushing. 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:33.960 And then we had someone who worked with us. His 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:37.560 name was Woody and he worked with shirt Kings as well, 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:40.640 and he was doing a lot of airbrushing for us 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:45.280 as well. We also borrowed a few of Dapper Dane's tailors, 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.760 and so we had tailors that already understood the culture 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:52.680 and were able to make leather or dentim or whatever 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.520 we needed. And it was great because they were able 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.679 to teach me as I was learning. I knew business, 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:00.920 and I knew how to go get sales, but I 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:05.080 didn't understand everything needed. Like at first my needles were 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.120 breaking a lat because I had the wrong needles and machines, 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:13.400 all these little things. Help having someone that was experienced 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.720 to make the things that were in our heads and 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:18.520 pour it out into the world. 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:21.560 Slowly but surely, Fashionate and effect became the place to 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.440 be with a team of creatives in place. April also 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.200 started recruiting assistants and other local kids to help her 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:30.680 out and began another crucial part of her story, mentorship. 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:34.840 I started working with April as her assistant. April has 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.000 this way of kind of like getting everybody involved in 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:39.200 every part of the business. 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.880 This is Gloria Shrubin, once April's assistant and eventually one 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:44.520 of her lead stylist and designers. 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:47.920 She was a great teacher in that respect and just 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.000 kind of like schooling me and just grooming me for 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:55.720 the apparel industry and just really kind of understanding what 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.200 it is to build a brand, brand management. I've always 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:02.240 been this kind of like a low key fashionista, really 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:06.160 into just like design and fashion and just style and wardrobing. 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.080 April was like a family friend, so I kind of 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.720 grew up under her tutelage for years, just kind of 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:15.840 watching her develop her business. In my old personal journey, 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:19.120 I was actually in undergrad studying to. 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:19.880 Go to law school. 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.280 I got my degree in political science. You know, I 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:25.400 had these dreams and aspirations of being an attorney. I 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:27.480 just wanted, as a young black female coming out of 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:29.120 the hood, just I wanted an industry that was going 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:30.120 to make me a lot of money. 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:31.680 That was really my attitude. 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.720 And you know, law was what seemed like the best 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:36.560 thing for me because everyone was like, you talk well, 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:40.320 you know, you argue, well, you are a great liar. 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.160 So and you know, I had a knack for school 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:48.600 was really easy for me, reading a lot of books 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:50.960 on policy size, really a lot of study around history. 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.440 But in my last year, unfortunately I lost my mom. 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:58.800 In undergrad and I'd worked through school anyway, so I 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.120 was always working. April was like, hey, you know you 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.600 should come work for me. You know, you got a 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:07.440 lot of swag and style, you know what I'm saying. 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:09.080 I like the way you put things together just to 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:10.680 really be a great learning experience. 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:14.680 So I was like, okay, cool. You know, I definitely 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:15.640 loved what she did. 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.160 Loved just kind of being around and had the ability 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.800 and access because you know, I gotta hung out with her. 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.240 Little sisters and we were just all kind of friends. 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.360 As Gloria found her role on the team, April empowered 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.120 her and looked to Gloria's youthful perspective to lead the 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:32.240 way on projects. 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:34.960 Day one was herd just kind of like grooming me 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:37.920 and teaching me how to just kind of like understand 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:40.440 what she needed me to do. I remember her taking 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.560 me to the garment district and at that time, you 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:45.800 could swatch fat and she was just like, I want 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:49.000 anything that stands out to you for you to grab now. 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:51.640 Mind you, I have no background, no formal training in 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.560 anything fash I just know how to wear a flashit. 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:56.600 I'm a big brand or you know what I'm saying. 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:57.760 From a thousands. 0:16:57.800 --> 0:16:59.360 I felt like I had that, but I just felt 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:01.000 it was something that was and anything that I was 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.480 trained I with, which is something that I was just 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:04.679 naturally gifted with. 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:08.240 So her identified that. She she puts me in the 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:09.320 stores for hours. 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:11.840 I'm going through all this fabrics, watching all this stuff, 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:13.920 and we finally get back to the office. She had 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:18.440 like stacks of magazines, every WWD, every GQ, everything anything 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.240 you can think of, just like high fashion magazines. So 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.000 this she's like, I want you to go through these 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:28.080 magazines and attack the fabric that you picked to some 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.160 of the looks that were in the magazines, Like so 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.040 I can kind of like identify what fabrics would work 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:37.919 well with what designs. I did this for hours, but 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:41.040 it was such a great path because it forced me 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.359 to kind of see what she saw. Because from that 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:47.520 point on, my main focus in work was always to 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.639 kind of like work with her clients in like the 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.880 sales capacity. She had like these great books that were 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.680 filled with silhouettes and designs or options that they had, 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:58.639 and then it was like these watchbooks of just all 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.200 these different fabrics. So my job would be to sit 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:03.560 with the client and allow them to mix and match. 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:06.399 So this task of just kind of like, you know, 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:08.840 seeing it that she would critique it, well, why would 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:09.159 you put this? 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:09.800 You know? 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.120 It was it was really a learning experience. It grew 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:13.040 me for that role. 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.760 As Fashion and Effect continued to make a name for itself, 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:18.960 a placement on an album cover was about to take 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.560 the business to a whole nother level and open additional 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:22.720 revenue streams. 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:26.800 So with Fashion and Effect, it literally became this best 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:30.840 kept secret that finally wasn't a secret. You know. We 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:35.960 were making a lot of clothes, and we were making 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:39.280 them to the point where one day Audio two came 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:42.000 in the store and they wanted outfits made for their 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:44.919 next album cover, and they wanted somebody from Brooklyn to 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.400 make them, and they asked if I could make them, 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.719 and I said sure, fingers crossed behind my back, you know. 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.800 But it worked out, and that album cover was I 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.960 Don't Care and it was a crashed up Benz And 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.120 they had outfits and they did some turke Kings, did 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:05.320 some artwork from one of the moment I did the suits, 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:09.760 and that was the start of it. Then they came 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:13.120 back and they asked you style a video. I had 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:17.080 no experience in styling. But I found out what styling was. 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:19.479 I told them I could do the video, and I 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:22.280 did a video, and from that video, I created a 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:25.679 new revenue stream. And I said, this is going to 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:28.560 be another revenue stream for us, and I created a 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:33.280 styling division. So from that we started styling. 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:38.560 However, April's rise was anything but straightforward. Breaking into any 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.160 market is hard, but even more challenging as a young 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.720 black woman in a male dominated industry. 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:47.080 A lot of companies were afraid of a very young person. 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:50.320 And at that time I was hip hop out and 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:54.720 I was twenty one, and I was a woman, and 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.840 being a young woman in an all male dominated industry 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:03.400 was a lot different. And then I was blexicin so 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:06.680 I didn't really look like the norm of the fashion 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:11.120 industry or speak that language. So that was another factor, right. 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.879 What I didn't I was naive to fear and it 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.879 served me well because I never thought this isn't going 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:23.119 to happen. It was like, it will happen. 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:27.200 April did break through and in a big way. Soon 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:29.480 Fashion and Effect became the place for up and coming 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.040 rappers to get custom outfits, and the who's who of 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:34.359 New York hip hop would seek out April for their fits. 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:38.960 I'm always looking for ways to expand my spider web 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:43.040 or be the octopus, because I understand that, you know, 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:45.520 this is a foundation, but we have to have different 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:48.720 tentacles in order to grow. So as long as it's 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:51.400 coming from the same base and we can handle it. 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:54.640 And that was unnatural to me because it allowed us 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:59.480 not only to style other artists, but to become bigger 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:05.320 with marketing using a bullhorn by artists working with artists, 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.600 and so now they became our tribe and so to speak. 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:13.439 And they were telling two people right. Jay Z was 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:17.280 at this time buying stuff from us and Jazz and 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:22.719 then Shaggy and shine Head. Those were two big artists 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:25.639 from Brooklyn. And one day Biggie came in the store. 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:29.280 He was fifteen years old and he was another one 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:33.080 of our first customers. He saw Rabi and rock Keemp 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:36.520 shirt and Houdini shirt that we airbrushed in the window 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:39.960 and stopped. And I'd see him in the neighborhood because 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:42.760 we lived in the same neighborhood. I'd see him hanging out, 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:45.240 but I didn't know him, just to give each other 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:47.720 not But when he came in to story recognized me 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:50.960 and he asked, is this your shop? And it marked 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:54.760 a conversation and I found out he was into music, 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:58.000 and you know, we just started talking about all things 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:01.240