Friday, September 01, 2023
Designer and Stylist June Ambrose on 50 Years of Hip-Hop
www.thecut.com: June Ambrose wears many hats — literally and figuratively. The costume designer and creative director has been photographed wearing all kinds of bespoke hats of the years, and she even told the Cut back in 2016 that she owns close to 100 of them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I found this article and June Ambrose herself to be very inspirational. She is a multi-hyphenate artist who always tries to work outside the box, which is something I strive to do as well. For most of my life so far, I have focused on the acting and performance side of theatre, but now in college I’m diving headfirst to the design and production side. In this interview she said that she too began in theatre as an actor, but found beauty in telling a story through clothes and costumes and having the ability to truly create for a piece of theater. This is something that I really relate to and want to keep in mind as I continue my theatre journey. I also thought it was really cool that as a stylist, there are many moments when she has to get creative and build her own pieces for her clients to wear. It was also interesting to see how styling relates to costuming because she talked about how her job is not only to make the music artist look good, but help craft their on-stage persona and relate/ appeal to the target audience.
This article was such an interesting read. The idea of styling a persona, creating someone’s ‘brand’ seems so difficult, and so apart from what a costume designer does in theater. So I was extremely interested to learn about her theater background; her styling for artists is another way of storytelling. Instead of looking at the script and discovering the intention behind characters, and what they would wear through their actions and motivations, she creates the script, and invents their persona. While in theater you might analyze to create, she creates what others now analyze. And yet she also keeps it within ‘theme,’ helping artists be themselves while pushing themselves to expand their brand. It’s as if a costume designer could have a discussion with the character in the play, and possibly if you thought that way when designing costumes, then the production would look quite different. It’s inspiring how she’s her own director, designer, stylist, and even has constructed her pieces. It shows just how much someone can accomplish when they put their mind to it, and I’m freshly excited to be entering the field of entertainment and theater!
When I clicked on the article, I thought it would be an interesting read, Being a hip-hop lover, and someone who grew up in Harlem I thought it would be thought-provoking for me. June Ambrose is someone who pushes the bar for artists' expression. While the music and artists are stand-alone talents, a look is always necessary. Her background in theater I think, shaped her perspective while creating looks for rapers. Theater tells a story, uses context, and makes you think. Ambrose transfers this skill into designing now. She creates unique silhouettes, and undefined what feminine and masculine styles really are. Reading this is inspiring for me, theater is just the beginning of what I can accomplish.
Post a Comment