Designer Billy Reid on Mentoring, John Legend & Baseball
Billy Reid with his spring collection. Photo: Getty Images
Earlier this week, five emerging fashion designers arrived at Location05 studios in Manhattan for the opportunity of a lifetime. After submitting their designs to a campaign run by AXE White Label Collective, these finalists were handpicked by designer Billy Reid and musician John Legend. For two days, Ryan Barr, Stanley Cheung, Kristopher Haigh, Afriyeh Poku, and Savannah Yarborough would be mentored by Reid, Legend, and Esquire’s veteran fashion director Nick Sullivan, shoot their lookbook for the September issue of Esquire, and prepare to debut their collections during New York Fashion Week.
For young designers trying to make a name for themselves, Reid’s career is a beacon of hope. In 2001, Billy Reid won the CFDA Best New Men’s Designer award for the brand William Reid, but after 9/11, the economy forced the young label to shut down. In 2006, he made a comeback with Billy Reid, and in 2010 won the seventh CFDA Perry Ellis Emerging Design award. So who better to impart wisdom to a handful of hopefuls? Below, Billy talks mentors, Mickey Drexler, and why being a fashion designer is kind of like being in a band.
YS: At the CFDA Fashion Awards this year, Mickey Drexler talked about the word “mentor” being a buzzword in the industry, and that back in his day they were called teachers. Do you think there’s a difference between mentors and teachers?
BR: I think a teacher has more of an agenda to teach you something. A mentor is more there to advise, to guide, and maybe give you new contacts. Not to go against what Mickey says. I love Mickey. Mickey has given me great advice just from watching him and the way he manages his staff. I learned a lot. [grinning] I mean, just him coming on over the loudspeaker, I loved it. I will get up now and scream across the entire office – I got that from Mickey.
YS: What makes you look at someone’s work and want to mentor them?
BR: If someone has an experience level with the craft… and I look for someone who is really involved in every step. Is their effort something that can be scalable? Would you wear it? There has to be some reality.
YS: Who have your mentors been?
BR: When I was 16, working in a small men’s store, there was this guy—a super stylish man who owned the store and is still one of the people I always refer back to—he really helped set a foundation for me as far as what traditional menswear is about.
YS: What was his name?
BR: Joe Buddy Anderson, he was a real sort of cat about town. He knew menswear inside and out. Then, when I went to Saks, where I worked with these older guys who had been working with custom suits for 30 or 40 years. I’m thrown in there when I’m in college and I was just a sponge. I learned everything I could; I’ve always looked at any situation I’m in, everything you do, as constantly learning.
YS: Could you have won this competition when you started your first line?
BR: Yes, but I had a lot of experience when I first started. I didn’t get out of school and start making my own clothes. I worked for four different companies and traveled all over the world making products.
YS: Working for other people and learning what you would do and what you wouldn’t do is valuable.
BR: I was fortunate to be able to experience a lot of different parts of the business – from retail, to wholesale, to manufacturing, and then marketing. Going through those processes helps with starting your own business, when you’re doing so many things yourself. You’re a one person show, so it’s great to have that knowledge and for some of these young designers to have that knowledge.
YS: As a musician, what does John [Legend] have to offer these guys?
BR: What’s great about John is that he’s got such a great persona. He’s a style icon, and I think he brings his interest in being able to create a persona and being true to yourself.
YS: Like honest branding?
BR: Yeah, honest branding. I think that’s what he brings. Culturally, too, he may not admit this, but he brings a lot of different worlds in one package. He’s also very receptive to newness and new ideas. He’s not closed-minded, he’s not going to look at something and say, “I’d never wear that.” His personal style will let him take some risks. Just the fact that he’s involved—he’s iconic—and for these folks to be able to sort of feed off of that a little bit and get some envy. He’s just easy, and he’s a great guy.
YS: What’s next for you?
BR: Well, we have men’s fashion week coming up. I coach my son’s baseball team and we’re in the state tournament over the 4th of July, so I have about three weeks of intense baseball while working on the show. If we win over July 4th weekend, that means the day after the runway show, the regional tournament starts. Then, I have to get ready for women’s.
YS: So, no vacation.
BR: The thing about this business is that it’s like if you were a band, and you have to make an album every six months. You know, write the album, make it different from the last album, but still somewhat familiar to what they heard the last time. Then plan your stage show, do the show, do the marketing, press, and everything that comes with doing a show. Then, you start immediately on the next one. That’s what it’s like.
