June Uncovered

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Transcript

00:00I first got started as an actress. I was studying theater, and when I didn't get

00:05the role, my elective was costume design, which I absolutely fell in love with.

00:10The biggest milestone in my career, I think, was breaking the ceiling of how

00:16urban music was being perceived and the visualization that went

00:21along with it. The particular moments that stand out to me in my career is the

00:26costume design that I did in hip-hop. It was provocative, unpredictable,

00:31non-apologetic, and we broke every stereotype that could ever exist.

00:37Thank God there was no social media then. But if I would have to kind of single

00:41out one individual, it'd probably have to be Jay-Z. I just think the

00:45consistency and the longevity and the evolution and the wins, constant wins

00:51that we've put on the board, and we've grown together, so I owe him a great debt

00:56of gratitude. I think my approach to costume design over the years has

01:03really, I think, has evolved and changed through the music, through the muses,

01:08through the talent. There's so much more that we know now that we didn't know

01:12then, and we're actually competing against ourselves to outdo what we did

01:17in the early 90s and the 2000s. That this is the era of AI, but our authentic

01:23intelligence was the first and foremost thing that we stand on. I think some of

01:29the biggest challenges that I faced in the fashion industry was navigating

01:33being gaslit and someone telling you that something couldn't be done and you

01:36know that it could, and being brave enough and brazen enough to go ahead and

01:40do it without asking for permission. The challenge was to stand on your center

01:45and to be confident and trust your voice and know that that was enough.

01:53I think my work has influenced the fashion industry from my costume design.

01:57The live animation that we were creating back in the early

02:03days is now so relevant and still very tangible now, so I feel like when you can

02:10look back at the body of my work and say this is something that feels so timeless,

02:13I know I did something right. My goals for the next chapter is to continue to

02:18create and produce products for consumers. I had to bury my name and do

02:22great partnerships that really allow the consumer to feel immersed into the Juniverse.

02:27Why I could talk my talk? This is June Ambrose. After 30 years, Essence

02:36magazine is shooting me.