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00:00The woman, the myth, the legend.
00:03The impact that June Ambrose has had on the fashion industry is one that spans decades.
00:08And today, I'm here at the Puma offices to talk to her all about her journey as she approaches
00:1250 years on Earth.
00:14I'm Blake Newby, beauty and style editor for Essence.
00:16Stay tuned.
00:18You have been in this industry for years.
00:21Decades, in fact.
00:22Oh, yeah.
00:23You have become really the cornerstone of black fashion, particularly black streetwear.
00:28Can you talk about what is fashion to you now?
00:31Oh, now, I mean, it's evolved in so many ways.
00:35You're definitely starting to see a lot more.
00:38We're developing a lot more inclusive talent, right?
00:41So we're starting to kind of see the celebration of them.
00:43We're seeing people that look like us in big fashion houses.
00:47So that's exciting.
00:49You know, I've seen it go from literally invisible representation.
00:57And the number is still pretty low.
01:00We could still be doing a whole lot better.
01:03But, you know, we have to start incubating and developing talent early so that they can
01:08be in the position to reach that critical consumer mass at a young, early stage.
01:15But I see more and more of that now.
01:17Right.
01:18So that's good.
01:19Part of that is with your appointment as creative director of Puma.
01:22What does your role and your impact, like you said, with such a large brand mean?
01:29Well, I think it's a great opportunity for, you know, for me to kind of come inside of
01:34to kind of a company that's so well respected for performance.
01:38Right.
01:39Like, you know, Puma is superior at performance and in sportswear and has a great global following.
01:45It's a very successful brand.
01:47And for me to be able to come in and bring a style sensibility to sportswear is a beautiful
01:53undertaking.
01:55And to also be able to launch their first women's basketball division is exciting too, as well.
02:00And also to work, you know, with my brothers, you know, with, you know, it's a family affair.
02:06So that part is, I feel extremely blessed to be able to enter in this space in that way.
02:13And taking a trip down memory lane, you have said that one of the most impactful moments,
02:18three moments in your career, at the beginning of the career, it was Missy, Elliot and the Socket
02:22to Me video.
02:23In the middle, it was you attending the Black Ballet and most recently it was the On the Run
02:29tour.
02:30What do those three moments, how did those three moments cultivate June Ambrose to who
02:35she is today?
02:36Oh, wow.
02:37I mean, I have had many lives, I've evolved both creatively, physically, mentally, spiritually.
02:48You know, I started at a time in the music industry where it was very black and white.
02:53It was very kind of rock and roll alternative music.
02:56And our goal was to make it pop culture, hip-hop culture, not just one genre of music.
03:01And I worked outside of the genre of music.
03:03But significantly, the body of my work was really kind of impacted.
03:06We made an impact in that space because there was a white space.
03:11You know, there wasn't really anyone focusing on that.
03:14Like you looked at like the history of Motown and R&B and they got all the artist development,
03:18they got all the character development.
03:20But no one was really attacking that particular genre the way we attacked it at the time.
03:25And I think because of that, you know, artists like, you know, Missy Elliott, there was this
03:32intriguing, you know, celebration and people were quite intrigued by who she was.
03:38And just the way, just that whole body of work that I did with Hyde Williams, it looked so different.
03:43Yeah.
03:44It was so unique.
03:45And it was a great place to start.
03:47You know, I started in investment banking.
03:49I started, well, I started off as an actress.
03:51I started off, you know, I was in investment banking.
03:54I was in market.
03:55I was in the market, you know, I ran marketing for Carl Skulls and Carl Kanai.
03:58So like I had all these different iterations of my life that kind of were able to sustain me.
04:03Like if I didn't have those experiences, I don't know if I could have, you know, been able to, if I could be able to,
04:10if I would have been invited to the ballet, you know, at Lincoln Center.
04:14And it was like, you know, seeing black people at the ballet in Lincoln Center was a huge,
04:20the initiative was to get more people of color to attend.
04:23I remember that was like the conversation and that's why I was invited.
04:26And it was such a kind of like cotillion moment for me.
04:30I remember just, you know, the look of me in this beautiful black gown and, you know, hair and makeup cofted.
04:36And now, you know, and interesting enough, I've been able to, over my career, work on talent, become talent.
04:44Right.
04:45You know, I've played all aspects of it, which is a very unique place to sit.
04:49And I look back at it and sometimes, you know, I pinch myself because it's like, how did I get here?
04:55Like, how did this all happen?
04:57I never entered the industry or the business to become, you know, famous or celebrate it.
05:02Right. Right.
05:03It's actually a very selfless thing to do because it's not the most rewarding.
05:06Right.
05:07No one's like, you know, you don't expect people to say, say your name because you're almost like the Wizard of Oz in a sense.
05:12Yeah.
05:13You know, your work is, you know, behind the scenes is anonymous.
05:16You want the consumer and the audience to feel as if this is the most authentic organic thing.
05:21And, you know, it's a collaborative experience.
05:23And again, you just don't, it's like ghostwriting.
05:25Right.
05:26It is.
05:27It's not designed for you to, you know, to take the credit in a sense.
05:31So it's the fact that I was celebrated and recognized for my contribution is extremely humbling.
05:38I still am quite humbled by the fact that people look back at my work and they use it as a reference to what you're seeing now.
05:45Right.
05:46And so much of what we did back then in terms of the seeds that we planted and the disruptive things that we did, I think really paved the way for the creative freedom that you see now.
05:57And it brings me great joy.
06:01You talked about when we look back.
06:02Yeah.
06:03When you look back, is there ever a look that you were like, oh, that was not my best work?
06:08So many.
06:09Oh, not my best work.
06:10Here's the reality.
06:15Okay.
06:16You know, in order to experience life and to have creative freedom.
06:21Right.
06:22You do awesome things that you, you know, that you have to experiment with.
06:26Yes.
06:27And sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.
06:28Right.
06:29But that's part of the experience.
06:30I have no regrets.
06:31Even the ones that people were like, what were you thinking?
06:33Or, you know, like I got a bad review.
06:35Right.
06:36It's just, and sometimes I still feel like it's good when it gets a bad review.
06:39You know.
06:40Fashion.
06:41And sometimes it's not fashion.
06:44It's just absolutely an expression.
06:47Right.
06:48And it's, it's, it's something that got people talking.
06:52Yeah.
06:53Or it's something that just, you know, evoked something else.
06:57And I think that that's really what matters.
07:00Right.
07:01Fashion because I don't, I never, you know, I never cared about the trend.
07:05And, you know, I always wanted to take things out of context, disrupt it, be not predictable.
07:10And so for me, it was never about what was trending.
07:13It was about how it was going to just do completely the opposite of anything.
07:18And you gotta remember, we didn't have social media back then.
07:21So there was no, there was no scrolling through point of references.
07:26You know, the process was so different.
07:29I still to this day when I'm working on stuff, I don't reference social media.
07:33I think it's creatively stunting.
07:36I find inspiration in other places, but I just think that it creatively stunts you and
07:40it's a distraction.
07:41And I don't want to measure what I'm coming up with, with what someone else is doing or
07:48done.
07:49And you know what I mean?
07:50I just feel like it's not my process.
07:53Right.
07:54And you speak about inspiration.
07:55And for you, as somebody who is a fashion icon to many, who are the fashion icons to you?
08:00Oh, Anne Lu, Lena Horne, Diana Ross.
08:07I mean, I loved Hollywood Glamour Girls.
08:10You know, I loved Sassy.
08:12I just always loved Glamour.
08:14Yeah.
08:15Edith Head.
08:16I loved Costume Designers.
08:17I just was always, those were the books that I wanted to read.
08:20Like, you know, I was always just taken by them.
08:23And, you know, growing up, like, you know, the Essence magazine on the table and just seeing
08:27all these, you know, Dorothy Dandridge and all these beautiful women who looked like my
08:32mother and my aunts and stuff and how glamorous they were.
08:35Like, you know, and the idea of, you know, wearing like a feathered coat or, you know,
08:42or a long, a long kimono to the supermarket was just being very normal to me.
08:48Yes.
08:49I was like, that's a great idea.
08:50Speaking of young, Summer is young.
08:52Yes.
08:53And she is leaning into fashion herself.
08:56Yeah.
08:57How would you say that her style differs from yours?
08:59I mean, raising a teenage girl in this climate is not, you know, you would think it wasn't,
09:06it's not easy.
09:07But I realize that you have to create an environment where your kids see you as their muses.
09:15You're the ones that they admire and look up to and want to look and be like.
09:20And I think, you know, sometimes we, we take for granted as moms, our superpower is to inspire,
09:27that our kids can, we can be the ones that they reference.
09:31And I think through osmosis, I have to remember constantly that she's not a client, not to overproduce her,
09:38not to have an opinion that could, you know, could creatively stunt her.
09:42Right.
09:43And even though I might see her going down a path, you know, with her look that I'm just like,
09:47oh gosh, she's in sweatpants again.
09:49I let it, I let her find her way.
09:51Like she bought her first pair of heels the other day.
09:54She's graduating high school a year early.
09:56But that was like her evolution, her self-discovery.
09:59Yeah.
10:00And I'm so proud of the, you know, the woman that she's becoming, the young lady that she's becoming.
10:06And I never, I don't worry about her because we have a very open dialogue.
10:11You know, we, she knows exactly who she is.
10:14She's very self-aware.
10:16And I think that's the key.
10:19Yeah. Especially now.
10:20Yeah.
10:21Confidence.
10:22Yeah.
10:23Every girl feels insecure.
10:24Even until the day you leave, there's insecurities in many ways.
10:26Yeah.
10:27There's a certain level of confidence that can, that overrides any insecurities.
10:31That will upstage anything that she may, you know, that she may feel like is, is a disadvantage to her.
10:37And she finds the things that, she highlights the things that are.
10:41And I think that is, that makes me feel really, really like I feel like she's ready to go out on her own.
10:48Cause that's really an important aspect.
10:50Yeah.
10:51You know, that's how our kids survive.
10:52Summer's not your only child.
10:53You have two.
10:54That's right.
10:55People forget.
10:56My son is like, my son is like in witness protection cause like no one sees him.
10:59You know how boys are.
11:00They're like, well he's a creative.
11:01He's like studying film and he's in his own, you know, he's off on his own.
11:05He's living on his own.
11:06He's, you know.
11:07Independent.
11:08So you're turning 50.
11:10Yeah.
11:11You do not look it.
11:13I don't feel it.
11:14What does a black woman looking 50 look like?
11:16I didn't even know.
11:17I didn't even know what to expect it to be.
11:20You know, like, you know, like back in the day, you like, you look at your aunts and you'd be like, oh my God.
11:25They, they, you know, you used to be able to see people's age.
11:28Right.
11:29And you'd be like, oh, she looked old.
11:30But now like, you know, I think that we're so much more aware of the things that kind of keep us young.
11:35Whether it's fitness and food and lifestyle.
11:38Yeah.
11:39And 50 doesn't look like it.
11:41First of all, 50 used to be the entire life expectancy.
11:44Right.
11:45Right.
11:46It did.
11:47You were at the end of your life cycle of 50.
11:49Yeah.
11:50And so I feel like this next chapter, you know, I'm hoping I'll be able to do another, you know, 50 years of grandness.
11:59But yeah, I feel great.
12:01I feel like I'm in my, I wouldn't say 30s.
12:03I would say 40s.
12:05Okay.
12:06I'm not going to be, and I only say 40s because 40 was like, I was a lot more like settled in my 40s.
12:14Okay.
12:1530s.
12:16I was still on the move.
12:17I had my first child when I was 30 and, but I was still like on the move.
12:21Right.
12:22And I'm still on the move now.
12:23I'm still dancing on tables.
12:24I'm still like, I'm still a sober drunk.
12:26I've never had a drink in my life.
12:27I've never smoked in my life.
12:28Really?
12:29No.
12:30And yeah.
12:31So at this point is like, I hit the 50 mark.
12:34Hot awful lot.
12:35When I was 30, I was like, maybe I'll have a drink when I'm 30.
12:38Maybe I'll have a drink when I'm 40.
12:39And it just never happened.
12:40Right.
12:41And it's, and no smoking ever happened.
12:44People always think I'm drunk though.
12:46And they always think I'm drunk.
12:47So I was like, why bother?
12:48And so how did you, how were you celebrating?
12:52Is there, I know times are weird.
12:54Yeah.
12:55And you know, I have hibernated for a year with no social interaction.
13:01Like I've hadn't had like dinner with my girlfriends or like lunch with anybody.
13:05Or we did, we literally sustained from all of that.
13:10I mean, like we did nothing.
13:12And now that like I'm vaccinated and I feel a little less anxiety.
13:17Right.
13:18You know, I'm curating two events.
13:22But I do want to be somewhere that's, you know, the sun fuels me.
13:29Right.
13:30The water feels like my energy.
13:33It's movement.
13:34The sand is like how I recharge.
13:36So I do want to be someplace that speaks to and celebrates all of the things that kind
13:42of have helped me emancipate over this lifetime.
13:46So I want to return back to that.
13:48And I just want to celebrate it with people who are, who love me, who are like-minded,
13:52who have my best interests, who want to celebrate this, celebrate life.
13:57I want to celebrate, you know, we want to celebrate each other.
14:00We've had a really rough time.
14:03You know, it's been an extremely life changing, altering last year.
14:08So every year I celebrate 30 years, 30 days of June.
14:12So I-
14:13And you should.
14:14And it's just me kind of, you know, I would write myself notes.
14:17Like I celebrate my life every 10 year cycle.
14:20So this is my 5.0, not my 50th.
14:22Okay.
14:23So in every 10 year cycle, something really extraordinary happens to me.
14:26And I've looked back at little notes I've written myself over the years, because I think that
14:33there's something about celebrating yourself and going back and reading those things that
14:39you have asked yourself for, like I had to ask for a number of things.
14:44Right.
14:45And I liked going back and kind of looking at, to see if those things that I asked for,
14:49of myself, was I able to fulfill those things.
14:51Right.
14:52And then I want to thank myself.
14:55June, this is such a pleasure.
14:57You are such a pleasure.
14:58You're light.
15:01So, so much.
15:02And happy birthday.
15:04Happy birthday.
15:05And 250 more.
15:07250 more.
15:09Tai角形.
15:11hots.
15:12Oh yeah.
15:13chính.
15:14See you later.
15:15isée head.
15:16See you later on.
15:17Bye-bye.
15:18We're telling you that how to live this new information.
15:19Good luck.
15:20Immediately
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