Every seat in the house was filled with those eager to hear sage advice from two forces of the fashion industry – Jason Rembert and Teri Agins. The fashion reporter sat down with the stylist and Aliétte designer for a candid conversation hosted by Fashion For All Foundation.
The two share similar experiences. Both forces in their respective fields, Agins and Rembert are among the few people of color who managed to permeate the upper echelons of fashion. Introduced by CFDA’s Joseph Maglieri, Rembert and Agins discussed everything from career advice to race. Here, the highlights:
On how Jason got his start in the industry
“I started working in fashion when I was around 17. My parents weren’t into paying for me to go to school in fashion, and FIT ended up rejecting me, so I went for to Hofstra on a full-ride for mathematics. I was there for three years, and it was the Juicy Couture era. I used to go to class dressed up, feeling fly, and everybody else around me looked the same. I thought this isn’t what inspires me. It’s not what makes me happy. I applied for Vibe and Essence, the magazines I knew. Neither of them accepted me so I got really discouraged, but at 3 AM I woke up and found an opportunity for ELLE on this site ed2010. I woke up at 7 AM and had an email from one of the assistants. I ditched class for the day, took the train and the bus, which took me about 2 hours. By the time I got back to campus, I found out I got it.
On being “the only one”
I remember going to my internship at ELLE and there was not one black person on the creative side. It was the first time I really felt uncomfortable and like a minority. A lot of the kids interning with me were affluent. They could afford to be there every day and take a car service, or they lived blocks away. I couldn’t afford anything, I could barely afford salad. I was the only guy in my internship and probably one of four guys in the magazine at that time. But it was a great time and I learned a lot about designers and creative directors.
On going out on his own
I saved $0. I was ‘super intern.’ You want somebody to work for free? I’m your guy. Being an assistant when I was getting paid was cool. I worked for the Fashion Director of Gilt and Fashion Magazine, and I had great mentors like Memsor Kamarake. After a year of assisting, I was like, I want to do it. I just took a leap of faith. Do I wish I assisted longer? Yes. I made so many mistakes, like losing sh*t. When things are lost as a stylist, you are responsible. I remember one time I pulled from a store on a job and something went missing and had to pay $5,000 for it.
On dealing with racial bias in the industry
I’ve never experienced so much bias towards me in person. It’s more so when I’m requesting clothing. It’s hard to not take thing personally when I’m being told “No.” There was one time when I was working with a top fashion house and I requested for a premiere about a week and a half in advance. The brand was like “We’re going to make it happen,” and the day of the job they said they couldn’t make it work. I never worked with that talent again, but a week later the same talent was wearing the brand. That happened twice with this brand. Now, when they pitch me for my talent, I have a choice. Sometimes I work with them, sometimes I don’t. I’m not the easiest person to work with, and the reason why is because I’m fighting for so much. I’m fighting for the ones that are coming after me. I always make sure that I am telling people how we are supposed to be treated because a lot of times they feel like they can talk down to us or only support when they want to. I had to tell a VP of a major fashion house that you guys are only investing with us now because it’s cool to dress this black girl now. I had someone who was Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated and they couldn’t even get dressed from a major fashion house. Now people are so quick to want to dress black talent because it’s cool to dress them. Knowing that and having an understanding of that, I also have accountability to make sure I’m doing something that’s true to my talent.
On dressing Issa Rae for the CFDA Awards
When Issa was attending the CFDA Awards, I was like, “Issa, this is crazy thing but I think you should wear all black designers.” Without even a second guess, she was like, “Yeah, let’s do it.” I had a meeting with Nate [Hinton], and said we should talk about Pyer Moss. That was his first client after starting his agency. I told Issa that I didn’t want to exploit it. We didn’t do any interviews or tell anybody. We just did it. At the after party, Nikki [Ogunnaike, then at ELLE] was like, “Who did Issa wear tonight?” I told her, and she goes, ”So, those are all black designers. Can I write about it?” She just pulled out her voice recorder and asked me questions at like midnight. It was so dope to give that story to someone who looks like me and to give that story, not to exploit it.
On launching his new line Aliétte
For the last 12 years, I gave art to the world and some of that art was very beautiful, but at the end of the day it was compromised art. It was compromised from my client’s opinions, manager’s opinions, the spouse of the partner or even their assistant. Every time , even as amazing as it may have been, it was compromised. For me, I wanted to make something that was uncompromised. I wanted to make art that I was inspired daily by and art that I was vulnerable to.
On branching out on your own
You have to find the right time for yourself. I can’t say, “Go intern for two years, assist for two years; go be a stylist.” You have to find what the right time is for you.
On paving the way for the next generation
A lot of the time, stylists don’t want their assistants to grow. I told my assistant Eric [McNeal] he should go a few times but he wasn’t listening to me. I went to his best friend and was like, “He needs to grow.” This year, he worked with two people who were my clients. He came to me and I supported him. I think that’s the important part – supporting people to get to the next level –because if I don’t do what I’m supposed to do, they are never going to get to where I am.
