Yashua Simmons’ story started in Yonkers, NY, until his folks relocated the family to Rockland County so that the five kids could attend elementary and middle school in a better school district. When he entered Saunders Trades and Technical High, the family had returned to Yonkers, which allowed him to take advantage of the city’s  close proximity to Manhattan. Two fascinating facts about the creative who’s gone from an intern at Elle Magazine, Fashion Director at Out Magazine, and a contributing consultant for elite publications like American Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar to joining the production of Issa Rae’s Insecure as an ACD consulting on all men’s costumes. The first fact: college wasn’t pushed in his family – “though some people in my family had been to college, it wasn’t necessarily this legacy idea,” he said. Two: “I didn’t grow up knowing about Howard University or HBCUs in general.” The second fact is not surprising as HBCUs don’t typically receive the same exposure as PWIs.

His choice to attend Howard was influenced by his classmate Barbara during their junior year in AP Calculus. “Barbara was top five in our class and was applying to all of the amazing schools – Columbia, NYU – and one day she had a brochure on her desk that said Howard University with a Black ballerina on its cover.” After doing his research, he recognized Howard as Hillman, the fictional college from Bill Cosby’s A Different World. “I made my folks take me there, and when I stepped foot on campus, I fell in love. It was the first time I recognized representation in the manner individuals talk about today.”

After graduating with a degree in Business Marketing, he was sorting out his next course of action in D.C. while working retail at Neiman Marcus’s CUSP when he recalled hearing a speech as an undergrad by Russell Simmons that inspired him to pursue his dreams. The final push was TV Personality Robert Verdi, a client turned friend Yashua gained after transferring from CUSP to Neiman Marcus’s Bergdorf Goodman’s Mens store. Robert convinced him to quit retail after noticing how miserable he was. “If you don’t quit,” he told him, “you’re going to get trapped here. If you can afford to still pay rent, get out of here.”

After a decade in fashion, he left New York City behind for Los Angeles, and today as a creative consultant, his ultimate career goal is “to constantly put out work and energy in a space that others can enjoy and reap benefits from.”

Let’s start from the beginning. What about the fashion industry attracted you, and how’d you get your start? 

It wasn’t that I was attracted to fashion per se. I was in love with images and storytelling. VIBE Magazine is the reason I work in fashion. It was the first place I turned and looked to that was a fantasy world with people who looked like me, my cousins, my mother, and so on. The images in VIBE in the late 90s and early 2000s spoke to me. For a while, I didn’t know image-making was a job and that there were hundreds of people working endless hours in the background to make this one picture that we regularly take for granted when we don’t know the ins and outs of the industry.

I knew nothing of editors, makeup artists, assistants, and photographers. I had a relationship with fashion because I like to look good and all of those things, but I wasn’t looking at it as a career path until piecing together my joys and interests with the discovery of an industry that supported them. I then realized I could make a living using fashion to tell stories and empower folks. Regarding how I got my start, I worked at CUSP, a store owned by Neiman Marcus in Washington, D.C. At that time, the store’s PR Director had a relationship with Joe Zee, who used to be the creative director at Elle. I asked her to help me with an introduction because the magazine had an ad out for interns, and she did. I went back to New York for an interview with his assistant, landed the position, and that’s how I found my way.

What challenges did you face when you were getting started? What was it that kept you going?

When I think about the bigger challenges I faced, I didn’t recognize them until I was out of it. I spent over a decade working in editorial, and I wasn’t just there working; I contributed to its success. Still, after all that time, I left as an associate fashion editor, and I think that alone can speak to what I was dealing with more than anything I can say right now. Let’s call it delays in progression because that’s what it was, and I won’t get too deep into it because I’m not in that place in my life where I’m ready to lay it out all. I will say that I was offered another role at this company after the person in the role previously left, but it wasn’t under the best circumstances.

Long story short, they didn’t want to pay me what they were paying the previous individual, nor were they willing to give me the title the previous person held. HR cited that the company’s guidelines and whatever they had on their books stated I was still a fashion assistant. However, on the magazine’s masthead, I had a slightly more senior title. Those were my challenges. What kept me going? There’s a proverb that goes a little like, “To get to where you really want to go, you have to burn the bridge behind you.” In other words, there was nowhere else to go but forward. I couldn’t go back, so forward was my only choice.

How did you know that you wanted to go into styling in particular, or did you transition from one goal to another over time? 

I had an interesting time as a fashion intern/assistant because I hardly worked in the closet photographing samples, packing things up, or organizing; the usual task assistants have to do and thank God that wasn’t my experience. I was fortunate enough to spend more time on set than in the office, which really increased my interest in styling. I wanted to help people see the best versions of themselves. I wanted to tell stories, and as shallow as it may sound, fashion empowers people, and I wanted to be a part of that.

You’ve styled for many notable brands. What do you make of your ability to book these jobs? 

Honestly, this is a tough question since I struggle to see what you and others may see regarding what I’ve achieved. Frankly, like a lot of folks, I sometimes suffer from imposter syndrome. But if I can answer honestly, it’s the work I’ve done, the work I’ve put into my craft, the networks I’ve fostered, and the folks around me. It’s my community and us taking care of each other. That’s definitely a part of my success.

How do you differentiate your work from other stylists? 

Some of the most important work I’ve done was during my time at Out Magazine as the Fashion Director. I learned so much about myself creatively and personally; it’s where I actually felt like I was fulfilling a bigger purpose in the work I did. Our collective mission was to celebrate and amplify the voices of queer and marginalized folk. A lot of my work here centered on “real people” and talents that weren’t conventional to the fashion and beauty space at the time. There were a lot of firsts for many of the individuals we set out to give flowers to. Because of this, my ultimate responsibility was to make sure individuals were presented as the best versions of themselves. That’s how I approached the work then and how I continue to approach my work.

Tell me about some of the projects you’ve worked on. What has been your greatest achievement so far? 

I’ve recently styled the April cover of Vanity Fair’s spring style issue, and most recently, I styled Travis Scott for a cover set to release in the near future. Both very different! Styling Cactus Jack was a first for me, as I’ve never had the opportunity to work with any male hip-hop artists. I think my greatest achievement is probably the totality of my work and what it means to others. A lot of my day-to-day and the world I operate in can sometimes be taken for granted, but then I’ll get a DM from someone familiar with me and my work or even a cousin. The message usually reads, “I see you, I’m proud of you, keep doing your shit, and you’ve allowed me to see myself in ways I haven’t before.” And it’s really those moments when I recognize “achievement.” For someone to be positively affected by the work I’m putting out, that is my greatest accomplishment to date.

In your opinion, how has the industry changed since 2020? Have you seen an increase in clients requesting your services since? 

Hmm… I’ll say I’ve earned more in the middle of a pandemic than I would’ve ever thought or imagined. I’ve gotten calls from individuals I never suspected would come through. How has it changed? It’s all a big performance saying this does not mean there are no benefits to reap. I think the initial fire was needed to get us to the point where we are now. Consequently, the plentitude of marginalized artists commissions, people with talent, who want to be here and previously had no point of entry are shining bright! And that’s awesome to witness. History is being made and cemented.

How do you give back to your community through your work? 

Much more of my work is at the service of someone else or some other idea than it is self-serving. Sure, I benefit from it, but if you look at my work, a lot of it has always been to perpetuate ideas of Blackness, queerness, and other marginalized folks. It sort of always has been at the center of the stories I’m telling. I’m giving back by producing images and telling compelling fashion stories illustrative of individuals that aren’t necessarily sung.

Black History Month just passed. I would love to know what this month represents for you.

Black History is American History, and it’s a FACT! It’s not made up. Have you seen the parents threatening to take their children out of certain schools if the curriculum introduces Black History lessons? The month is perhaps a bad idea paved with good intentions. When I think about it, my relationship with Black History Month was centered in the classroom. The curriculum was a monolith, and we learned about the same four pillars each year and how they were assassinated. But listen, like many great burdens placed on us, during the month, we have to show up and represent.

Is there any ancestor of ours you wish you could’ve met and why? 

It’s not a collective “our,” but it’s an ancestor of mine for me. I never met my grandmother, and it’s something so profound about understanding family and family structure. It’s why you are the way you are, and there’s a better depiction of self and understanding of self when you understand your family. When I hear ancestor and think about who I like to meet, it is my grandmother, my father’s mother, and my great-grandparents from her, whom I also never met. It’d be interesting to meet them because I’m trying to piece in things I don’t know and knowing them could definitely help.

Are there any Black Creatives known or unknown that you would like to bring to the CFDA’s attention? 

Branche Coverdale; he’s an illustrator and artist who graduated from RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) and assisted Takashi Murakami for years traveling between New York and Japan. He’s since left the fine artists and regularly contributes illustrations to The New York Times and explores embroidery techniques to fabrics and designing graphics for apparel.

IG: @yashuasimmons

Web: YashuaSimmons.com