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LifestyleTranscript
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.