Making her debut on the schedule for NYFW 2021 Former ESPN Sales Executive JUNNY will be showcasing her new collection. This is an amazing feat for what the industry calls an Emerging Designer but JUNNY is no emerging designer, she is a trailblazing trendsetter.
It was an honor to chat with this amazing former ESPN Executive turned designer. We spoke candidly about her transition into her true purpose fashion.
It is always cliche to ask “Have you always had a passion for fashion/” but I had to ask. I could not help but laugh when her response was one that made me smile. Her face lit up as she stated,” Fashion has always been my passion. I was born and raised in Jamaica. And my mom was a seamstress and single mother. She raised six of us single-handed when my stepdad passed away. So you know, she pretty much made all of our clothing. And not only did she make her own clothing, I think we never really appreciated what she was doing, then, you know, because back then it was just like, I don’t want to wear that I want something that everyone is getting in the store. So we really didn’t understand bespoke and customs. Coming from a Caribbean family. The whole idea of embracing fashion and doing what I do was unheard of but I’ve always had an interest and I got that interest from my mom”
JUNNY took me back to when she walked the halls of ESPN she was always known for her fashion sense and also known for breaking the rules. Beaming she shared, “they used to say here comes ESPN and JUNNY because everyone was always wearing a gray suit. And I always had on something that was different, a little bit more colorful. So I brought color in the room in more ways than one and at ESPN I handled their fashion and lifestyle initiative”. She was the person who brought the first fashion sports deal with ESPN and IMG when fashion was on Lincoln Center. Bottomline fashion has always been her passion.
Understanding the wordplay that is often used for Black designers such as Emerging even for designers who have been in the industry for years even decades when they in actuality should be listed as Established. Even though JUNNY is listed as an Emerging Designer to me and those around her she is Established.
When we begin to speak about the differences between Makers and Designers it was explained so beautifully by JUNNY. “I feel like maker means that it’s a craft, It’s hard. But I think for me, the biggest connection has been to a community. For instance, we do a lot of pop-ups. We meet each other at these local pop-ups. And I think it’s just the way we support each other. For instance, the earring that I featured in my collection is made by a local Japanese artist. She’s a jeweler, but in a sense, she’s a maker too, because she’s pretty much doing her craft more or less out of her apartment. So I think we’re both makers and designers in that sense, and that what we’re doing is small-batch, you’ll find us behind the machine in front of the machine, hand stitching hand doing right so that makes us makers as well.”
As we chatted about the reimagining of her career path she shared with me the incident of her passing out after leaving corporate America and interviewing for jobs to be told she was too perfect and she begin to work with makers in Harlem essentially learning and experiencing her craft. She shared, “And one night I passed out, I guess I woke up and I was on the floor. And my head literally, thank God for the plastic surgery. Literally, I was like bleeding from my forehead, and I had no idea how I’d pass that out how I got there. Yeah, I literally weighed nothing. And I panicked. Because one of the things when you leave a big corporate job, you realize that your friends are not kind of not your friends anymore. And I literally didn’t know what to do with myself. ….I think I’d reached a point where I was just so exhausted, I weighed nothing. And I just couldn’t continue like that anymore. So literally after I got stitched up. It was my birthday, the big birthday. For friends. They’re like, you know what, we’re going to do this thing and we went to Italy. So that was the beginning of a new beginning for me. We went to Italy”. In Italy, JUNNY lived her best life. While working with a Brazilian Hatmaker she was gifted a vintage Caftan from that one piece she started her business from one Caftan. I was not surprised when she shared, “And that’s what a lot of black designers and makers will tell you, you literally start with that one piece. And from that one piece, we build a business that way.”
As JUNNY prepares to debut on the NYFW calendar on Sep 11, 2021. I am sending her wishes of continued to success and am anticipating an amazing collection. Learn more about JUNNY by visiting her website or following her on social media. Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
The full interview is available to watch here –
About JUNNY®
JUNNY® is a former ESPN Sales Executive, who discovered her passion for designing after getting downsized. JUNNY’s Collection is bold, creatively exuberant, and inclusive, drawing on the vibrancy of her Harlem and Jamaica cultural roots, collaboration with local artists of all stripes is fed into a collection that is wearable art. Her pieces are cross-culturally glamorous, vibrantly colored, visually and culturally reflective. A perfect reference to the vast, powerful river of African-American history, multiculturalism, and Junny’s own Jamaican roots that pulses and empowers the dynamic, current Harlem community. Her designs are a feast for the eyes, a symphonic explosion of colors, fabrics, and shapes. trans-seasonal, fresh and glamorous. ‘My mother was a seamstress. I have five siblings, she was a single mother, she created all of our clothing. She made her patterns from the newspaper. From an early age, I created my own pieces. People always stopped me to ask who made my clothing’ JUNNY® shines a spotlight not only on black designers but makers, women entrepreneurs who have pivoted from corporate careers in their mid 40’s and beyond to take a leap of faith, follow their passion, start something new. I intend to use my platform and clothing line to showcase the sights, sounds, people, and colors of my neighborhood. I am also telling the story of African textiles. ‘I want to be a vital part of the movement helping to bring Black Design and Culture into the mainstream. The fabric sellers, sewers and artisans often live in the shadows. My mission is to be a voice for the culture- to shine a spotlight on those driving things forward. My clothing line is a tribute to the artists, activists, designers, and key voices’
