BET: How did you get started in the industry?

Duckie Confetti: I was originally just doing stuff [designing] in high school, like designing people’s jeans. When I went to college, I started

BET: How did you get started in the industry?

Duckie Confetti: I was originally just doing stuff [designing] in high school, like designing people’s jeans. When I went to college, I started doing costumes and stuff — I was a designer of a model organization. From there, I branched off to do like everyday wear, like jeans and dresses and more different types [of] dresses. In college, I had a lot of friends who were stylists, so I was able to put my pieces on different people like Cassie for Vibe magazine. I forgot the year this was. You know, everything just kinda played out for me just having a lot of friends that were stylists and then just being around industry people.

BET: When and what do you consider your big break?

DC: My big break was when I did something for Meek Mill for Rip the Runway. I made Meek Mill this leopard sleeve hoodie. I was actually working with the stylist of Rip the Runway and was doing studding and beading work and something just told me to add a leopard hoodie in the mix. At the time, guys weren’t wearing leopard at all. I had this leopard hoodie that I loved and I thought that the craftsmanship was great, so I just gave it to his stylist. It was like a three-day process of shooting. The first day I saw him and his stylist, I was like “hmm interesting.” So I just decided to give her the hoodie. On the second day of taping, I gave her a business card and she texted me like, “Wow this hoodie is really dope! It’s made really nice, he loves it!” At the time, I didn’t really think anything of it. I’m like OK, whatever. But then, he ended up wearing the hoodie and it appeared on Instagram and went viral. For me to put a leopard sleeve hoodie on a rapper, it was just, like, really big. From the success of that particular piece, I was able to open up my showroom in Manhattan. I sold a bunch of hoodies like this all over. I was selling them out of the country. It was like a big break for me, it just took off from there.