When asked about his proudest moment as a designer, Paulie Gibson recalls showing at Style Fashion Week in L.A. for the second time last March. Nervous about living up to the expectations of the precedent that he had set for himself the year before, he found himself overcome by emotions when the show started and the crowd began to roar with excitement. “I have never felt that kind of emotion before,” says Paulie. Caught somewhere between tears and laughter, he explains, “I was just so happy that I was able to put a piece of my soul and a part of myself out there to the world, and that it was so well received.” He recognizes it as one of his best accomplishments to date.
A few of his other highlights include an internship with DSQUARED at their showroom in New York, getting purchased by Zappos.com at Phoenix Fashion Week, and the unbelievable opportunity to be featured on major television this fall.
Walking me through the process of how a new look is created, Paulie explains that it’s always the same story. “I get inspired by one fabric, which whisks me off to another place and then the whole collection is nearly all planned out in 48 hours,” he says. “Its totally weird, but I love it and it’s so much fun.” When his designs reach the runway, Paulie claims that he is usually concentrating on everything but the clothes. “By that point, I'm so confident about the actual garments themselves, I'm looking at hair and makeup, styling, jewelry, shoes, the walk, the model and telling a story to the audience.” As if he has turned from designer to producer, Paulie is thinking about the entire presentation.
Explaining where his inspiration comes from, Paulie starts off by saying that he has always loved beautiful women. Unable to fully put it into words, something happens in his head. “The softness those women possess gets mashed up with the man I am always designing for and these clothes just sort of...happen,” he grins. Masculinity and femininity are concepts that intrigue Paulie as a designer because he has always felt a strong internal connection to both. “I think when you see Paulie Gibson, whether on a rack or on a person, you can’t help but sense the duality in the energy of the clothes,” says Paulie. He takes pride in this aspect of his design because the customer, whether male or female, gets to style it however they want and make it truly their own.
Within all of his designs, Paulie Gibson carries a message that comes straight from his heart. “Bottom line, be who you are and love every minute of it,” says Paulie. As a kid, he was seriously bullied. With no one around to make it stop or make it better, Paulie realized that his only choice was to live through it. The journey that followed led him to become a talented designer with a strong sense of confidence and self worth. “If I can use my voice to encourage people to love themselves and sincerely enjoy the person they are, well, thats the best thing I can do,” Paulie explains, looking back on the times when life wasn’t easy. “All things are possible when you come from a place of love, and I just want to put more love into the world,” he says.
Along with his expertise in fashion design, Paulie has also derived an eye for styling. He found that it’s crucial to be both a stylist and a designer. “How things are paired together is often the reason people either respond or don’t respond,” says Paulie. He feels that his styling jobs in both fashion and wardrobe helped to make him a better designer.
Transitioning from an emerging designer to an established designer, there is never a dull moment in the life of Paulie Gibson. Wake up. Work out. Field emails and phone calls for most of the morning. Spend the afternoon designing his collections of custom clothing for clients and a separate capsule for his boutiques. Then it’s off to bartending for the evening so that he can make ends meet. “I’m busy, but I’m blessed to be able to do what I truly feel I was put on this earth to do,” says Paulie.
In the not so distant future, you can expect to see a true menswear lifestyle brand emerge from Paulie Gibson. “We’ll have everything a man needs from underwear to outerwear, and then some footwear and fragrances, too,” says Paulie. Excited about what the future holds, Paulie has his sights set on landing his looks in the editorials of major publications like GQ, Esquire and Details. “I’m always dreaming, always,” he adds. Those dreams involve L’Uomo Vogue and VMan, and the opportunity to see Lenny Kravitz and Prince wearing Paulie Gibson. “Paulie Boys will take over the world, you’ll see.”
To learn more about Paulie Gibson, visit his website at www.pauliegibson.com and follow him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pauliepeople), Twitter (twitter.com/pauliegibson), and Youtube (youtube.com/pauliegibson). He is currently amidst a fundraiser where people can purchase his clothes at a discounted rate and ultimately help propel his brand forward at www.fundable.com/pauliegibson. Join his team and spread the word.
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