Media Beat

Follow the conversations @juneambrose has with her “style socials” (or Twitter followers to you and me), and one thing becomes clear: people either want to dress like her or be her. So, in the final installment of our Media Beat interview, we got the celebrity stylist and star of VH1′s Styled by June to tell us the biggest mistake aspiring stylists make on the job.

“[A lack of] Osmosis. You know, sometimes, just sitting back and just sucking it all in, you learn so much,” Ambrose said. “When you’re new on the scene, I’ll definitely ask you trick questions just to kinda see where you are. Humility is your best aspect when you’re entering a new area, and I learned that. I would just sit around and just listen.”

But what about fashion courses — are they worth it? And how does a newbie afford the clothes necessary for editorial shoots? Watch the full video to find out.

Part 1: June Ambrose on Styling Diddy, Jay-Z and Hip-Hop’s Most Iconic Videos
Part 2: June Ambrose Collection to Bring ‘Disco to Daytime’
Bonus! Stylist June Ambrose on Her Trademark Turban

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

June Ambrose is a business. When she’s not making over celebrities, leading fashion editorials, or filming for her new VH1 show, Styled By June, the fashionista has been busy extending her brand into eyewear and clothing.

“It’s a collaboration. We started out with three styles, and it’s a capsule collection that I’m doing with Selima [Optiques],” Ambrose said of the eyewear in our Media Beat interview. “And I’m also in development now with my contemporary women’s collection. So, fingers crossed, it’ll be in the marketplace by fall of 2012,”

As for the apparel, Ambrose said fans can expect retro glamour. ”It’s a lifestyle collection. It’s confident… The first collection is about bringing disco to the daytime. I’m a 70s baby, so I was inspired by that era.”

Watch the full video to find out why Ambrose says Styled by June, premiering March 19 on VH1, won’t be just another reality show.

Part 1: June Ambrose on Styling Diddy, Jay-Z and Hip-Hop’s Most Iconic Videos
Part 3: June Ambrose on How to Become a Fashion Stylist
Bonus! June Ambrose on Her Trademark Turban

Subscribe to mediabistroTV on YouTube

Whether showing that turbans can be chic or bringing her cutting-edge style to contestants on The X Factor, June Ambrose often has the fashion world falling at her feet. And she single-handedly upgraded hip-hop’s street corner image with her innovative approach to music videos. (See this and this.)

In our Media Beat interview, Ambrose explained how she tapped into her West Indian roots for one of her most iconic looks: those shiny suits donned by Diddy and Mase in Notorious B.I.G‘s posthumous “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” clip.

“I showed [Diddy] the red metallic and he said, ‘I am not wearing that.’ I had to make one red leather outfit and one metallic leather outfit and… I won!” the star of VH1′s Styled by June said.

“You have to go into this business very fearless, and you have to have integrity for what you do… I said to him, ‘You have to just trust me. I know that sounds wild, but I put my career on this moment. I’m telling you it will make a huge difference.’ Once he saw the first take and he looked at playback, he looked at me and said ‘okay.’ And that was the beginning of not only a great working relationship, but a great friendship.”

Part 2: June Ambrose Collection to Bring ‘Disco to Daytime’
Part 3: June Ambrose on How to Become a Fashion Stylist
Bonus! Stylist June Ambrose on Her Trademark Turban

Subscribe to mediabistroTV on YouTube.

We sat down with celebrity stylist June Ambrose for Media Beat recently to talk about her work as a celebrity stylist, how other fashionistas can break into the biz, and what to expect from her upcoming VH1 show, Styled By June. The full interview airs Monday, but here’s a bonus clip where Ambrose tells how she came up with her trademark turban. “People would tweet and say, ‘Oh, black women can’t pull off a turban. They end up looking like mammy dolls.’ Oh really?” Ambrose said. “I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Subscribe to mediabistroTV on YouTube

Watch the full interview with June Ambrose:

Part 1:June Ambrose on Styling Diddy, Jay-Z and Hip-Hop’s Most Iconic Videos
Part 2: June Ambrose Collection to Bring ‘Disco to Daytime’
Part 3: June Ambrose on How to Become a Fashion Stylist

Brad Goreski wasn’t always the beacon of style he is today. In our Media Beat interview, the star of It’s a Brad, Brad World revealed that he had to overcome a lack of access (he’s originally from a tiny town in Canada) and the doubts of others to climb to the top. One college career counselor, in particular, was quite taken aback by a young Goreski’s outsize ambition.

“She’s like, ‘Okay, so what do you wanna do?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m gonna get an internship at Vogue in New York.’ And she was like, ‘Excuse me?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m gonna get an internship at Vogue. Is that possible for me to get credit and go to New York?’ And she was like, ‘If you get the internship…’ And I was like, ‘Okay!’” Goreski told us. “And I came back later with all my paperwork, and she was like, ‘Are you really going to New York?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah! I’m going to work at Vogue!’”

Now, with a hit show on Bravo and Born to Be Brad: My Life in Style So Far due in bookstores in March, the taste maker credits those early work experiences for his success.

“Internships are so instrumental but, not only do you need to get them, you need to work at them,” he said.

Part 1: Breakout Styling Star Brad Goreski Takes Us Inside His Brad, Brad World
Part 2: Brad Goreski Sets the Record Straight on His Relationship with Rachel Zoe

Fans of The Rachel Zoe Project may have noticed that the star stylist doesn’t take kindly to staff members striking out on their own (and isn’t above launching smear campaigns when they do so). Her former protégé, Brad Goreski, found this out the hard way. He appeared to part with Zoe on good terms toward the end of season three of her reality series, but by season four, she was lobbing criticisms and allegations of client-stealing at her once-beloved style director. In this second segment of our Media Beat interview with Goreski, he opens up about his relationship with Zoe—or lack thereof. “It’s strange that it turned into this whole thing, because to me, it’s a very logical thing to assist somebody and then, after a certain amount of time, choose to leave ad go go off and do your own thing,” says the star of the new Bravo series It’s a Brad Brad World. “I think that’s a really natural progression.” As for the alleged client swiping, Goreski sees this as a non-issue. “Can you really steal people, and especially people who are celebrities?” He asks. “They choose who they want to work with.”

Part 1: Breakout Styling Star Brad Goreski Takes Us Inside His Brad, Brad World
Part 3: How Brad Goreski Got an Internship at Vogue

Even if you don’t know Thom Browne from Tom Ford, you probably recognize the bespectacled visage and signature coiff of Brad Goreski. The dapper Canadian was the breakout star of Bravo’s The Rachel Zoe Project, which documented his rise from steamer-wielding errand boy to Oscar-night styling protégé, and now he’s striking out with a celebrity-styling career and addictive reality series of his own. It’s a Brad, Brad World, which airs Monday nights on Bravo, follows Goreski as he starts a styling business and trades quips with his longtime boyfriend, TV writer and producer Gary Janetti (Will & Grace, Family Guy). A note to design fans: glimpses of the couple’s midcentury mod home in the Hollywood Hills, along with the show’s snappy and saturated setting shots, are reason enough to tune in. “We decided we would go on a crazy ride, a wild adventure, and hopefully the audience will come along with us,” Goreski tells us in this first segment of our three-part Media Beat interview. “I’m not exactly sure what a ‘Brad, Brad World’ is yet—it’s just that you never know where you’re going to end up.”

Part 2: Brad Goreski Sets the Record Straight on His Relationship with Rachel Zoe
Part 3: How Brad Goreski Got an Internship at Vogue

Fashion and costume designer Chris March started sewing at age nine and has long been fascinated by garment construction, but what are the origins of his over-the-top aesthetic? “My mother was on Let’s Make a Deal,” the Project Runway alum and Mad Fashion star tells us in this final installment of our three-part Media Beat interview. The wacky game show proved to be a potent source of inspiration for the young March. “And so I was always fascinated by Let’s Make a Deal and all the people in their costumes,” he says. “The bigger and crazier ones always got more attention.” Click below to hear more about March’s career development, whether you can expect to see his name on a fast-fashion line anytime soon, and what he has in common with I.M. Pei.

You can also view this video on YouTube.

Part 1: Inside Chris March’s Madly Fashionable World
Part 2: Chris March on Project Runway and the Power of Television

Fashion and costume designer Chris March learned a lot from Project Runway. Reaching the final round of the beloved reality competition show during its fourth season was not only a major personal and professional accomplishment but also a crash course in the power of television. “The second the show started, I started getting all of these e-mails, and then I would get a million hits a month on my website,” he tells us in this second installment of our three-part Media Beat interview. “I had no idea what television could do.” Click below to hear more about his experience on Project Runway, why he considers the show a “pop culture phenomenon,” and what it all means for the future of fashion design.

You can also view this video on YouTube.

Part 1: Inside Chris March’s Madly Fashionable World

You may know Chris March from season four of Project Runway, when he stole the show with bold designs, snappy yet endearing one-liners, and innovative materials (who needs traditional textiles when you have human hair?). Since then, the San Francisco native has kept busy designing outrageous costumes and one-off creations for everyone from Cirque de Soleil performers to Meryl Streep, who wore a Chris March-designed dress to last year’s Academy Awards. His latest project is Mad Fashion, a new Bravo series that follows March and his colorful crew as they create custom ensembles for the likes of actress Jennifer Coolidge, shoe designer Ruthie Davis, and, on tomorrow’s episode, New York nightlife promoter Susanne Bartsch. We sat down with March recently for Media Beat, and in this first segment of our three-part interview, he offers us a peek inside his creative process and his New York-based design studio, and reveals the secret that is hidden in all of his designs.

You can also view this video on YouTube.

Part 2: Chris March on the ‘Pop Culture Phenomenon’ of Project Runway and the Power of Television
Part 3: Wednesday, March talks about his start in the fashion biz.