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Welcome back to Fashion Files with Karis Reneé! This episode features an inspiring conversation with fashion designer DeAngelo Millner. Karis and DeAngelo discuss their personal journeys, creative processes, and a mutual friend who helped bring them together.
DeAngelo shares his background from Greensboro, North Carolina, his unexpected discovery of his design talent, and the powerful role of purpose in his life. The episode includes fun games, industry insights, and personal anecdotes that highlight DeAngelo's unique approach to fashion. Tune in for an engaging and heartfelt exploration of passion, creativity, and the fashion industry.
DeAngelo shares his background from Greensboro, North Carolina, his unexpected discovery of his design talent, and the powerful role of purpose in his life. The episode includes fun games, industry insights, and personal anecdotes that highlight DeAngelo's unique approach to fashion. Tune in for an engaging and heartfelt exploration of passion, creativity, and the fashion industry.
00:00 Welcome and Guest Introduction
00:46 Connecting Through Fashion
02:04 DeAngelo's Fashion Journey
02:39 Inspiration and Purpose
03:58 Icebreaker Questions
07:49 First Design Experience
14:55 Fashion Show and Breakthrough
18:10 Fashion Word Play Game
19:34 Discussing Favorite Designers
21:40 Sources of Inspiration
23:17 Flame Superlatives Game
27:33 Advice for Aspiring Designers
31:17 Fashion Industry Trends
34:40 Style Spotlight
36:21 Upcoming Projects and Closing Remarks
Join The Flame Society on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FLAMEFashionFiles
Sponsored by Soul Chai - https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=2532979&u=4527946&m=153430&urllink=&afftrack=
- Sarah
- Micaela Smith
Creators and Guests
What is Fashion Files?
Fashion Files is a captivating podcast hosted by Karis Reneé that delves into the glamorous world of fashion. Explore styling secrets, costume design insights, and red-carpet chronicles featuring both solo episodes and interviews with fashion industry experts. Each episode will inspire, entertain, and educate fashion enthusiasts.
015 Fashion Files - DeAngelo Millner
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Karis Reneé: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Fashion Files with Caris Renee. I'm your host, Caris Renee, and I'm so happy to have y'all here with me. Oh my God, y'all, it's another. Special episode. I have a guest with us today and I can't wait to introduce y'all to DeAngelo Milner, who is a fashion designer. Hi, I'm so happy to have you here with me today.
DeAngelo Millner: I'm excited to be here. Yeah, like we've been talking about this. For a little minute, so I'm glad to be here.
Karis Reneé: Yes, I'm so happy to have you with it. Okay, so we actually have a fellow friend and, hi Clint. He, he doesn't even know this is happening and we're probably gonna give us out for it, but it's the
DeAngelo Millner: Cat Finn be live.
Karis Reneé: It's okay, [00:01:00] we'll tell him later. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But Clint has been talking about DeAngelo's designs for a while now, and he's always sending me stuff. And he had told me a while back, he was like, yeah, I have somebody that I want to connect you with. And then nothing really happened. I was like, okay, cool.
And so, course. Clint always comes to me for styling advice and all different types of things. Mm-hmm. Honestly, I think he thinks that I'm a designer sometimes, which happens to all of us. Like when we're stylists, they always are like, oh, can you make this? I'm like, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait. I can hook you up with somebody that can make that and I can put the look together, but, uh, I don't do design work.
But anyways, this time he actually figured it out and I was like, no, I need my stylist and my designer to collab. We gonna figure something out. So he finally put us together. Yes. And so here we are. Here we're, I'm so excited because we haven't had a chance to actually connect and talk about some fashion things.
Mm-hmm. And y'all know, I love to be able to get organic on the podcast and have that transparent conversation here. So now we get to do that. Go. I'm so excited.
DeAngelo Millner: [00:02:00] Here we go. Let's do it.
Karis Reneé: All right. So let's go ahead and get into it. First of all, let's just go ahead and let him know who you are. Okay. Tell him a little, a little bit about you.
DeAngelo Millner: My name is DeAngelo, uh, DeAngelo Milner. I'm from Greensboro, North Carolina. Okay. Originally from Yes, gso. Um, but I've been in fashion for eight years now. Okay. I wanna say nine actually. It's been nine. Dang.
Time flies. It does. It does. But um, yeah, that's me. I'm a social media influencer. Multifaceted entrepreneur. I'm coined as your gay black entrepreneur on Instagram and TikTok. Love that. So, yeah.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. And he be dropping gems, y'all. He be giving like inspirational things, you know? I had to go through a deep dive.
Once we started following each other on social media, I'm like,
DeAngelo Millner: gotta get people a little inspiration, I feel like, because we go through so much and what we go through is a test. Demand mm-hmm. Of like helping other people. Absolutely. It's like, let your gift make room for you and there's so many gifts that we can offer to people.
Yes. So if you've [00:03:00] been through something and you can encourage somebody else not to have to go through it or in that season of it, then why not?
Karis Reneé: Absolutely. That's, uh, that is so powerful. I love that you said that because a lot of times people sometimes are scared to share their story, uh, but it's going to help the next Absolutely.
Even if, if it helps one person,
DeAngelo Millner: then it helps somebody. Yes.
Karis Reneé: It
DeAngelo Millner: meant that what I went through absolutely was for the good. Because
Karis Reneé: please, I don't want you to have to go through the same thing that I went through. Baby, baby. I'm trying to spare it. I'm trying
DeAngelo Millner: to help you. Just take the word and take heed.
Listen, because baby, you don't want it. Okay. I don't have some
Karis Reneé: friends that like, they like literally have, and I'm like, why do you have to go through it?
DeAngelo Millner: But you know what I've learned? Some people have to go through tough times. They do. They do. Just like we had to go through our season mm-hmm. And everything to learn and become the person that we are.
Yes. Sometimes we just have to let people go through it. Absolutely. We can give, give them the encouraging word. Mm-hmm. But it's not for us to be the guy.
Karis Reneé: Yep. 'cause like you said, you can take the horse to the water, but you can't make the drink. Can't make them
DeAngelo Millner: drink.
Karis Reneé: All right. So let's jump in. I'm [00:04:00] gonna do a little cute little icebreaker to get us started.
So, because we still getting to know each other, so. Yes. Alright, so let's see. First question, one fashion trend you think should make a comeback.
DeAngelo Millner: Hmm. My God.
I feel like the ones that I would say are already back in trim. Mm-hmm. Like oversized. Okay. Like the nineties look.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. I love nineties. I like when people
DeAngelo Millner: had like decorum about themselves. Okay. Because it, because
Karis Reneé: those mini bubble skirts with the kids wearing their booty out.
DeAngelo Millner: That ain't it. That ain't it because what
Karis Reneé: is happening?
DeAngelo Millner: Because like what happened to fashion being sexy and classy. Yeah. Know what you can do both and still be covered up. Exactly. And still be covered up. Mm-hmm. I don't feel like you have to display it all. Mm-hmm. For people. And I know people will be like, well, you've done it. And yes, I have. Mm-hmm. Because I feel like.
Everybody has their time where they go through. Yes. Finding themselves. Absolutely. But it doesn't have to be a end all. Be all. Yeah. To stay in that lane.
Karis Reneé: [00:05:00] Absolutely. I was talking to somebody recently and I was going through, I have a friend that's like going to this like two thousands decades party, and so she was like, do you have pictures from when I'm like, oh, you want me to do what I do?
They all hidden on Facebook right now. Let me go through 'em and find something for you because lemme find them because I
DeAngelo Millner: know they're in the archive.
Karis Reneé: Okay, listen. And I'm like, there are things that I, I wouldn't ever, never, ever. Mm-hmm. Even like the
DeAngelo Millner: crop tops with the, listen with the lowrise jeans. I, I,
Karis Reneé: I don't even want to name some of the things.
And it's so funny because I, I have somebody else that they, they low rise, some low rise are coming back. Mm-hmm. And so she had tried some on recently and she was like, my C-sections card is showing.
DeAngelo Millner: You ain't, it ain't the same body. It ain't the same body. That body done went through some changes.
Karis Reneé: Okay.
It's a whole different thing. Whole new person. Okay. All right. Next one. Who is a dream client? You would love to dress.
DeAngelo Millner: Honestly, Lizzo, I've always wanted to dress [00:06:00] Lizzo, um, because I started out in plus size, big and tall. Mm-hmm. And I like to kind of stay in that lane Yeah. When it comes down to designing.
Mm-hmm. Um, because I don't feel like there are a lot of fashion forward mm-hmm. Pieces for big and tall and plus size. Mm-hmm. So I like to use my eye to, you know. Tailor to the body. Mm-hmm. And get all the beautiful curves and make emphasis on what's there.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. So
DeAngelo Millner: Lizzo is somebody that I would.
Absolutely love to ta to design for it. I could see that.
Karis Reneé: I can see that. And you, she just popped back out too and she looked amazing, baby. Okay,
DeAngelo Millner: Melissa,
Karis Reneé: right. Full government name. Okay.
DeAngelo Millner: I had to pull it out because Ma'am, who are you? Where you come from? She.
Karis Reneé: Amazing. She, it's so funny. I was literally last night I was just watching like a whole bunch of different, um, catching up on my podcast.
'cause you know, I told y'all I love podcasts. Mm-hmm. And so I was watching, um, the Baby is Kiki Palmer and I watched the episode with Lizzo and it was so good.
DeAngelo Millner: I gotta go check that out. Yeah, definitely check it
Karis Reneé: out. Gotta check. Yeah. [00:07:00] Okay, Lizzo. I love that. Okay, next one. What is one item in your closet?
You could never part with
DeAngelo Millner: my bags. See? You like bags and I like bags. You
Karis Reneé: know it.
DeAngelo Millner: My husband will tell you, baby. Mm-hmm. That one side of the closet
Karis Reneé: mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: Is glorified. Yes.
Karis Reneé: And don't for
DeAngelo Millner: the bags. Yes. Their dust covers. Yes. The acrylic shelves. The bags.
Karis Reneé: I love that. The bags
DeAngelo Millner: and the hats. I gotta have them.
Karis Reneé: I love that. And y'all, his husband is here and I hear him laughing in the background. It is so funny.
DeAngelo Millner: Love a good bag. Yeah.
Karis Reneé: You know, I, I'm, I stand with you on that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. And last one. Okay. Um, actually, let's, let's go on it. I wanna go back. Okay. We gonna come back to this. We got some other games.
So let me know how you even got into designing clothes. Like, where did it start?
DeAngelo Millner: So, the crazy thing is, I think I've said it a couple of times, but [00:08:00] I don't think people catch it.
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: But I literally started designing off of, I don't wanna say a fluke. Mm. Because I didn't even know I could design, I didn't know I could sew.
I didn't know that I could create patterns. Mm-hmm. I was in a phase of life where I was depressed, suicidal, and I asked God for my purpose. Mm-hmm. And so that's the reason why I'm always like life just got chill on purpose with purpose. Yeah. Um, because I feel like when you, I know for a fact it's not even a feel.
I know that when you find your purpose, it helps drive your life and it orders. Every, it puts everything else in order for you. Yeah. Strategically to become who you're supposed to be. Yeah. So I just remember like sitting in the house and I was like, God, I just don't want to be here. I'm going through all these things.
I feel like nobody's here, nobody's understanding. I need you to show me my purpose. Mm-hmm. And I know you, I know you a kid from the church, you know? So
Karis Reneé: you already know
DeAngelo Millner: when you hear the, when you hear the voice of the [00:09:00] Lord say.
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: And he said, call your aunt and tell her you wanna sew her a garment.
And I said, what? Mm, my aunt was a pastor at the time. Mm-hmm. And so I called her and I said, auntie, I wanna make you a preaching garment. I made that garment in three days. Bay had a bay, had a sewing machine. I had always been intrigued with that sewing machine that sat in our. In our dining room in the corner.
I was just like, why? Why am I so intrigued with this? And so I picked up that sewing machine. He knew how to source patterns. So we went to Walmart, got the patterns. We went to Walmart, got the fabric. I took her measurements. Wow. And in three days her dress was done.
Karis Reneé: I. Your first design was done in three.
In three days. Days. That's when you know you are living and walking in your purpose. Mm-hmm. Like what? I literally got chills when you're talking because it's so crazy, like, and I've said it before when we talked about like, kind of like why I started the podcast. Mm-hmm. And of course I have so many other moments, but this specific one, like I literally God said, call Erica, and I called Erica [00:10:00] and she was just like, yeah,
DeAngelo Millner: let's do it.
Let's
Karis Reneé: do it.
DeAngelo Millner: I love that. Like
Karis Reneé: what?
DeAngelo Millner: I love it that we can, I, I think people don't realize, like you can audibly hear from God and like mm-hmm. When he speaks, you gotta know the difference between his voice and your conscience.
Karis Reneé: Absolutely. You
DeAngelo Millner: know? 'cause sometimes our conscience will tell us to do something.
Mm-hmm. And it's not really in the wheel.
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm. But
DeAngelo Millner: when you hear that real voice baby, and you can determine the two.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: Sky's the limit. Yeah. Sky is the limit.
Karis Reneé: I love proof that
DeAngelo Millner: I'm proof. So, yeah.
Karis Reneé: Okay, so your first garment. Okay, so what was it?
DeAngelo Millner: Um, so it was a burgundy dress. Mm-hmm. Um, it was a little bit below the knee.
Mm-hmm. Had a really nice bow on the side. Yes. And it had puff sleeves.
Karis Reneé: Who,
DeAngelo Millner: and I love a dramatic sleeve. It's the first, like first gown we talking about puff sleeve with a elastic, right? You gotta do right, because what a bow zipper in the back and, and the crazy thing was, and
Karis Reneé: zippers are hard.
DeAngelo Millner: The crazy thing was when we went and put [00:11:00] it on her, it didn't fit the first time, right?
Mm-hmm. So this is like, I think this was day two. Mm-hmm. So we did the fitting. The second day I had to figure out how to put gussets in the side. And fix the girl when I say God was giving me the instructions as I was sowing. Wow. And anytime I sow, I have to pray.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. So
DeAngelo Millner: that God can lead me because there's so many things that I don't know how to do.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: But God gives me the instruction to do them.
Karis Reneé: Oh, he is giving them to you baby. Mm-hmm. Because I've seen the designs.
DeAngelo Millner: Yeah. I would, people would ask me to do something and I don't know that I can't do it. And I'd be like, yep, I sure can. And come out with that dress. Oh my God. And they'd be like, you made
Karis Reneé: this for me.
Oh God. Are we living the same life? That's
DeAngelo Millner: what it look like, baby God driven.
Karis Reneé: I'm telling you, because I, people throw stuff on me and I'm be like, I ain't never okay. I'm like, okay. And I go and my mom and now she won't even let me. She be like, girl, please, you're gonna get get it done every time. Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: And
Karis Reneé: every time I do it at the end I'm like, that was [00:12:00] nothing but God.
Nothing but God.
DeAngelo Millner: Because it
Karis Reneé: sure won't me.
DeAngelo Millner: Because baby, if it was me, I would've put the, I would've put the machine up because
Karis Reneé: what?
DeAngelo Millner: I wouldn't have cut the fabric. I would've just laid in my bed in a little cocoon and just rocked a little bit. You know what I'm saying?
Karis Reneé: Yes. Because, because
DeAngelo Millner: sometimes it just feels like that.
It feels so,
Karis Reneé: mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: Overwhelming.
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: To possess a gift in that nature. And you know, people pull on it. And it's like you want to give because it's like it's your gift. It's what God gave you, and you know that you can be something to somebody else. Yeah. Because it's not just about sowing, it's about giving someone confidence.
Yeah. It's about being a part of someone's moment. Yeah. In their history, in their lives. So it's bigger than. Me being the designer, I am a part of your moment.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: I'm a part of your history. Yeah. And so that's huge. And sometimes that can be overwhelming and you kind of sit in that and you're like, oh God, like how?
Why? Why me?
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: You know? [00:13:00] So I get it.
Karis Reneé: Yeah,
DeAngelo Millner: I get it.
Karis Reneé: Listen. Mm. I'm not woo. We gonna have to woo Lord, because this gonna turn into a whole different thing. A whole different type
DeAngelo Millner: of thing. Because I feel it. I feel it in the atmosphere.
Karis Reneé: Okay, so the first garment was the [00:14:00] dress. So then, then what, what happened after that?
DeAngelo Millner: Um, so after that I just kind of started playing with different silhouettes. Mm-hmm. Um, going to Walmart, I ain't even gonna hold you. Wal Walmart was my best friend. Okay. When I first started selling Walmart, uh, going to get their discounted fabric.
Karis Reneé: Yes.
DeAngelo Millner: And just creating, I remember that time being so, I don't know, it felt childlike in a sense. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Because I felt so free to just kind of like create Yeah. You're exploring. And I would just post pictures, you know, and people would be like, who made that? Because at the time, everybody knew me as solo, the singer.
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: And it was, I
Karis Reneé: love creatives. We are so multi, like we do everything. We can do it
DeAngelo Millner: all. We can do it all. Yeah. We can do it all. But everybody knew me as a singer and so. I had to kind of like keep telling people, no, it's me. I'm designing this. And they're like, when did you start sewing? I'm like, two days ago.
Right? Basically. And then came the big fashion show [00:15:00] in November of, I guess it was, I think it was 20 20 16. Okay. I think it was November, 2016. Um. And I told my, I told Bay and I told my best, who's, well my best friend now, she was my assistant at the time. Mm-hmm. And we had moved into this building. I said, listen, y'all, I said I need to do a fashion show.
And they were like, okay, when we gonna do it? Mm-hmm. And I was like, let's do it in November. Mm-hmm. Now mind you, it's October
Karis Reneé: D
What?
DeAngelo Millner: This is how God moves though. I'm obedient. I don't care how much it's gonna stress me out, I'm gonna be there. Listen. So we, I actually booked the venue mm-hmm. After telling them, and they were like, okay, so we doing this? Yeah. November 10th, I think it was. So we created two collections ready to wear and formal mm-hmm.
In less than a month. Okay. Got all of our [00:16:00] models, had all of our model training, got everything solidified, promoted. Done Right. In my mind, I'm just showing people that I'm the designer. Yeah. I wanna show people what I can do. So I don't know if you've seen my dress that, you know, don't want to go.
Karis Reneé: No. It's a
DeAngelo Millner: I'll show it to you in a break.
Okay.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: So. That dress goes down. It was the finale piece. 'cause my, the theme of my show was basically transformation.
Karis Reneé: Mm.
DeAngelo Millner: Because I was going through a transformation. Yeah. And a lot of people didn't know I had, well, I was diagnosed with lupus back in 2013. Oh. My
Karis Reneé: best friend has lupus. Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: I don't claim that I don't have it anymore.
That's because they can't find it anymore. So we thank God.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. That's
DeAngelo Millner: another story.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: But, um, so that was my whole thing. Butterflies purple. Yeah. You know, transformation. And so she comes down, she pops the belt off and it becomes this bat wing dress.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. I ain't see that.
DeAngelo Millner: Yeah, they went dumb. Of course they did.
I mean, they, they were like, what [00:17:00] is this?
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: And so from there. I get invites to New York Fashion Week. Mm-hmm. Small Boutique Fashion Week, full figure Fashion week. I cannot
Karis Reneé: not believe we hadn't ran into each other by now.
DeAngelo Millner: I mean, I, I'm out there, but I also feel like I'm a little bit of a hermit. Mm-hmm.
Because I like people, but I like my space. Mm-hmm. I like my peace. Mm-hmm. I get. I get more creativity when I have my piece. Yeah. So that's probably the reason why, 'cause I, I ain't been outside.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: I just started going outside two years. Yeah. So, yeah. But yeah, that's it. It led to New York Fashion Week and it's just been crazy.
Yeah. Like my dms were going off. I didn't really know how to scale it because. You know, being a designer is one thing, but running a business is a different thing. You totally different, you know? And then running a business as a, as a designer. Yeah. As somebody who never even knew that this was a thing.
Yeah. Is another thing. Right. So you don't know to create multiples of what you [00:18:00] did. Yeah. You know, so that you can sell it. 'cause that wasn't even my mo. Yeah. I just wanted people to know it was me.
That's my
Karis Reneé: truth. I love that. All right, so this game is called. How you like it. He just tasted so shy out. Ooh,
DeAngelo Millner: that's good. Ooh, it's got that little spice. Heck, I like that. Yes,
Karis Reneé: Uhhuh. I love that. Okay, so this is called fashion word play. The fashion designer edition. Okay. Okay. All right. So I'm gonna give you a word and you gonna tell me the first thing that pop in your head when I say the word.
Oh God. First thing now. Okay. Couture.
DeAngelo Millner: DeAngelo
Karis Reneé: here is street wear
DeAngelo Millner: off white.
Karis Reneé: Yes. Timeless.
DeAngelo Millner: Roberto Valle.
Karis Reneé: Okay. [00:19:00] Is that your favorite designer? Love that. I love Roberto Glass. Okay. Luxury.
DeAngelo Millner: Louis Vuitton.
Karis Reneé: Okay. Avant garde.
DeAngelo Millner: Rick Owens.
Karis Reneé: Okay. And minimalist.
DeAngelo Millner: it's crazy 'cause I see the brands, but I can't call the names. Right. It's like that sometimes. What's the one essentials?
Karis Reneé: Okay.
DeAngelo Millner: Yeah.
Karis Reneé: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That, that definitely works.
DeAngelo Millner: I had to see the name
Karis Reneé: and, and you'll see that name everywhere for sure. Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: It's the quality. Yeah, it's the quality. That's what it's all about.
Karis Reneé: Okay, so we just talked about your favorite designer. Mm-hmm. So tell me why that's your favorite designer and do you feel like that you are influenced by him at all, or who are some of your influences?
DeAngelo Millner: Roberto Valle is like, it makes me think of like Aretha Franklin, beautiful gowns.
Mm-hmm. You, I've always had a whimsical way of thinking when it comes down to designing and if I had it my way. [00:20:00] My collection would be just like the most exaggerated, beautiful gowns. Mm-hmm. Um, and I think Roberto Val like embodies that.
Karis Reneé: Okay.
DeAngelo Millner: As a designer. Um, Zach Poin,
Karis Reneé: I love that is
DeAngelo Millner: another one. Um, I just, I just love how they look at fashion as a true art.
Mm-hmm. And not just the piece itself. But the silhouette of bodies. Yeah. And I think that's what differentiates a real true designer. Mm-hmm. From somebody who's just calling themselves a designer. Mm-hmm. Because I feel like there's a difference. Mm-hmm. You know, you have to know who your, who your buyers are.
Mm-hmm. You know, and you have to be able to tailor your designs to. That, that that person,
Karis Reneé: yeah. Versus you just making a design and putting it on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get what you're saying for sure. And I, I think that's
DeAngelo Millner: the reason why I kind of stick with custom. Yeah. Because it allows me the [00:21:00] opportunity to really create art.
On this canvas that's presented in front of me.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: Because the body is a canvas. Yeah. That's how I look at it every time.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. Fashion is art. I definitely, uh, resonate with that as well because I, when I'm styling, especially like when I do editorial pieces, but even when I'm doing personal styling or working, uh, you know, doing costume design on a movie, like it's all about bringing, it's all about bringing that vision to life, not just.
Putting clothes on the body.
DeAngelo Millner: Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. I love that. Okay, let's see, what else haven't we talked about? That tea is so good. Right? Okay. So some, what are some of the other things that you're influenced by? Like culture? Like architecture, like what are some things that kind of help you get in the mindset to design?
DeAngelo Millner: So I love to be out in nature when I'm trying to focus on a design. Mm-hmm. Um, so like I said, the butterflies were. An inspiration to me. [00:22:00] Yeah. Um, I, I'm not too much of a sculptural person. Mm-hmm. Um, but like music influences me.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. So like
DeAngelo Millner: the vibe of music. I will say that when I do design and I'm working on a collection, I find my album and I just roll with it.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: I just roll with it and. I can't remember. It was a K Michelle album. Was was the album that I, Hey, K
Karis Reneé: Michelle.
DeAngelo Millner: I love me some. K Michelle. One thing that people don't know about me is I love things ratchet. I don't know what it is. Just a little bit, I love a little bit of ratchet. Yeah. Every now and again, you know, little touch, sometimes just a little touch, you know?
Absolutely. I agree. Um, but, but that album stayed on repeat. They were like, can we listen to something else? And I was like, no, no. No. Be mindful who that like, that's what Kay Michelle said. So we need to keep it rolling.
Karis Reneé: Yes. I love that little ratchet. Mm-hmm. For sure.
DeAngelo Millner: Yeah. [00:23:00]
Karis Reneé: Okay, so let's jump to another game really quickly, and then I want to, um, kind of wrap that part up.
Like I want you to give some, um. Some advice to somebody that is going to follow behind in your footsteps. Okay? But before we do that, okay, we have flame superlatives. Mm. Okay. So I'm gonna give you a category. You're gonna tell me the designer or brand, and I know you wanna say you for everything, and I love that.
DeAngelo Millner: But say my No, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say something for every, for, you know, for everything. That first one, I just was like, no,
Karis Reneé: as you should. Yeah. For sure,
DeAngelo Millner: as Shamar said, clocked thaty.
Karis Reneé: Okay. Okay. Oh my God, I didn't know that's who did that first. That is so funny. Okay, so first one is the most innovative designer of the last decade.[00:24:00]
DeAngelo Millner: Mm. You know who really I'm gonna, you who I think innovative.
You would pop me with these questions and not even like, um,
Karis Reneé: I didn't give you no prep, did I? You
DeAngelo Millner: gimme no prep.
Karis Reneé: You want me to tell you who mine is? Yeah. Gimme yours. Skype Elli. Scott Brown. Oh my God. Really? Yes. Daniel Rosenberg, what he has been doing with that brand to make it modern, but also still pay homage to where the brand began, like the roots of the brand. Mm-hmm. It's been so good. I love it. You
DeAngelo Millner: know who I was getting to say who?
I was gonna say Pharrell. Okay. He kind of blew me away with Louis Vuitton. Okay. He did.
Karis Reneé: And, and, you know, people loved it or they hated it.
DeAngelo Millner: Yeah. Mm-hmm. But I was with it.
Karis Reneé: Joy. Joy,
DeAngelo Millner: like I was, I was with it. Yeah. And I, I appreciated it. The fact that he brought his flare. Mm-hmm.
Karis Reneé: Yes.
DeAngelo Millner: But still kept it.
Karis Reneé: [00:25:00] Yeah. I'm excited for the Met Gala.
DeAngelo Millner: Mm. Girl. I'm ready to see these fits. Yeah. '
Karis Reneé: cause
DeAngelo Millner: isn't it all about black men this season?
Karis Reneé: Yeah. Black in black suiting and, yeah. But I imagine that they will be dressing a lot of people.
DeAngelo Millner: Absolutely. Mm-hmm. As they should. I mean, they got the look. Yeah.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. They got
DeAngelo Millner: the look.
Karis Reneé: And I hope to see some people that are like, uh, inspired. We did an episode about this. I don't think it's come out yet, but I hope to see some, um, people that are inspired by, um, dapper Dan.
DeAngelo Millner: Because baby and that do some work with him. Yes, please. Mm-hmm. Because that man deserves mm-hmm. His accolades. Yep. Because he did that.
Karis Reneé: Absolutely
DeAngelo Millner: did that. So I
Karis Reneé: can't wait. I can't wait to see that. Okay. Next up, I already asked you that. So who do you feel like, besides yourself? 'cause first of all, we not even gonna classify you as this.
That's number one. Who do you feel is the most underrated designer?[00:26:00]
DeAngelo Millner: My God. So I'm gonna keep it transparent. Okay. So the questions you're asking me are about other designers, right? And
Karis Reneé: that's fine. You like, I'm not focusing.
DeAngelo Millner: No, I think it's the thing that when I'm in something I don't immerse myself
Karis Reneé: mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: In the scene, which some people will be like, that's so bad. I don't think that's bad.
But I feel like if I attach myself to being. In the know about everybody's collection. Mm-hmm. Then that kind of clouts my judgment as a designer. Yeah, no, I understand that. And I don't ever want nobody to be like, oh, he bit off of that.
Karis Reneé: I understand that because I want it to
DeAngelo Millner: be original. I want it to be authentic.
So sometimes like keeping up with. Other designers. Yeah. It's just not my judge. No, I
Karis Reneé: totally get that. And especially in this, this day and age when it's like this cancer culture. Mm-hmm. And people are like, you know, there is a lot of copying. I, I, you know, and we have to always wonder if like, copying is the highest form of flattery.
Sometimes I, I don't know about that. Like, sometimes it's like, because [00:27:00] I've been copied
DeAngelo Millner: and it don't feel good at
Karis Reneé: times
DeAngelo Millner: because, you know, if you going, my thing is if you're gonna copy somebody. Do it to your best,
Karis Reneé: but it's a, it's, you can be inspired by somebody. Mm-hmm. But that doesn't mean you have to create a replica of what they Exactly.
They made.
DeAngelo Millner: Exactly. We're not gonna be like, you take
Karis Reneé: inspiration.
DeAngelo Millner: Mm-hmm. From, I'm just gonna name drop and I'm not going to do that. Don't, okay. Because it's a big brand that be doing that. They take other people's design. Oh, it's a few. You know what I'm saying? It's a fuel and we can't be like that. Yeah.
You know? So. That, that's just literally how I am. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So
Karis Reneé: what would you give somebody, the young DeAngelo that is thinking about getting into fashion design? What would you, what would you tell your 12-year-old self? Hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: Jesus doing some shadow work. Chuck.
I honestly would tell my 12-year-old self to honestly. Not listen to other people's [00:28:00] judgments. Mm-hmm. Um, believing yourself wholeheartedly. Um, because everything that you feel and everything that you know within yourself is the actual truth for you.
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm. I love that.
DeAngelo Millner: Um, and that if you listen to your heart and your mind and you follow God's instructions, you'll see a life that you never even thought was possible, the life that you dreamed of it, it.
It supersedes that.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: Um, and then for anybody that's coming up in the industry, hone in on your craft and don't feel like, because I'm not a person who is trained to do this. Right. You know, I learned from YouTube University and I feel like if it's anything that you want to do in life, whether it's fashion design, whether you wanna be an entrepreneur, whether you wanna be a singer, a dancer, you want to start your own podcast, it's put in the work.
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: And don't look for anybody else to be your way out.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: And, and understanding that there's [00:29:00] gonna be lonely times. Mm-hmm. There are gonna be times that you get frustrated. Mm-hmm. There are gonna be times that you feel like you don't have the money to do, but a lot of times it's not about the money.
It's about what you are willing to give and how much you're gonna trust. Mm-hmm. The process. And when I say give, I mean give of yourself. Yeah. And what are you willing to give up? Because sometimes on this journey you have to give up some things. Yeah. Sacrifice real. Yeah, you do. If you want a lifestyle where you are this person, sometimes you gotta.
Get rid of the extracurricular things that you want to do in that season. Yeah. To build yourself up. Yep. Because people will be like, I don't have it, but you spent X, Y, and Z on this. Did you really need it?
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: But you need this over here. Mm-hmm. To build you up here. Mm-hmm. So I need you to separate your needs and your wants.
Karis Reneé: Yep.
DeAngelo Millner: And focus on what you really, truly need to be successful.
Karis Reneé: Absolutely. Yeah. I love that you just dropped a whole bunch of gems. I hope y'all caught 'em, [00:30:00] collecting 'em.
All right, y'all, y'all know what time it is. It's time to s sip some tea with soul chai, both literally and metaphorically.
Karis Reneé: So let's get into some things, okay? Mm-hmm.
I love this tea so much y'all. This tea is so good.
[00:31:00]
Okay, so because we have DeAngelo here, I'm gonna let him give y'all the tea. Okay? So I got a question for him. So. What is a fashion industry trend or hot topic that you think people aren't talking enough about?
DeAngelo Millner: Um, this butch queen phase in the gay community.
Karis Reneé: Okay. Because
DeAngelo Millner: baby, let me tell you, I think I really do feel like we're gonna start seeing more of the mixing of the masculine and feminine.
Karis Reneé: Mm-hmm.
DeAngelo Millner: Versus just femme or just mask. Does that make sense? Yeah.
Karis Reneé: I think that, I think, I feel like we're already seeing like taste, you know, the first person that's about to come to mind who that saucy.
DeAngelo Millner: Yes. 'cause it's like, it's like, I don't know, it's like the evolution of the person, right? [00:32:00] Mm-hmm. And I don't want it to come, you know?
I hope that what I said doesn't sound bad, 'cause I don't mean it in that way. You get what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. But I feel like it's the evolution of a person, right? Mm-hmm. Like you, you get into what you feel like. People want you to be in. Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. And then you kind of like formulate who you are Yeah.
As a person, and then incorporate the things that you like from before. Mm-hmm. To create this whole new identity.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. No, like that's
DeAngelo Millner: literally where I sit at myself, you know? Mm-hmm. Because I ain't gonna lie, I still love heels. Yeah. I still love a body suit. Mm-hmm. I still love crop tops, you know what I'm saying?
Mm-hmm. I still love certain things from. I guess what they would call the feminine, you know? Mm-hmm. Portion of style. Mm-hmm. But I want to throw on my baggy jeans with, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. So I, I just think that that's a thing that. I don't think people really given enough credit to. Yeah, because it's, it's cute.
And it's
Karis Reneé: so funny because I remember, uh, when Saucy [00:33:00] we're talking about Saucy Santana just FYI, I remember, well, that's who I was talking about. I remember when he was on live with Nicki Minaj and uh, you know, of course he always had his nails done. Mm-hmm. And Nicki was like, saucy, I think you should cut your beard.
And he was like, no, no.
DeAngelo Millner: Because
Karis Reneé: why? And she was just like, well, why, why don't you, why you, you have the nails, you have da, da da, da da. Like, and why? And, and, you know, sauce, every once in a while he'll throw on a lace front. Mm-hmm. But for the most part, mm-hmm. Baby
DeAngelo Millner: short.
Karis Reneé: No, I don't want no.
DeAngelo Millner: Oh, well, why would I
Karis Reneé: right
DeAngelo Millner: it?
It's a part of me. Yeah. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, why, why would he, why would that man cut his beard off? Right. Because you want him to appear more feminine. Yes.
Karis Reneé: Absolutely.
DeAngelo Millner: No, let people, I think that's the thing that people need to do too, mind the business that pays you. Mm-hmm. It may not be your judge.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: But baby let people live. It ain't
Karis Reneé: doing nothing. It ain't me, ain't hurting
DeAngelo Millner: you. You know what I'm saying? So let let the people be who they gonna be.
Karis Reneé: [00:34:00] Absolutely.
DeAngelo Millner: And the world will be a whole lot better. Absolute. I think. Absolutely. I think that's the thing. Just let people be who they are. Yeah. And, and stop judging.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: Yeah.
Karis Reneé: Okay, so now it is time for my favorite part of the episode, which is the style Spotlight. Today's style Spotlight is actually another fellow designer. I actually had the, the pleasure to meet this designer. Her name is Murph Tamika Murphy, uh, affectionately known as [00:35:00] Murph. She has the brand, Alani Taylor, and she does a couple of other things, like I think she has her own warehouse that she recently opened in Atlanta.
But anyways, she has done amazing work. I love her design. She's worked with some of your faves, Beyonce. Come on. Yeah. Yeah. Y'all know I'm gonna figure out a way. Every
DeAngelo Millner: episode you gonna get there, episode gonna, you gonna, there gonna put it in the atmosphere? The atmosphere. I'm
Karis Reneé: definitely, I'm a one degree away.
A couple of, a couple of different ways. See Uhhuh? Yeah. I love that. So she actually did a, a design for a black is king, which is by the way, line is the gift. The gift album is underrated and it's actually my favorite Beyonce album. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. Yeah. And so black is king, that visual?
Yes. She had some designs in that. And so she is done a, a lot of other things, work with a lot of other, um, celebrities like Cardi B, D, baby, um, and so many more. But I just love her designs. You can find her at, it's just [00:36:00] Murph on Instagram. Um, that's her personal, uh, Instagram. But her business Instagram is Alani Taylor.
That's T-A-Y-L-O-R. To learn more about her, and I think that you guys will be super inspired by her designs as well. So definitely check her out and if you do let her know we sent you and used the hashtag fashion files. Okay, so we're gonna go ahead and wrap this episode up.
First things first. Let them know. Let the people know what you have coming up. And I'm probably, he's probably gonna say something that is gonna be so surprising to y'all. 'cause I kind of know what he's working on. But what let the people know what's what's coming up. I know you may not have anything specifically with fashion, but if you do let us know.
But. Talk about all the things. DeAngelo, so
DeAngelo Millner: Perfect.
Karis Reneé: Everything. DeAngelo everything.
DeAngelo Millner: DeAngelo baby. Okay. Um, so currently, um, I've kind of put my sewing machine up for the year. Mm-hmm. And no condo. I've put my sewing machine up for the year. Mm-hmm. Um, so I'm not taking clients right now, but I [00:37:00] am stepping into my other baby, which is De Candles and more.
Mm-hmm. Um. Sense for 365 luxury baby. They are everything. Yes. Um, so building out that brand, um, you can follow that at official descent. So that's official the letter D-S-C-E-N-T-S. Um, and then, you know, I have all things Pride King, I just got put on the board for Greensboro Pride. Um, so I've got a lot of amazing things.
And you just won something
Karis Reneé: recently, do they? I did. I
DeAngelo Millner: was, I, I won Greensboro Pride King. Yes. Yes. So congratulations. So, yeah, and I got new music coming out with the baby
Karis Reneé: Multihyphenate. You hear me? He does it all. Literally, I said everything DeAngelo, because that's how you can find him on social media, but literally he does it all.
Everything,
DeAngelo Millner: everything, everything. But you know, music was my first baby. Yeah. Music was my first baby. Um, we'll talk about. How we had to go from music to
Karis Reneé: Yeah. But,
DeAngelo Millner: um, we have to have a
Karis Reneé: part two.
DeAngelo Millner: Yeah, I, I'm down for it. But yeah, I do have new music [00:38:00] coming out. Um, I do have a single out already, it's called Love Me and it's on all streaming platforms and you can find that under D-N-G-L-O because that's the stage name.
Um, but that's on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, like all the music. Um, but yeah, I'm excited about this new. This new phase of life.
Karis Reneé: Yeah. I love that. Get,
DeAngelo Millner: I'm gonna get to do everything that I want to do. Yeah. Including design, be so you might see some designs. Beautiful. But they'll be on me. It's
Karis Reneé: gonna be, and it's one question I I, I love that design for yourself.
Yes. Okay. I love that. I never really
DeAngelo Millner: had a chance to do that. Yeah. And I think. This year is gonna be the year where I fall back in love with design. Mm-hmm. But like doing it and having fun. Mm-hmm. Because it hasn't been fun for a while.
Karis Reneé: Yeah.
DeAngelo Millner: So, and you know, I tell, I tell people all the time, burnout is real.
Karis Reneé: It is.
DeAngelo Millner: Um, and you, you really just have to take that moment and step back just a little bit. So you can get back to what you love, but I'm about to build decent sense of, so we can be in Durham and here [00:39:00] and there, you know, everywhere. Everywhere. I love
Karis Reneé: that. Okay. So the one question I did not get to ask you and I want to ask you, and it'll be a good closing out question.
Okay. What is the design that you are most proud of
you? Like I just stressed you out when that goes. No,
DeAngelo Millner: because I have a few. I have a few. Um. One of them would be my wedding outfit. Yes. Um, it would be my wedding outfit. I think that was, it was the most beautiful thing I ever created. Yeah. I love that. It was my, it was, yeah. That's my baby still sits in the closet and it's back.
Yes. And then. My second one would have to be the dress that I just did. I don't know if you've seen that one. The wedding gown that I just did.
Karis Reneé: I think I did. Yeah. That's the one that Clint sent me. Mm-hmm. Uhhuh.
DeAngelo Millner: Yeah. Yeah. Was beautiful because I, I, I like to accept a challenge. Mm-hmm. Um, and that dress was something that I had been wanting to do for a while, [00:40:00] and she reached out to me and I was like, let's make it happen.
Karis Reneé: Okay. So by the time, it is time for me, I don't know when that's gonna be. Mm-hmm. Since there's nobody in the picture right now. Maybe you'll be designing again by then and we can,
DeAngelo Millner: you know, the, the sew machine will come out for my friend.
Karis Reneé: Here
DeAngelo Millner: we is. I got you
Karis Reneé: here. I got you. Okay. Well, DeAngelo, I'm so happy that you joined me today.
Yes. It was such a good time. I feel like we ain't even really, we just scratched the surface, like literally. But we only have so much time. Right. So we'll have to come back y'all. But I hope y'all got something out of this episode because I know that I did. So thank you again so much. Thank you for being here.
All right, y'all. So until next time, stay stylish and keep that flame burning. Right. Bye. [00:41:00]