- Next on Curate.

(upbeat music) - Our home is here and for a fashion house of our size, to be in Virginia Beach, Virginia almost unheard of.

- Being able to design a jacket for a future star from my hometown.

- And for me to be here, I wouldn't be here without him.

- Man, it was all meant to be.

- That experience, that illusion is important to me.

It's how I want to get the idea across.

- This is Curate.

- Welcome.

I'm Jason Kypros.

- And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

Thanks for joining us on Curate.

This week, as you can see, we come to you from Virginia Beach and the boardwalk art show.

- And we'll have more on that coming up but, we start with another great story about art in Virginia Beach.

You may know AKOO, Billionaire Boys Club, Icecream and Gotcha as big time international clothing lines.

But you might not know, that these clothes come from a genius group of Virginia Beach designers, artists and tailors.

- Ralph Reynolds is the person at the center of this hive of creativity.

And while he flies a little under the radar, his is an amazing rags to riches story built on hard work, a great eye for detail and a creative mind that has built a fashion empire.

Designer and streetwear entrepreneur Ralph Reynolds is our 7 5 7 featured artist.

(upbeat rap music) ♪ I made it to the top, ♪ ♪ Started from the bottom, ♪ hard times yeah I got 'em.

♪ But I made it to the top.

♪ - RP 55 is a clothing manufacturer, distribution and branding company.

We make and create and distribute the brands AKOO, Hustle Gang, Billionaire Boys Club, Icecream, Strivers Row and now Gotcha.

Which is our newest venture.

I moved to Virginia in the beginning of the 90s.

I was escaping New York and the horror that New York was at the time.

And I got to Virginia with 47 cents in my pocket.

And then all of a sudden you're on this beach and the moon and everything.

It was actually kind of nice for a moment.

For like one day.

(energetic jazz music) I've never been afraid to work, so you know, anything I could find, I did.

I did a sign for some guys in Norfolk, for a clothing store that they were going to open.

It was beautiful, gold leaf and all kinds of stuff.

They saw my, I guess, work ethic.

Then they wanted me to run the store.

I was on a buying trip for that store in New York.

And that's when I met my partners today, George Metzger and Mike Shocket.

We ended up in a conversation.

We must've been talking for half an hour and George said, "Hey, we should become partners."

The rest is history.

(upbeat rap instrumental) We design eight to 10 deliveries per year for each brand.

So we're a year out in advance.

We have to design that product, get samples back on the product.

Comment on those samples, get another set of samples, comment on those samples, get sales samples.

Get those sales samples out to our sales reps.

Sales reps walk it around, from big buyers to little mom and pop shops.

They gather those orders.

My partner Mike orders the product and then it goes into production.

In between that it's being marketed, photo shoots are being taken.

All these different things are happening, so that it can get here to this side of the world.

So that we can hit a window about this big of two weeks before they cancel the order.

(mechanical whirring sounds) It's like a dance of incredible precision with millions of dollars of product to hit these windows.

And then we have to do it with each brand.

- I can't remember my first collection.

What I do remember is my first jean that got comments on it.

And it was funny because how I got into being able to design this stuff was I was really packing boxes when I first started.

And when I was done, I'd sit and draw.

And one day Ralph's like, "Oh, you really can go at this."

So he let me design a jean and it came in and I had specifically, purposely at the time, made the pockets upside down on the back pockets.

And he was like, "you like that?"

and I'm like, "Nah, it's cool, man this is cool, this is really cool."

He's like, (Zachery sighs) "okay, all right, I mean if you, if you like 'em."

And that was kind of like, I'ma let him have this one.

(Zachery laughs) He's really proud of this.

I'm gonna let him have this one.

But you learn over time, there's a balance to being creative and also what has to sell in the market.

So I always remember that one.

It didn't do that well.

(Zachery laughs) (upbeat music) ♪ Let it go ♪ - We're in fashion, we're in streetwear.

We're in the fastest part I think, of fashion.

At some point you need to get out of the way a little bit and let the younger guys lead.

I read somewhere at one time, a good leader can lead the parade from the back.

There's some things that I really don't like, you know, that have definitely worked over the years.

There haven't really been that many outlets for a person whose a great artist to go into.

And then you get to a place like New York and you find out, oh, there are lots of people who can draw.

So when they get here, it's interesting to watch them grow.

And what I talk about is, what you're drawing is going to become an embroidery, or it's gonna to become a multilayered applique.

Or you're gonna to learn to make your artwork come to life in many, many different ways.

- I really enjoy the fact that, you know, one day I can draw Gundams and wrestlers and superheroes.

And the next day I'll draw bears and wildlife.

♪ That's how they tell you what you can't do ♪ The range and what we're able to do is without bounds.

For an artist, of course, somebody creative, that's an awesome thing.

A lot of great artists in here.

That's one thing that I've definitely learned.

RP 55 in my opinion, has some of the greatest artists in the fashion industry, all in one place.

♪ Might as well do it your way ♪ - You learn quickly.

It's not necessarily about being the best artist anymore.

It's about having the best ideas and being able to execute that.

So if you have the best ideas, you win, period.

- You see the birth of something.

Sometimes I'll be down at the ocean front during the summer, hanging out with some friends and I'll just see somebody walk by with a shirt I designed.

We'll see celebrities wearing our garments too, people that are well-known for whatever industry they're in and they're wearing something or holding up something that you've done.

It's very rewarding to see things like that.

♪ I'm a champ, it's who I am ♪ - I met Pharrell when he was teenager at the airport, him and Chad Hugo were headed to New York and I was heading to New York.

And they were making all this noise, boom boxing and beat boxing and whatnot in the airport.

I was like, "Who the hell are these two guys making all this noise?"

And they were teenage guys.

It was like, okay, these guys are somebody.

Once we began to enter the plane, I kind of was right behind them.

And I said, "Hey here's my card, I do RP 55."

Which at the time was very, very well known brand.

Especially here.

He turned around and said "Oh, I'm Pharrell, I want you to make clothes for me.

I had no idea who this guy was.

I think at that time, most people still didn't know who he was.

Now we make BBC and Icecream for Pharrell.

It's one of the strongest brands in the country.

- The competitiveness in it is all I kind of need.

If you tell me we had a bad delivery, I'm gonna show you that it was a blip, you know.

If you tell me you didn't like a design, I'm going to show you I can do it better.

(Zachery laughs) For me that's enough.

You know, I wanna make sure that what I'm creating, people like.

I want to make sure that the people who are selling it, feel comfortable with what they're presenting.

So I'm always looking and saying, "Oh you could have done that better."

Or " Oh man, I got this idea.

We're going to do this for this delivery."

There's always going to be something different that ignites you, right now that's all what's driving me.

(Zachery laughs) And outside of that, it's just, it's fun being in the space, to be honest with you.

- I've worked with RP 55, now for 16 years.

What I do is I'm a human being.

Sure, I'm in sales but, no one likes to really be sold per se.

Everybody's human first.

So what I do is I'm a partner to my retailers.

We're just really proud of and thankful for the partners that have been on the ride with us.

It's been an amazing journey thus far, and we have some more exciting things coming in the near future that I think are gonna shoot us off the stratosphere, you know.

For what they say again couldn't be done, a streetwear brand doesn't last this long, a hip hop brand doesn't last this long, especially coming out of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

We're not in New York.

(man laughs) You know, we have offices in New York, but our home is here.

And for a fashion house of our size to be in Virginia Beach, Virginia, almost unheard of.

(jubilant jazz music) (relaxing music) - You can catch this story on Ralph Reynolds and all of our content, anytime.

It's all available at www.whro.org/curate - All of our 757 featured artists are there as well as every broadcast episode and lots of other great Curate content.

Now we're coming to you this week from the Curate tent in the midst of the boardwalk art show.

- We're one of 160 tents dotting the ocean front for the 65th edition of the event.

It's the first in more than two years due to COVID.

And the first to happen in the autumn.

- In years past the event was held during the summer.

Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art puts this event on, embracing their mission of connecting with the community.

And with tents provided for schools, including ODU and NSU, as well as other educational institutions.

- More boardwalk art to come.

But for now back to the show.

- This week, we're certainly being fashion forward with our content as we introduce you to Portsmouth native and IC Norcom grad Michael Fletcher.

- This gifted young designer has used his considerable talent to connect and collaborate with some of the biggest names in sports, music, and fashion.

We send a crew to Los Angeles to track down this budding superstar to get a peek behind his creative curtain.

- [Announcer] For the 27th pick in the 2021 NBA draft.

- [Michael] Draft day and all day long, I wondered if the Kobe fans are gonna like it.

- [Announcer] the Brooklyn Nets select Cameron Thomas from Louisiana State University.

- And then he opens his jacket.

- [Cameron] I got Kobe in my outfit, he was such a big inspiration to me and for me to be here, I wouldn't be here without him.

- My phone started blowing up NBA, ESPN, Bleacher Report, everybody started posting.

Being able to design a jacket for a future star from my hometown.

Man, it was all meant to be.

(upbeat music) Growing up in Portsmouth, we didn't have a whole lot of money, You have hand me downs.

So I would just opt to make my own stuff.

I was just creating whatever I could and then people started taking wind of it.

So when I got to Norcom, I saw the screen printer in the back, the door was open and I was like "Look, I wanna do that."

Virginia state, that's where I found my niche for graphic design.

Two years later, went to ODU and that's where the graphics and me being myself came together.

That following year they had Agenda Miami.

We went to the show, networked with tons of people.

Everything changed for me in my life.

(music box melody) Being in LA, I get to experience everything that I need to see when I'm creating.

I'm not imagining it anymore.

When I go to the trading post, seeing the uniqueness of people's style, it opens you up to a lot of different perspectives.

And that way I could take that back when I'm designing.

These is fire, let me check these out.

- [Kristen] Yeah, I like that.

- Wow.

What is that?

That's crazy.

(Kristen laughs) Take a picture of that, that's hard.

- Yeah, yeah, yes it is.

(Kristen laughs) It's how We find inspiration.

- Yeah.

I met Kristen two years ago.

She wanted to do more production and I was looking to make stuff.

When I do it all myself, I'm designing, I make a type pack, I'm making sure the samples are good.

To have a collaborator, it just streamlines the process.

That way I could be more creative.

"What was wrong with these?"

- So if you notice this neck is wider than this neck- - It is.

- almost like they used different pattern.

- And then I'll have something to say, okay, maybe not that creative.

- I'm happy that we did these though, 'cause we're able to see how it was actually gonna look When we do get ready to run production.

- To have access to downtown with all the fabrics.

It's literally someone there that could get you, whatever you need.

I try to think if it look good or some shoes that look good or pants that look good, a hat.

I blend these different things.

I'm looking at fabrics, I'm looking at people, looking at how they dress, I'm looking at everything.

I'm just keeping an open mind and taking note of all of that.

Living this life is like being struck by lightning multiple times, with ideas though.

There's so much inspiration everywhere when it comes to creating fashion or art.

I pride myself with being able to create products that resonate.

(upbeat music) Moving to LA definitely was the best decision I made in my life.

Betting on myself and putting in my mind, the people I used to see in these magazines, the people I used to see in these music videos then being able to say, "I'm good enough, they want my services."

Most of the celebrities I've worked with had something to do with me growing up.

I was into cereal so, we had cereal boxes with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyler Herro, Master P and also Nick Chubb.

Seeing all the kids around the world eating the cereal, that's beautiful.

And working with ASAP Rocky who I was a big fan of.

For me to meet him, hang out with him, it's just all so surreal.

When Puff had on the jacket in the Bad Boy movie, that was the first time I'd ever seen anything that I'd done on a TV screen.

Dwayne Wade, being able to make a jacket for him, then we meet up.

Wow, how does that happen?

I'm grateful that I get to work with my favorite artists, favorite athletes, celebrities.

This is all I ever wanted.

Dreams do come true.

- Art and creativity can have transformative effects.

And for artist Aarushi Pratap, finding her creative voice has helped her turn perceived challenges into outright success.

- Art and drawing and sewing machine is very important for me because it has a creations on it and colorful on it.

I draw with some sketch pencils and watercolor pencils on my sketchbook.

And sometimes I design some dresses in graphic art on my computer.

- I think she's always been a fashionable person.

I think it's right from a very young age, she would pick really cool clothes for herself.

Sometimes very flashy because, kids go through that stage.

- Aarushi would struggle with her language and she had pretty limited vocabulary, till I would say, she was even 10 or 12.

And we would kind of, you know, see her art as her, you know, style of communicating.

- I like to watch the fashion shows and I got inspired from there and I designed some clothes and I sew lots of clothes.

- And then when she was about 13 years old, someone saw her drawings at school and they were going to have this fashion show for fashion design students.

So they said, "She's young.

But you know, her artwork is great.

And we would love to showcase Aarushi's drawings as dresses in the fashion show.

She drew like four dresses and they converted it into a dress.

I think that kind of sparked something in her.

(energetic music) - I sell the masks and jewelries in Etsy shops and I started in 2019.

People like the designs, it's made me feel happy and confident.

I'm decided to go into South Eastern University at college for people with learning disabilities.

- This has been my dream, Aarushi becomes independent and lives by herself, goes to college and it's all coming true because of her, because she aspired for it.

- It's a very bittersweet experience for us, you know.

I think we will definitely miss her.

She has this strong urge, to be independent, to have a kind of a full enjoyable life.

And that's what the college experience is gonna do for her.

- I noticed that she has this way of finding meaning in her own art, which kind of centers her ability to think that, you know, I am really good and therefore my life is gonna be good.

Even though that anxiety is there, she's able to find that anchor again and again, and again.

- And she actually show us the fact that despite your neuro diversity, despite your challenges, how you can be positive in how you can wake up every day, being happy, looking forward and loving what you are and loving what you do.

- My autism it's kind of learning disabilities, kind of spectrums, spectrum means that it's colors on it.

It has a colors on my brain and then visually on my brain.

Because I have my autism, it's my, it has my superpower.

(upbeat guitar music) - Michigan painter Robert Schefman, is a storyteller.

He takes a complicated path to get to the essence of each of his paintings.

His latest series sets out to reveal the secrets of his subjects and in doing so, his art reveals our humanity.

(relaxing piano music) - The most important thing you can do is invest yourself in the work and be willing to take and use what is most appropriate in terms of the skill to get your idea across.

Since I was a kid, I always loved art, but I also liked medicine as well.

So actually, when I was in high school, I had an internship down at Receiving Hospital doing autopsies.

That experience gave me a different perspective on the human body, about being us.

And eventually that found its way into my work.

What you see in terms of my paintings and my sculptures is not the way I was trained.

Back in the 70s, you were pretty much discouraged from doing anything that was illusionist, like I paint.

You were also discouraged from doing anything with the figure, but I finally went in that direction and it seemed like endless possibilities as opposed to dead end.

So I went there, I'm making an illusion.

It's just a magic trick.

I want to see where I can take and use illusion to make metaphor, to use symbol, to relate to different issues.

The inspiration can come from any place.

You take an idea and you run with it and you develop it a thousand different ways and explore wherever it will take you.

If you have the guts to go to places that were "forbidden", fine.

It's not about starting in any specific way.

So sometimes I might see something that, sparks an idea and it goes in my sketchbook.

I might work that and develop an idea.

Then again, it might take five years before that idea, which I see in that sketchbook over and over and over kind of coalesces with other things that I see.

And it's suddenly, wow, these things go together and they make a different thing than I wanted to say before.

But it's unique.

Ideally, what I like to do when working in series is take an idea and I'm exploring different things that are relative to that and trying to explore as many as I can and develop images from that.

So they're all going to be different.

The series that I'm working on now, which is the secrets.

So I solicited secrets across the internet and people sent me personal secrets.

Everyone's secret is not unique, in fact, I had very few unique secrets.

By using that secret, not as an illustration of what they sent, but talking about a more internal feelings, developing an image based on that idea.

Some of the secrets were more personal, less political, some were more political, less personal.

Some of the secrets were legal issues (Robert laughs) but it was enlightening.

The biggest secret that Americans keep right now seems to be suffering from depression and everything that goes with that.

And so because of that, it became the largest painting that I was going to do in the series.

And I wanted to take on that being otherworldly and right in this world at the same time because, that is what we do.

Depression is something, you are right in this world, yet you can't take a point of view that keeps you in this world.

There's another painting in the show that is someone who was in love with their best friend and couldn't tell them and it was about sexuality and about choice and about also the hiding and that internal struggle is what I tried to get on the canvas.

And then there was a lot of people who are hiding sexual orientation, drugs, and addictions to either food or different drugs and alcohol.

There was lots of, lots of stuff for me to explore.

Some of the people actually wrote again to tell me how cathartic it was that they'd been holding this secret for 45 years and never told anyone.

And that the experience of putting it down and sending it out, released them in a way.

My process has always been starting from a blank sheet of paper.

When you start with a drawing that has no direction, everything is possible and I'll use the drawing and I will make hundreds of drawings, until one strikes me as making that agenda hit as much as possible.

Being as direct to what I want to say.

And then when I start painting, it's still a moving target and things are gonna change when I start painting and either for visual reasons or for content reasons, this is illusion.

It's not real, it's just pixels on a page.

And if you think about the pixelization of an image, this is how painters have always worked, only instead of digital pixels, it's a brush stroke.

So every brush stroke is a different color.

And how illusionist you want this work to be is how often you change the pixels.

I'm changing the pixels as much as I can.

That experience, that illusion is important to me.

It's not the focus, but it's how I want to get the idea across.

- Curate is on the web, find us at www.whro.org/curate - And follow us on social media.

You can get curate content by following @WHROPUBLICMEDIA on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

And thanks for spending part of your day with us here at the beach.

- We're going to leave you with more sights and sounds from the boardwalk art show.

I'm Heather Mazzoni.

- And I'm Jason Kypros and we'll see you next time on Curate.

(smooth jazz music) (people talking) (people talking) (people laughing) (wind blowing) (smooth jazz music)