Brooklyn-Born Fashion Designer Collaborating With Tommy Hilfiger For New York Fashion Week
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York Fashion Week is now in full swing. Designers are showing off their latest and greatest work.
One local designer, though, is expected to make a major splash with a collaboration he's worked his whole life for.
Romeo Hunte is a fashion designer full of innovative ideas, with grit and hard work to back it up. He says he needed both to grow from East Flatbush to Fashion Avenue.
"To be a honest with you, a lot of people told me don't do it. Family, friends, close friends, they didn't really believe in it. I got a lot of no's, and I just was a really persevering person. I just kept on going and believing in myself," he said.
The Brooklyn-born man says since he was a teenager, he wanted to design clothes, turning down two athletic college scholarships to chase his dreams.
"I was like one of the fastest on the team. It was just something that I was like, OK, I think, I'm going to pursue fashion," Hunte said.
He now has his own brand and designs for a list of celebrities, including actress Zendaya and former First Lady Michelle Obama during her most recent book tour.
He's even designed for Beyonce, who wore a custom-fitted dress.
"It was really crazy because it broke the internet," Hunte said.
Now, during Fashion Week, the 33-year-old is collaborating with fashion icon Tommy Hilfiger to bring a new line of clothes to his fall/winter collection.
The partnership also comes with the best and most fitting advice Hunte says he's ever received, which he wants to relay to future designers.
"He's been my mentor for a very long time now, and he always tells me to dream big. You put your mind to it, you step forward, put your all into it because you never know what it will turn out to be," Hunte said.
There's still no fashion runway big enough for his dreams.
Hunte's show is this Sunday at FIT, but it is sold out. Visit romeohunte.com to see more of his work..