Sam Ratelle THE RED CARPET'S LEADING PLAYER

By Ava Cashman '24

We are all storytellers, whether we like it or not. It may seem like just fabric, but our clothing is the silent author of our open letter to the world. With one glance, who we are, how we express our identity, and the image we want to present are put in the spotlight through our clothing. Fashion has power, and creative director and costume designer Sam Ratelle is harnessing it to create social change at the highest level. “As an artist, my job is to change perception and to tell the tale of the times,” Ratelle said. Dubbed a “red carpet Svengali” by the New York Times, Sam Ratelle is leading the charge towards acceptance and liberation, one look at a time.

Some people are born with that uncanny, innate ability to create. Many have a passion for fashion, but very few had to hide it. “I grew up in a religious cult,” Ratelle said. “Our clothing was dictated by someone else who had power. ”

The cult which Ratelle was raised in is commonly known as Branhamism, but followers and leaders refer to themselves as “The Message.” The cult is very repressive and Christianfocused and has many restrictions. Women aren’t allowed to wear makeup, pants, and jewelry, and nobody can listen to music or use the internet, to name a few. “Our only abilities were to wake up and praise Jesus,” Ratelle said

Ratelle's strict religious upbringing forced him to conceal his sexuality and true passions However, out of the rubble and ruin came a creative awakening that inspired Ratelle to break free from the shackles of his upbringing and seek solace in creative expression. “There is an aspect of having a platform and then being able to create representation for people who look like you or who are like you, ” Ratelle reflected. “For me, that happens to be Latino people, Black and Brown people, and LGBTQ people. All of a sudden I had a really wonderful way of creating attention and showcasing this example.”

While Ratelle’s upbringing was undoubtedly traumatic and tumultuous, it instilled in him a drive to create, entertain, and spread joy in the world through his work. At 19, that notion carried Ratelle to the heart of creativity, New York City He originally aspired to be a performer but quickly realized that he had an undeniable knack for communication and creation that he could turn into a career. “I knew that I had an ability for talking to people and creating things,” Ratelle said, “being vivacious and connecting people, and going out and being free.” He then entered into his first official role in the fashion industry as a publicist for Club Monaco; in this role, he worked as both a fashion director and an event curator. “That was kind of my first mundane entryway into it, and I’m really grateful for those experiences,” he reflected

Ratelle proudly attested that beginning his fashion journey in retail gave him a clear lens into the industry. “It was really instrumental for me to actually be in the actual last step of it before the fashion goes to a person, ” Ratelle shared, “and it was fascinating to me to learn how people interacted, what made them happy, and all of the nuances. ”

The role at Club Monaco was a catalyst for Ratelle’s career, introducing him to a celebrity stylist that helped him break into the Industry. After being trained with Club Monaco, he started working alongside a celebrity stylist who had a handle on every aspect of the industry: runway, editorial, celebrity, advertising, photography, you name it “It was a really huge education for me on all of it because he had just started a startup company, so I ran the blog, took photos for the blog, directed the photoshoots, and was the publicist and the marketing person, ” Ratelle said. “You learn so much when you have to take on all these different hats, and I’m very very grateful that that happened for me at a very early place in my life and that someone also was teaching me. ”

Sam Ratelle

Through this role, in addition to bolstering his skillset, Ratelle was introduced to people who would prove to be instrumental in his future work The process of seeking out and nurturing these connections reigns as a key part of Ratelle’s work philosophy. “There’s nothing like your network,” Ratelle stated. “Your net worth is completely affiliated with your network. The number of people you know are the ones who are going to end up hiring you, supporting you, and introducing you to others who will make your dreams possible.”

Ratelle reflects positively on his work with the stylist and his startup. “I got to really help create this fashion company from the ground up, ” Ratelle said, “and through that I realized that creating, making stories with fashion became my favorite thing.”

As almost a product of his religious upbringing, Ratelle adopted a unique style of gender-fluid designing and fashion direction. His work developed a powerful following among the LGBTQ community and has made waves in the fashion industry.

If you could summarize Ratelle’s core outlook on fashion in one phrase, both when dressing others, creating costumes, and forming his own style, it would be that clothing has no gender. That belief was shaped by the opinions and stories he witnessed in his religious childhood community. “I think growing up in this religion and with a mother who was very feminine, these things kind of seeped into me… ” Ratelle shared. “I’m here thinking, I want diamonds in my life, and rubies, and all of these fabulous things that ladies get to wear, and all of a sudden I’m not allowed to wear them just because I’m a man. ”

Ratelle even cited the Bible itself just to reiterate how arbitrary society’s standards of gender and clothing are “Jesus wore a dress! Period,” Ratelle said “It’s fascinating for me how these things are forbidden and not seen in a positive light in our society, yet they are things that have been completely acceptable in a different time period.”

In his career, Ratelle aims to reflect these stories of past and present through costuming and fashion. “As I studied more and honed my craft, it became really integral for me to continue creating this narrative of the mere fact that it’s just clothing ” Ratelle added “It’s just things that we put on our bodies, and the items themselves don’t have a gender.”

And for Billy Porter, the muse that put Ratelle on the map, this statement is not only a belief but a way of life. The beloved and acclaimed actor, performer, and LGBTQ icon is most known for his roles as Pray Tell in “POSE” and Lola in “Kinky Boots” on Broadway. “I’ve worked with people such as Billy Porter who really want to go there with fashion because it’s a part of their expression,” Ratelle said. “It became something that was already in me and that I got to exercise publicly through this human being who really was a more extreme version of that.”

In an interview for a GQ article showcasing his work with Porter, Ratelle touched on their collaboration, saying, “When Billy and I came together, and we realized that this had a political angle to it, it became even more exciting to work on it, because we want to represent people who are nonconforming and gender-fluid.”

Ratelle’s work with Porter was written in the stars Ratelle’s vision for Porter created an unstoppable force of fashion. Ratelle has dressed Porter for upwards of 150 red carpet masterpieces. When asked to state his favorite, Ratelle instantly cited his Pièce de résistance, Porter’s 2019 Met Gala marvel. Emulating an Ancient Egyptian Sun God, Porter entered on a litter carried by six men, donning 10-foot wings and a jaw-dropping 24-karat gold ensemble.

The feat of fashion had many moving parts, and Ratelle looks back on the collaboration with pride and gratitude. “It was just such a surreal experience to how it got created, how hard we worked, the amount of people working on it,” Ratelle said. “I’m so grateful to the The Blonds, and to Giuseppe Zanotti who did the shoes, to all of the jewelers who provided jewels, and to Julius Anthony Rubio who choreographed the movement.”