ODP Couture by Raven Martin

JUNE 2009

MUSIC:

Up Close & Personal: Ulises On Our Radar: The Revolters & More!

INTOXICATED WITH MIGUEL PERDOMO The Supermodel’s Unparalleled Rise to Fame

FASHION:

Kanye’s Nemesis: Amber Rose WET: Sizziling Swimsuits Straight Off the Runway Fashion Darling: Damien Peterkin of ODP Couture & More!

A LIFE OF PURPOSE

Damien Peterkin of ODP Couture Relives His Romance with Fashion, and Random Encounter with Andre Leon Tally by Raven Martin Many of us, still, do not know our purpose. Rarely is it instilled in us that what our minds are set on pursuing at a young age, is where our true passion lies. Somewhere on the streets of New York, is a man who is the example of what your inner voice can do for your career. He is as humble as he is fabulous.

The expectations from his homeland placed Damien in a hard position as he illustrated to his mother the value of fashion as a career.

Damien started to live in NYC permanently with his single mother at nine years old. “As a child I was always into fashion, not necessarily creating. I used to watch fashion shows, like Fashion File; I always looked forward to visualizing how I could be apart of that world,” said the Montego Bay native. Later in his life, for a short time, he attended Westchester Community College, as music major, but he later switched to fashion merchandising. This would soon be the beginning of his selfmade yellow brick road because Damien taught himself how to sew, simply because he had to. “One of my friends asked me to help out with this fashion show and I agreed, but I didn’t know she wanted me to do a collection. When I realized this, I immediately went home and started to sew. I had about a month, and I did almost 20 pieces - The clothes weren’t so bad, people liked it. I visualized how I wanted it - I didn’t know how to put it together properly, but the look was there.”

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“After that, I grasped how to put together a garmet a little better. It still wasn’t perfection yet, but people came up to me and asked me to make things for them and I gladly said ‘YES!’ It kind of built from there.” This confident, yet humble designer, stylist and jeweler, has had so many of his childhood dreams come true, but the acceptance of his career choices from his mother did not come overnight.

Orlando Damien Peterkin, (who goes by his middle name) designer of ODP Couture, fell in love with fashion at an early age, and since then has kept his eyes on the city where he knew he would make his wildest dreams come true—New York City.

Since Damien’s first show, the original designs have been

scrapped, but the motivation to transform ideas into physical existence is still blazing white-hot. ODP Couture features a combination of elaborate, rich and playful ball gowns, provocative swimsuits and tasteful men’s wear that add a luminosity and depth to the figure.

Damien Peterkin of ODP Couture

“To Carribeans, it’s all about education. If you’d like to be a doctor or lawyer, it’s better for them to hear that; but where careers like fashion are concerned, they feel like it won’t be a money-maker; it won’t be stable. So, it was pretty major convincing my mom that fashion was something I wanted to do and explain to her what it was or how major you could be.” “It’s very relevant,” he added, “You could be respected, because we all need clothes. We can’t walk outside naked.” “It took a while before she started to see things happening. I started to show her pictures from these amazing shoots and she would look and say ‘You did that’ - She became my biggest supporter.” His designs have also been modeled by Jade and also, Bre, who were both models on Cycle Six of the show, “America’s Next Top Model”. Bre, who is one of his friends, was a finalist on the competition. “I met Jade on a photo set for Fragile Magazine, and she was one of the girls I was dressing. She was so different from what I expected because on that show, she was not portrayed as a nice person. She was portrayed as being mean and crazy! But in person, she was cool and easy to work with.” Damien’s eternally – stylish jewelry even sparked the special attention of fashion god Andre Leon Talley, editor-at-large of Vogue Magazine. “I was on Broadway in SoHo going to do a shoot with Rico Davis, a rapper I was styling, and I saw him standing there, I guess waiting for his car. When I spoke to him, I told him that I enjoyed his work and he shook my hand, and smiled and said, ‘Thank You. That’s a nice necklace you’re wearing’- It was one of my first signature pieces I ever made - He asked me if I was a designer, and asked what else was in the bag, because I had D.A.M. Magazine 23

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a huge bag full of my clothes. “I showed him my stuff, and he gave me his card, and asked ‘how long I’ve been a designer,’ and I said ‘for about four years.’ So he gave me his card, and told me he would give me a call. “I was so nervous, and I didn’t want to say anything at first but that was amazing. No matter what, I will always remember meeting Andre Leon Talley, because that’s Andre Leon Talley.” And that was all the validation he needed to keep doing what he was doing. “It told me to go forward, pushing for more accessories, “ he said. Staying true to Damien’s motif, in the future, ODP

Couture will reach for a more opulent and higher style of design with easier, wearable pieces. However, Damien has one more thing he has to do. “I’m going to send him[Andre Leon Talley] something. I have to find his office at Vogue.”

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GET WET!!

An Adept Look into Some of the Hottest Swimsuits to Grace Spring 2009 RTW Editor: Eboyne’ Jackson Wet. Hot. Steamy. This summer, every fashionista must come correct—whether it’s on the streets or the beach. A plethora of designers such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, and Oscar de la Renta, have privileged us with visuals of their own incarnations of sunshine—sultry swimsuits adorned with fantasy and couture; double-dipped in sun kissed honey and rays of pure light. Here are some of the most eye-appealing bathing suits, waiting to be lathered up in suntan oil and dirt. . . Feast your eyes on the magnanimous swimsuits from these celebrated spring 2009 Ready-to-wear-collections. Don’t forget the suntan lotion, and don’t forget to get WET!

Kate Moss

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