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Interview with Randee St. Nicholas

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RandeeStNicolasPhotographer Randee St. Nicholas has had some famous people in front of her lens and now she’s got them wearing her fashion line of clothing. Find out how this talented woman has given birth to a brand new career.

Randee you have been photographing some of the world’s most talented musicians for years and now you have another exciting career as a fashion designer. Tell us how about the inspiration behind this new endeavor.
The inspiration behind starting a line of couture clothing is simply this: All my life I have been one of the millions of girls who loves to shop. I have shopped around the world in every city I have ever gone to for work or pleasure. In the last decade with the changing of the world economy I feel that the fashion industry along with every other consumer industry has greatly changed.

One of the things that has happened to the fashion industry is that small boutiques that used to carry new designers and one of a kind clothing has virtually disappeared, making if more difficult for girls with very eclectic taste who want something different to find interesting everyday clothes.

Enter rsn boheme. Our clothes are a little bit sexy, comfortable and easy to wear, all about flattering a woman's assets, and molded with a couture fit that makes everyone feel like the piece was made especially for them. We do not really follow any fashion trends...the clothes are modern with a vintage bohemian twist.

The universal comments that come back to us from our very diverse clients are the most exciting part of creating these clothes. Whether pop stars, actresses, entertainment execs, publishers, women of all walks of life etc,  all say how beautiful and elegant they feel in the clothing... that it's so comfortable... and that they get more compliments every-time they wear rsn boheme than they have even gotten before. This consciouness related to rsn boheme makes me very happy...because women are all hard on themselves, seeing their flaws like neon signs. I love the idea that the by-product of rsn boheme is helping women to feel good about themselves. 

Miranda LambertWho are some of your favorite celebrities that you have photographed and dress now?
Photographing celebrities allows me to see and experience a wide variety of fashion. The stylists I work with bring the best designers and most interesting fashion out there to my shoots to use for advertising and editorial on their celebrity clients. There are many very talented designers with brilliant vision who make gorgeous clothes. If you want something for an event or red carpet there are hundreds of beautiful pieces to choose from. When it comes to everyday wearable clothing, the casual market is saturated with a variety of things that have a little bit of a generic feel.  For girls who dress a bit outside of the box, they can be a little too conservative. So my passion for rsn boheme is to make clothes that fit well and flatter all body types that are incredibly comfortable and have an eclectic DNA that do not follow "trends". The best clothes I have in my closet span 3 decades of shopping. I still wear my favorite pieces because great shapes with a great fit and beautiful fabrics never go out of style... this is my mantra for rsn boheme. 

What other designers inspired you and do you photograph your own line?
In 2008 I collaborated on a book called "21 Nights" with the artist "Prince". The book debuted on the New York Times best seller list and I was elected to do all of the press around the world to promote our book. I needed clothes to wear but did not want to look all dressed up for these TV interviews etc. So I bought a few pieces of L'wren Scott, a designer I admire very much, and made 6 other pieces myself to wear.

The press went crazy over my clothes and kept asking the publicist who the designer was. Our publicist told them it was a new designer and said she would let them know the name of the Brand later to avoid having to give them any more information. I did not want them to know I had made the clothes myself. For the next  8 or 9 months following the book tour the publicist kept getting texts and emails from many of the women who interviewed me and worked at the TV stations wanting to know where they could buy this new designer and what the brand was called.

Bob DylanThis interest in my clothes continued every time I wore a piece. Women would stop me and ask me who the designer was and where they could see the entire collection. Friends who have a completely different style from mine would ask me if they could borrow what I was wearing for some event they were going to. It was all very serendipitous...and with a passionate leap of faith... rsn boheme was born.

When the first collection was taking shape, celebrities I worked with found out about the clothing  by word of mouth, and began ordering pieces for themselves. At first I was quite shy of it because I did not want clients whom I photographed to think they had to wear my clothes when they hired me to photograph them. Little by little my shyness went away as more and more people organically found out about rsn boheme and began buying it 5 to 10 pieces at a time. Here I am now 5 years down the line with rsn boheme and we are in about a dozen stores in different cities around the world and have a solid celebrity base and private clientele.  We are still relatively small and underground and plan to keep a couture collection that is available for purchase and special order in our showroom in Hollywood while we hope to position ourselves in those special stores around the world that are of like minds with a little more of an eclectic style.

The growing list of celebrities who have been a huge support owning multiple pieces of rsn boheme are:

  • Belinda Carlisle
  • ToniTaylor Momsen
  • Britney Spears 
  • Helena Bonham Carter
  • Alison krauss
  • Miranda Lambert
  • Nicole Richie
  • Martha Stewart
  • Nancy Wilson
  • Toni Braxton
  • Robin McGraw
  • Kristina Maria
  • Mayte Garcia
  • Andy Allo
  • Natalie Mendosa
  • Prince

Photography and fashion are both art in different ways, where can we find your designs?
The stores we are currently in this season for spring and fall 2014 are:

  • Joan Shepp/ Philadelphia
  • PrinceStacey Todd/ Hollywood and Studio City
  • Gilda/Boston
  • Church/ Hollywood
  • Rania's Corner/Dubai
  • Haven/Nashville
  • Sophila/Tokyo
  • A few of the Designers that have always inspired me are
  • Co Co Chanel
  • Alexander McQueen
  • Marni
  • Gaultier
  • Voyage
  • L'wren Scott

I was thrilled to work with you when I was modeling, any plans for a photo book of your own?
I do have plans for a photo book of celebrities somewhere in my future. Right now I am working on another book which is not celebrity driven. It is a book that I began before doing "21 Nights" with Prince. It is my more personal work. 

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