Interview: Callie Duty, Fashion Designer

When I was 15 the only things I was concerned with were cheerleading practice and begging my parents for a car. My dreams revolved around having a later curfew so I could go to the movies with my friends. Callie Duty has bigger dreams. She is a 15 year old student at Klein High School and in her down time she is a fashion designer. One that has shown her line at Houston’s inaugural fashion week last fall. I had the pleasure of meeting Callie and her mom at an event in January. Callie is not what you’d expect from a young designer who I would say has already been pretty successful. She has every reason to be so full of herself right? Surprise! She so isn’t. She appears to be every bit of 15 although she is much more mature, sweet, and humbled when speaking of her craft. And when you’re a young designer on the rise you need a publicist right? Who better than mom. Callie’s enthusiastic mother, Amy, is a big driving force and you can tell she is Callie’s biggest fan. A great team those two. This week is the launch of Callie’s Kiss, a lipstick created by The Modern Beauty Company on Callie’s behalf. The lipstick is actually the color of Callie’s lips. A portion of the proceeds from the lipstick will benefit Amobi Okoye’s (of the Houston Texans) charity, Changing Africa Through Education. Did we mention she’s only 15? At 15 I was listening to TLC (((on tape))) while talking on my zebra phone! This girl has got it together! Read on to hear what Callie has to say about being young and makin’ it happen….. When did you know you wanted to become a designer?  I never really knew I wanted to be a fashion designer until I was in the midst of being one. The first time I experienced that 45 minutes of anxiety and chaos right before the show started, I thought “Oh yeah I could totally do this!” What has helped me transition into becoming a fashion designer is my love for art, fashion, and creativity. That has always been a part of me.   How did you first begin to create clothes? Technically, the first outfit I remember making was at a friend’s house and all we had was yarn and random fabric…maybe not runway ready but a lot of laughs! However, my first “official” design was a dress made out of bubble wrap., which I made for the fashion show at The Contemporary Art Museum. Where does your inspiration come from? Anything. No seriously, a leaf can inspire me. I can be inspired by people, what they wear,music,art,etc When creating a new line what is your process? My process is always changing because I’m growing and learning as a designer. I usually am inspired by something and an idea pops in my head. When I’ve thought about and know I really like it I wait til I have time to create and when I feel creative. (I’ve tried to force my designs, and that results in lots of erasing and wasted paper.) I also try to include music in the creative process. After I’ve drawn it out I buy fabric and then the pieces are created, fitted on models, etc. Do you ever feel intimidated being such a young designer?   It’s hard sometimes to look at a page in a magazine and not feel a tiny bit of intimidation but when I turn the page and I see a choice of fabric I had thought of a few months ago all intimidation is lost and I move forward.   Tell me about Callie’s Kiss, the lipstick you made with The Modern Beauty Company, and the charity it will support. This is really exciting. Callie’s Kiss is a lipstick inspired by my true lipcolor, and each lipstick comes in a bag made out of fabrics I’ve used or am using in my collections. Amobi Okoye, plays for the Texans football team and has a foundation with numerous charities he supports. For each lipstick bought before March 5th, $5 will be donated to his Changing Africa Through Education.