“I don’t have time to give my biography,” Washington University’s resident fashion icon Jeigh Singleton said as he simultaneously worked with his students on the practice of strategically placing a zipper on a garment.
“I’m bored with it. I lived it, and I certainly don’t want to talk about it. What else do you have?”
As I gathered my thoughts (and composure) for my first ever “do over” interview, I quickly realized that his statements weren’t out of vanity, pretentiousness or his being difficult just because he had the credentials to do so.
He was moving towards the future in fashion – which currently consisted of a handful of young people who needed to get every single stitch in order before he allowed them to move forward to their next lesson.
Saint Louis Fashion Week’s official dates are slated for October 12–18, but before the festivities officially begin, Singleton will be recognized for his four decades of fashionable contributions to the St. Louis area tonight (Thursday, Oct. 8) for the Plaza Frontenac Fashion Achievement Award.
Just as he had done when he broke ground as one of the first black designers in the area after Ralph Lowenbaum hired him back 1968, Singleton will be lighting the baton for fashion week 2009 by being the first recipient – of any color – to receive the award.
The Tuskegee and Kansas State alumnus credited something that could best be described as a divine happenstance for giving him his major debut in the St. Louis fashion industry.
“I had run out of paper for a portfolio and instead of putting one garment on a piece of paper, I put several garments to a page,” Singleton said. “He thought that I understood how to do a group using the same fabric in multiple ways in order to merchandise purchases and actually make design for manufacturing as opposed to custom design.”
He was hired to design women’s dresses – something rather unheard of for a black person back in 1968.
“There were no black designers in St. Louis at that time. I didn’t know that, but ignorance is bliss … and a wonderful place to live.”
His lack had actually landed him the opportunity of a lifetime.
“I had no clue. He hired me and almost fired me when my first season didn’t pan out,” he said.
“But for my second season I learned how to do that thing called designing for manufacturing! I led the sales chart, and so my career started here in St. Louis – and I never left.”
His body of work grew to include designing for misses, dresses, sportswear, menswear, young men’s apparel, costumes for the theatre and wearable art for galleries to name a few. Singleton has also led Washington University fashion design students’ historic final presentation showcase for more than 20 years.
A native of Louisiana, he was much more interested in offering thanks for those who have created local opportunities in fashion than accepting that the local fashion industry was praising him for his professional contributions.
“This award is not about me at all,” Singleton said.
“For me, this award is more of an acknowledgement of all of the energies of all of those people that I’ve encountered over my career that have put up with and participated in a lot of the things that I have been involved in.”
The list went on and on – starting with Rena Abrams, who helped transform the Washington University Fashion Students’ historic final presentation showcase into a major fundraiser for the department. Singleton has directed the show for more than 20 years.
He sang praises of Atillio D’Agostino (for being the brainchild of Saint Louis Fashion Week), Kate Judah (for hiring him at Washington University to teach part-time ), Lowenbaum (for hiring him on his first design job) – and his mother.
“It’s for all of the people who have supported me and said, ‘Sure, you can do that, you can do fashion, no problem.’”
He also was eager to pay homage to the entire St. Louis area.
“Actually, the city of St. Louis should get this award as well,” Singleton said. “I think this awards calls attention to what is going on here. But, sure, I’ll take it!”
The First Annual Plaza Frontenac Fashion Achievement Award will take place tonight at 6 p.m. For more information and to learn more about Fashion week’s full lineup
