DESIREE IN WONDERLAND
interview with fashion designer desiree scarborough by zoe schoenfeldt
​It’s a frigid day in the end of November in Williamsburg, NYC. We had the chance to sit down with Desiree Scarborough, an artist and fashion designer born, raised, and residing in Brooklyn. After attending her vibrant September show “Seeing Where I Land,” we reflect on the success of her NYFW show inspired by her many travels, her time on “OMG! Fashun,” and what it means to be a creative navigating this new era of fashion and consumption.
Zoe: I'm here today with Desiree Scarborough in Domino Park, and we're talking about your time on OMG! Fashion. I wanted to know, what was the process behind getting onto the show?
​
Desiree: I think I started in July of 2023. I had a casting director reach out to me. He sent me an email saying “Oh, you should apply for this show. It’s from the same creators that worked on The Hype* and stuff like that. I was like “Oh, sure.” But he said it’s more of a wearable, art focused thing that he felt I would be better for. The Hype is a very streetwear kind of vibe, which isn’t necessarily my kind of style. I was like, I don’t know if I really fit there. But he said this one is more focused on wearable art, and he said that it was at the point where it would be shorter episodes. So I was like, okay i’ll try it out. I grew up watching Project Runway, so I always wanted to be on Project Runway. I actually had another friend who has been on the show, and just hearing his perspective too about having to do it day, after day. New challenge, after new challenge I was like…I don’t know. But I always wanted to try being on a design competition show, so I said okay, let’s see what it is.
​
**The Hype was a competition series in which contestants battle to design authentic street-wear fashion. Aired on August 12th, 2021.
​
It was like a month at least of zoom meetings and sitting on camera. My face is on camera, but most of the cameras are like black screens and I don’t know who’s watching me. (laughs) They’re like, “Don’t think about it just look straight into the camera and tell them about yourself.” stuff like that. I was like uh okay! It was interesting because it’s like, in all these different ways, you’re selling yourself in a way, you’re interviewing. It was like a big interview and a bunch of different questions and zoom settings, and making sure you’re sitting behind the same background again, all these little things. The whole process in and of itself was very interesting to me because I didn’t realize how involved it was. I thought it was like, you know, maybe one zoom but mostly they like your work and they put you on TV, and see what happens. But it’s a lot more calculated than that which in a way is good.
​
Zoe: Yeah, definitely.
​
Desiree: There was also meetings with a therapist, having to talk about your mental health and how you would do being by yourself. Because when you think about it too they want the majority of your chats to be on camera. So you’re kind of like sequestered for a little while and encouraged to not speak to each other when you’re not filming. So they want to know how you would do by yourself, but i’m an only child so to me that was fine. (laughs) It’s actually fine if I don’t speak to anyone for ten hours, I would actually maybe prefer that. (we all laugh) So, that was fine for me but yeah it was a long process. Lot’s of meetings and talking to different people that I didn’t even know because their screens were black, but it was cool. So when I finally found out that I got the show, I was sitting in a meeting for my day job.​​
.jpg)
Zoe: Whoaaaa, so like “yes, just an average day everyone.” (laughs)
​
Desiree: (laughs) And I just got an email and I was like, I kind of had to remain really neutral because yeah I’m in a meeting at my corporate job, trying to pretend I didn’t get an email that was like “We need you on a plane to Atlanta in a week.”
​
Zoe: Oh my gosh
​
Desiree: For at least 7 days, at least. Possibly more. I was like okay I guess I have to bring this up after this meeting to my boss. So it was fun, it was an interesting experience. It was a fun experience also because the casting people that I worked with were very kind, and even the people we filmed with, everyone was super nice. Everyone backstage was very kind, they helped keep up the energy and keep all of us in a positive and focused mood.
​
Zoe: That’s fantastic and great insight. That is absolutely crazy. So they basically asked you to come out in like a week.
​
Desiree: Yeah reality TV, I think, is it’s own separate ball game. Any time I hear things about scripted shows sometimes they’re like, you could be auditioning for a while and somebody could fall through and they’re like “Okay in four days come to LA, we need you for at least two months.” But that’s the life you sign up for, you’re following your dreams, you’ve got to see where it goes.
​
Zoe: You’ve gotta play the game, you know?
​
Desiree: Yes. I mean it was also during the tail end of the writers strike too, so there was a lot of reality TV happening. So it was a really different time for television, they were trying a bunch of different reality TV shows to see what would stick. But I feel like design competitions always do well because you want to see people be creative, and also kind of loose their sh*t and be like “What’s happening?” It’s fun, it’s fun to watch. (laughs)
​
Zoe: It is fun to watch. (laughs) It’s kind of a cynical view, but it does makes sense, I totally get that. I watched Project Runway a lot as a kid and I remember seeing all the designers being like “Wow, this is a lot of stuff happening all at once that’s crazy.” I am fascinated by it, and props to you for going on reality TV and being filmed, being vulnerable. It’s probably very difficult because did you ever feel on the show the need to, not necessarily put on a persona, but like “Maybe I shouldn’t say that.” Did you feel a bit more stressed about trying to hold things back at all?
​
Desiree: Not really. I think, in a way, I feel like I already had media training.
​
Zoe: Okay slay, how?
​
Desiree: So, my Mom has been in corporate my whole life basically. So I feel like I was learning from her, even just how to engage in work settings, in meetings. How to like properly send professional emails, and like things to not say. I also feel like, because I watch so much TV, I was like okay these are the things, like minefields, they might ask you about after you work for eight hours straight when your guard is down. To see what maybe funny stuff they could get you to say. I did think about it quite a bit, as I was answering questions because it’s like I’m representing myself, but I’m also representing my family. Also like “you’re the person from Brooklyn, you’re the person from Manhattan.” That kind of thing, they wanted you to give them a little something. Some sort of an archetype. But, I was very determined to be myself, but be careful about what I was saying as well. Because the truth of the matter is, you sign this contract, and like whatever they get on camera they can air. So it’s like be careful, be yourself but be careful. Be smart about it.
ZOE: DON’T EXPOSE YOUR DEEPEST, DARKEST SECRETS ON CAMERA MAYBE?
​
DESIREE: NO. BECAUSE THEN YOU’LL BECOME A MEME. (LAUGHS)
Zoe: For sure though! Speaking of internet culture too, did you notice anything different about your online experience after being on the show?
​
Desiree: Not really. I feel like maybe when I first started posting about it, yes. But now, the truth of the matter is, things go by so fast. Like you get your five minutes and then everyone’s like, okay onto the next thing! Which is totally fine because I really don’t want to be watched like 24/7. I’m like that’s totally fine, you can forget about me. Wait till the next big thing, I guess? But, I mean, in a nice way I feel like things kind of went back to normal. I think also we heard last week, I was talking to some of my other co-stars, they’re not doing a second season. So it’ll live on a few platforms or something, and maybe people will discover it a few years from now and it’ll blow up and maybe they’ll bring it back. But, for now at least, we’re the only season which is kind of fun, it’s kinda nice!
​
So it’s like, you know, things kind of come and go and I feel like that was a good lesson for me to learn. And maybe for other people too, since we’re talking about it, you can do a show and it can even go really well. You can go on something like Project Runway and it keeps going. But you can’t really rely on that to take you any place now. There was a time I feel like, maybe before the internet became super prevalent, [with] reality TV stars. I think about Paris Hilton’s show, Flavor of Love, things like that where the internet wasn’t this huge thing yet. It was easy for a really fun internet or reality TV personality to go do a show on HGTV and things like that. Things like that don’t happen nowadays because we have influencing, where an influencer, that’s like their whole job, and they get paid to do those sorts of things. It’s different now because there are so many cool and interesting people all over the internet that have never stepped foot on a TV show, or TV set or anything. So, you can’t rely on that in this day and age. Like, definitely do it for the plot as they say, and try something new, but definitely keep your brand going maybe keep you day job if they’ll let you. Or plan to get a new one when you come back home. It’s definitely not 2006.
​
Zoe: Definitely not, no. Six year old me is screaming on the inside. Based off of what you just said about being present online, how things have shifted especially from a reality TV lens to now, do you ever feel like there is a battle between trying to be a creative online and feeling pressure to be more “influencer-like?”
​
Desiree: Yeah. I kind of have just given up a little bit in terms of like the influencer side.
​
Zoe: That’s a mood.
​
Desiree: I’m like yeah technically I have a business, and yeah it would be great if I at least posted once a week. But I’m just like, I’m not there yet. And I like to give myself some grace, i’m like 20 something, I really don’t need to have this shit figured out right now. When my brand gets bigger and I’m able to hire a social media person, that’s a whole other job, and a whole other skill set that I can just admit that I don’t have. I can do what I can to maybe get myself to the point where I could hire somebody to do that for me. But I think there’s definitely a lot of pressure, as creatives within this realm of social media, to be like all the things. And do all the things. But you won’t do them all well. People will really be able to see that you’re either not having a good time, or you’re doing it to just kind of do it? There’s no real rhyme or reason behind your strategy. I think there is definitely a way to be an artist and strategically post your work in a way that feels authentic. Of course, for me, that’s: I post when I feel like it and when it makes sense. Sometimes that might end up being once or twice a month instead of four times a month like they tell me I should. But I’m like, ohhh maybe not for me. You know what feels right for you.
​
Zoe: Exactly, yeah I agree with that. There’s a certain vulnerability to putting your whole persona out there. I don’t know if people can fully comprehend that these people are really, really, big. Especially because Julia Fox was on the show right? I don’t know what that feeling is like, having people know exactly who you are basically 24/7, wanting to know what you’re up to. There are people on the Kardashians page every damn day. I’m like this is a lot, I don’t really comprehend that perspective.
​
Desiree: I think at that point too, I mean they might post some of their own stuff, but they probably would just turn their notifications off. Don’t look at anything. I think about people like Beyoncé. She doesn’t follow anybody I think, except maybe her husband. There’s degrees of separation you just have to continue to have with the outside world. You don’t go through comments because it’s just too much.
​
Zoe: Based on that, would you say that community is stronger than a following? That what you build around yourself is more important?
​
Desiree: Yeah definitely! I mean, to be honest, I really like when most of my comments are people that I know. That’s nice you know? It’s like your friends, and every now and then my Dad.
​
Zoe: Shout out!
​
Desiree: Yeah! It’s cool when the show stuff happened I would get comments from people that I didn’t know which was also nice. It was cool to have new people introduced to you. But I always feel like my comment section, at least right now, and I hope it stays that way for as long as possible, feels like a very safe place of people liking what I’m doing. Just saying that they do and that’s nice, and cool, to interact with social media in that way. I just started putting my Instagram notifications in sleep mode from like 10pm to 10am and it’s nice. It’s nice.
​
Zoe: It’s very important to breathe. You talked about the timeline of posting, that you post maybe a few times month. With your collection I read that you don’t fall into the typical prep for the Spring, Fall timeline. You kind of follow your own gut and release pretty much whenever you feel like it. How is that process?
​
Desiree: Yeah, I mean with the New York fashion shows in particular, I decided that I wanted to do them every two years for a few reasons. One, I like even numbers, it’s a very like childlike reason. (laughs) I’m just like, 2022, 2024, 2026, I like even numbers that way. But I was also coming at it from a cost perspective because I am still fully funding my own practice. So I was like, it makes the most sense to have a year and a half to save up money and plan things like that with everything else going on in my life. I felt like it gave me a real break because I make collections based on what I like and what I’m going through. I’m not going through something every three months, that’s ridiculous. And I don’t want to make something up for a cash grab sort of thing. These are the sorts of things, I think with the social media thing too, that will change for a lot of creatives as they’re able to afford to pay people to do things. Like when you have a design team, sure you’ve got other people with ideas that maybe aren’t directly yours, but they fall in line with your general aesthetic. Maybe then it becomes that I do two collections a year. It still will never be four. I think that might be my own personal beef with the industry, with textile waste and things like that. That’s a whole other rant we can talk about.
​
Zoe: No, hey go off, let’s talk about it.
​
Desiree: I just don’t necessarily feel like all of it’s necessary every single year. Four huge collections, you’ve got 80 to 100 looks and all the pieces are way, way overpriced for what they may actually be made out of and how long they actually take to make. Because my day job is in product design too, even though we’re a smaller brand and our waste is a lot less substantial than bigger brands, it’s still sometimes hard to watch some of these sample runs and things like that. We donate most, if not all of our samples, which is great. There’s lots of foundations, around New York especially, to donate to those sorts of things too. It feels a lot less wasteful. But it’s something we’re always backtracking. Like, okay, maybe we don’t need to sample ten bags of this fabric, maybe it’s just two. It’s little things like that to make the fashion industry less physically toxic. I just can’t see the point sometimes of doing so much all the time. So I think there needs to be a balance because there are people that’s like, this is their job. They obviously need to find work. But there also has to be that limit to how much crap you’re making. I feel like I’m still toeing the line for what that means for my business. But for right now I’m like let’s just slow it all down.
​
Zoe: It can be very toxic. I’m curious about your perspective on this mass influx of things trending and going by in 15 days, or even a month. Every month there is a new trend. Hopefully in 2025 we’ll get out of that, but my pessimistic side says that’s never going to happen. My hopeful side is like hey, maybe people will realize this is actually a lot. Too much all the time. Would you say in this past year that the influx of trends influences the quality of certain things that get released?
​
Desiree: Oh, definitely. I mean there’s no way to source and produce sustainably with a month turnaround. And then put it in 20 stores across the country. That’s just not possible. Then you have to think about how it’s getting there, and who’s making it that fast, and how much are those people getting paid. It just doesn’t work in that quick of a turnaround. I was having a conversation with another nonprofit that I started to work with called Repurpose Wardrobe. We had this whole conversation with one of their interns about the new Prada collection, which is their version of absurdity and how that’s become it’s own little micro-trend. I feel like that’s the term? But [we were talking about] how to encourage people to try new things without wasting their money, and also that buying a bunch of random stuff like that, they probably wont wear ever again. So we’re talking about ways to get people more into DIY, and trying new things out on their own. Reworking the things they already have in their closets, and maybe they buy one or two things. But they don’t need to buy 23 pieces of a whole new collection. Also encouraging people to look at the composites of what their pieces are made of. If something is 90% polyester it’s basically plastic. And let’s talk about the health effects of wearing plastic every single day, letting that seep into your body and what that does to you.
BECAUSE IT’S NOT JUST WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY, IT’S WHAT YOU PUT ON IT.
I think there’s a whole shift of a lifestyle that needs to happen. It can start with fashion, and fashion can be a big part of that, because we all wear clothes. Unless you’re a nudist. We all need to wear clothes. So, I think it’s part of a lifestyle change that needs to happen. Every time you go to Zara and there’s a whole new collection, there’s no way. There’s no way to do it. I think too people can be a bit more boujee with what you buy, go up and touch that thing. It’s like, “Why does that feel like tissue paper and why would I pay $70 for a tissue paper skirt?” With that thinking too, it’ll make a lot of brands change their perspective on what people actually want. They think people all want these new things, and it doesn’t matter because people don’t care about quality. But if we shift peoples mindsets to thinking more about quality, then the brands have to care more because they need to make money. They need to pay their staff, get them healthcare. Everybody needs healthcare.
​
Zoe: Right, everybody needs healthcare. Put that on a shirt. It’s probably on a shirt somewhere, we don’t need it. Don’t make another one.
​
Desiree: We can print it, take it to a print shop and put it on shirts we already have.
​
Zoe: Go thrift one, and bam! (laughs)
​
Desiree: (laughs) Goodwill has so many $1 t-shirts. Please take them, make them into a baby tee.
​
Zoe: Do you think those should come back? Baby tees?
​
Desiree: I do, I want some actually. I feel like I had one. You’re viewers are like our age right? Do you remember SunDrop?
​
Zoe: Yes, yes, yes!
​
Desiree: I had a SunDrop baby tee (laughs) it wasn’t a baby tee for me because I was like ten, and I was flat chested. But now I think it would be a baby tee for me. (laughs) I think we should bring those back.
​
Zoe: We should, oh my god we totally should. In the effort of sustainability, what is the process behind sourcing materials for your pieces?
​
Desiree: I like to use a lot of deadstock materials mostly. I go to this place called FABSCRAP a lot, and it’s also in Brooklyn, it’s a huge warehouse that’s really like the front of the Domino Factory. It’s basically a whole floor, and a warehouse space. When you walk in they have all the volunteer tables, and some racks of clothes you can pick up to mend yourself. Which is also nice encouraging people to learn how to sew. I’m biased, of course, but I think that’s one of the best skills you could have is to know how to make your own clothes or at least know how to fix them. But they also have this huge pile of garbage bags, they’re full of fabric that all these companies and branches send to them. So, when you walk in you’re confronted with your trash so to speak. There’s all these volunteers going through these bags, pulling out perfectly uncut pieces of fabric rolls and trim. I just look at it sometimes and i’m like Jesus Christ, it’s huge. And there’s even more in the back! Bags and bags of waste that people bring to them. So that’s one of my favorite places to go because there’s always something new to find that’s sometimes more than half the price of going to a place like Mood. But it’s also good to be confronted with that, because we only need to take what we need from here. Unless I get too excited and take everything. But they’re a really good resource for that. I feel even with most of the looks from the new collection, I use a lot of materials from them. I got two pound bags of hardware for like a dollar. They don’t even pay me I just like to talk about them all the time, I think they’re one of the greatest resources.
​
Zoe: Free promo.
​
Desiree: You know, like for a good cause. They also do this insulation material that they use, that’s made out of shredded fabric, that can keep peoples homes warm. So things like that. Which I also feel is another great full circle way to help the planet.
​
Zoe: That’s beautiful, I love that so much. I will say that your pieces are definitely a testament to what you can do with that kind of material, and reuse things like that. You can use that to experiment and that makes it better because it was something that was already used, so if a project doesn’t go exactly the way I want, I did what I could with it.
​
Desiree: You can recycle it further, and they can shred it for you, or somebody else will buy it and use it for something else.