Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole McKoy.
Nicole, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have been an artist my entire life. It’s a hackneyed statement, but anything meaningful will always come across as mundane when it’s spoken from the heart. I’ve been blessed with influential teachers my whole life, starting with my immediate family.
My mother and father met each other in a motorcycle shop in south Miami, wed each other a few months later, and are still together to this day. When you know, you know. My mother was a gentle yet pragmatic worker in the field of nursing and taught me the value of knowledge, preparedness, and self-reliance. “There are no problems, only solutions!” she would always say, with a personal kitchen tool collection that was always too embarrassingly massive for words. My father was a charitable architect who could figure out how to do anything if he put his mind to it, so long as he put his mind to it.
His hobbies included fixing up vehicles of all kinds, sailing Catalina boats and drinking way too much beer and Pepsi. He never ruled out any activities for me just because ‘I was a girl’, which is something I had overlooked the entire value of until I was much older and wiser. They were both incredibly hard-working people who constantly made sacrifices to give my younger brother and I the best childhood possible. We had all sorts of opportunities at our fingertips because our parents wanted us to succeed in life. If my mother was ‘book smarts’, then my father was ‘street smarts’, and I was just lucky to have learned a little bit of both through their teachings.
Family is what you make of it. I had all sorts of aunts, uncles, and cousins that were in no way related to me by blood but had been there for us when the chips were down. My immediate aunt and uncle were Aunt Lisa and Uncle Neal, who without a doubt gave me the best books to read with titles ranging from ‘The Black Gryphon’ to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, and they always shared with us the newest, coolest computer puzzle games like ‘Lemmings’, ‘Gubble’, and ‘The Neverhood’.
My two most influential teachers in elementary school were named Ms. Moss and Dr. Rolle. Ms. Moss was the teacher for the gifted program, and she single-handedly instilled my love of dinosaurs, board games and T.S. Elliot’s ‘Book of Old Possum’s Practical Cats’. Her go-to slogan was, “Above and beyond”, which is something I’ve always strived for in my day-to-day work ethic.
Dr. Rolle was a sassy woman who was as unapologetic as she was quick-witted. She recognized my artistic abilities and submitted my work to every local art event possible. My art won a lot of awards and gained a ton of recognition as a result of her direct efforts. She also recommended that I apply to an art magnet middle school, which my parents did at her behest, and I was accepted to the arts magnet program at Southwood Middle School.
Southwood was and probably is still rough and tumble. Instead of participating in the physical education class, a bunch of overly energetic young kids were sketching old boots and other knick-knacks with charcoal pencils during our time in the magnet art program. Our teachers were Mrs. Gilpin and Mrs. McKenzie, and our little pre-teen lungs were constantly filled with charcoal soot and Sharpie fumes as we stippled and cross-hatched our way to creating a portfolio for arts high school. Bless those two for putting up with all of us for three long years.
I was accepted to every arts high school I applied for. It was a difficult choice, but I ultimately chose the ‘best of the best’ at the time, which was New World School of the Arts. Mr. Tom Wyroba and Mr. Jim Hunter ruled the roost, and Mr. Hunter was undoubtedly the ‘yin’ to Mr. Wyroba’s ‘yang’. Mr. Hunter taught us to question our sensibilities by asking ourselves, “Self: is this the best design that you can do?”, whereas Mr. Wyroba’s fast and loose spiritual catchphrase of “Spit on it, and DO IT AGAIN!!!” imparted us with the value of persistence and that our work is constantly evolving. Another professor of interest was Professor Charles, who boggled every student’s mind at the time with the concept of performance art.
We went on a field trip with Mr. Charles to an art museum in downtown Miami that featured Takashi Murakami’s traveling art exhibition ‘Superflat’. I couldn’t believe that half of this stuff was on display in a ‘white wall gallery’ because everything was so vivid and vastly different from the traditional landscapes and portraits I was used to. One particular sculpture stood out for me, and I doubled back to sneak peeks at it because it was just too edgy and cool for public school. My beloved mum had attended as a chaperone that day and was kind enough to buy me the FRUITS photo book by Shoichi Aoki that was featured in the museum’s gift shop. I still have that book with me to this day, not only because I love the book itself but because the sheer impact that exhibition left with me.
I applied to many colleges, but the one I connected the most with was the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. Being one of the Presidential Scholarship recipients didn’t hurt, either. Our first year of foundation arts worked on getting all of the incoming students who were from various backgrounds on the same page. Seeing as how I was one of the few students who already had a fine arts background, I was placed in one of the more advanced classes with a forward-thinking professor named Steve Whitacre. Mr. Whitacre was always animated, overly passionate when telling stories and most importantly, loved a good bourbon.
One of the first assignments he ever gave us was to create a self-portrait by only using a Xerox copy machine. It was things like this in which he constantly challenged us by making us leave the comfort and safety of our tiny studios to interact with the rest of the world in order to complete our assignments. Of most importance, Mr. Whitacre and I were having an art critique one day and out of nowhere, he gently but firmly grabbed me by the wrists, looked me straight in the eyes, and said loudly, “THESE ARE TWO GOOD HANDS!!!” Anyone who knows me knows just how important this must have been for me to hear. This has since led me to be a firm believer that the greatest thing a teacher could possibly give their student during their times of self-doubt is positive affirmation and encouragement that the work they’re doing is valid and necessary.
Julia Cole was the department head of the Interdisciplinary Arts major, which was the entire reason I attended KCAI over other schools despite now being ironically gone due to budgetary cuts. Mrs. Cole was a fiery, red-headed Englishwoman who made her students giggle whenever she told us to go buy supplies from ‘Home Deh-Poe’ and taught us ways to use our arts and minds during a time of rapidly changing technology and innovation. Everything we did under her tutelage had purpose and research behind it, no matter how seemingly small. Students in the Interdisciplinary Arts knew who their influencing artists were and could weld metal in the Sculpture Department just as readily as they could knit entire garments in the Fiber Department. I had the opportunity to study abroad in Brighton, England for half a year and naturally took it.
Overseas, I may have eaten too many Cadbury bars but also visited museums like the Louvre and saw sights like the Roman colosseum. All of these were things I had only seen in history books up until now, and now they were right before my eyes! Studying abroad was difficult but helped me gain perspective on how growing up and living in the United States would not be the end-all of my education. Despite studying abroad and having many internships, I graduated from KCAI with absolutely zero opportunities lined up for myself. Thus, I moved back to Miami, Florida and proceeded to read way too many books in bed before my Jewish mother kicked me out of the front door and told me to get a job.
I’d like to consider the time after I graduated and before I started working for myself as a ‘paid internship’. In reality, I worked hospitality and retail for peanuts, and I honestly would have still been in my slump if I hadn’t met Mr. Mervyn McKoy. The day I met Mr. McKoy, he was wearing aviator sunglasses, a fitted, button-down shirt and a pair of trousers that actually fit him. How dare he: the sheer audacity of him to look handsome while sitting in an establishment that sold comic books! I neatly filed him into the “stereotypical South Florida jerk” folder before moving on to a fashion photoshoot I had scheduled with a friend, and before I knew it, this same guy was photobombing me. I guess it was love at first photo because Mervyn constantly liked to joke that I treated him like a jerk (which I did), but in my humble defense I had had my fair share of rocky relationships in the past, and I wasn’t looking to start anything with just anyone.
One day, I suddenly got fired from one of my lousy retail jobs and having no one else to turn to, I called up Mr. McKoy. I still don’t really know what I had expected at the time, but I ended up telling him the entire story, and he listened to me the whole way through. We eventually started dating after that, and the rest is history. We will have been married for seven years as of May 31st, 2020, and my advice for a long and happy marriage is to find someone who is willing to listen, is always up for an adventure and will love you unconditionally as you constantly stumble and make mistakes while trying to discover your true purpose in life. Trust me on this.
Lastly, I’d like to give a quick shoutout to my sister from another mister, and that would be to Mrs. Keia Kato-Berndt. I’ve known my best friend since middle school, and we’ve somehow kept in touch over the years since we graduated from college together back in 2009. Keia lives in the northwest of the U.S. while I live in the southeast, and I’ve always admired the fact that she’s been an incredibly talented artist and spiritual woman who has published books, illustrations, and even made her own tarot card deck from scratch.
Anything that she’s ever set her mind to she’s done, and I think that’s incredible. We don’t get to talk together as often as we like, and while we live quite far from each other, I know that we have supported each other’s work in our own ways. My sister and I always pick up our conversations right where we left off with no judgement, guilt or hard feelings, and I wouldn’t trade that gift for anything in the world. As to how any of this story has to do with where I am today, please continue on for those specifics.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Nothing ever worth doing is easy, and don’t let anyone try to fool you into thinking differently. My personal lack of artistic focus and constant self-doubt has lead to constant struggle over the years, and it’s only recently that I’ve had enough wisdom and courage to pluck myself up by the bootstraps and say, “This is me: this is how I win.”
ZipperTan is my modeling persona. Cosplay, shorthand for ‘costume play’, has become a phenomena in the United States that can be seen at pop-culture events and conventions everywhere. I began making my own costumes in 2004 with the help of my ever-supportive mother buying me a basic sewing machine and signing me up for a professional garment-making class. I was instantly hooked. I attended YasumiCon that very summer, which was a small, college campus-run convention back before big conventions really hit their stride.
Surrounded by fellow nerds and otaku, I took to the cosplay scene like a fish in water. I proceeded to look up every convention in the state of Florida after attending that event and insisted on going to these events to my parents. My father strongly cautioned me to stop wasting my time on these conventions and to start focusing on college, which made me terribly and horribly angry. Why couldn’t he see the passion and dedication in what I was doing? I now know he was just looking out for me and my future, but I’ll never forget how upset I was at the time.
Years later, my costumes debuted on SyFy’s hit cosplay television show ‘Heroes of Cosplay’ as I starred as a guest judge for the episode that was filmed in Miami at a convention called Florida Supercon. I was nervous but remained professional alongside big cosplay names in the industry such as Yaya Han, Sushimonster, and ShinkaStudiosCosplay. I had worked my way up to that moment by competing, judging, and organizing costume competitions in the convention scene up to that point. However, the cosplay scene had changed exponentially over the time from when I started, and for the first time ever, I decided to quit the cosplay scene for good.
It turns out I hadn’t quit, but I had pivoted. Toward the end of my cosplay career, I began modeling more and more of my original creations that were based on my own designs. That’s the upshot of how Weastside Couture, my independent clothing company, began. I wanted to emphasize the influences of both eastern and western cultures in my one-of-a-kind pieces and how the fusion of the two could create new and exciting garments. In the fall of 2016, I attended an alternate fashion convention called RuffleCon in the northeast and competed in their Indie Designer Competition for the chance to walk the runway next year alongside established designers.
The competition was extremely fierce, and my clothing, in particular, was avant garde to say the least. Fortunately, my team and I ended up winning, and Weastside Couture debuted its first official line, ‘Book of Spells’ on the runway at RuffleCon 2017. I’ve never been so proud or felt so lucky to have such wonderful friends who were willing to work and model with me to make the show possible. Since then, I’ve been continuing to design my own garments and our next fashion showcase will be this year at OtakuFest: a music, art, and fandom festival in the heart of Miami, Florida.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Weastside Couture – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Weastside Couture’s slogan is “Where East Meets West”. It is a fashion design and illustration company that focuses on the fusion between seemingly opposing forces, such as eastern and western aesthetics. I am currently the lead designer for the company, and I specialize in concept illustrations. My body of work is known for being experimental, colorful, and never, ever boring.
I am most proud of our ability to remain flexible and reach out to other talented designers in order to collaborate on upcoming projects, and what sets us apart from most of the other companies is our constant vigilance. The quality of our work speaks for itself and will never be compromised. We stand firmly by our products because they are produced in-house, and Weastside Couture believes that wearable, sustainable art has just as much function and purpose as traditional gallery pieces in the fine art world.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
The company is currently planning on branching out in order to become part of a designer collective. By recognizing a company’s strengths and having other companies guard against its weaknesses, a collective has the potential to become unstoppable.
Another important focus of the company is its commitment to female empowerment and letting the female voice be heard alongside its male counterpart. Working alongside female designers has helped unite the team and move toward its goal of continuing to create excellence for all.
Pricing:
- $50: Concept Sketch starting price point
- $100: Sewn Accessory starting price point
- $500: Sewn Garment starting price point
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.facebook.com/weastsidecouture
- Email: weastsidecouture@gmail.com
- Instagram: @weastsidecouture
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weastsidecouture
- Other: https://lookbook.nu/weastsidecouture
Image Credit:
imPhotography
Flash Foto
JBTK Zine
Elysia Griffin
Cat Trzaskowski Photo
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