Laurieann Gibson knows a thing or two about how an artist should dress for success.

The 55-year-old arrived in New York City decades ago with dreams of making it big as a choreographer. After several years of boomkacking and knocking down doors, Gibson started choreographing for some of the biggest names in the business, including Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, and Nicki Minaj. In 2011, she even garnered an Emmy nomination for her directorial work on Lady Gaga’s The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden.

So it’s no surprise she was selected to serve as a mentor and judge on Hulu’s new fashion reality competition series, Dress My Tour.

Created and produced by Black Queen Dr. Holly Carter (The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel) and hosted by Kate Upton, the series follows 11 aspiring fashion designers as they compete to prove they have what it takes to design for musical royalty (Paula Abdul, JoJo Siwa, JT, Ty Dolla $ign, Toni Braxton, Coi Leray, French Montana, and Jessie James Decker), all while vying to win the $100,000 prize.

MadameNoire’s Managing Editor Danica Daniel sat down with Gibson to talk about the importance of recognizing and valuing the contributions of black designers in the fashion industry, the unique perspective and innovation that black designers bring to the field while often going unnoticed and undervalued, and how all black women can embrace what they were born to do.

Black females are innovative by design.

MadameNoire: How did you get cast as a judge on Hulu’s Dress My Tour?

Laurieann Gibson: Dr. Holly Carter is an incredible producer, executive producer, and creator of the show, and I’ve worked with her and several artists over the years. And when Hulu and her called, I was so excited for not only my fan base but the future artists to get insight into me as a creative director, as a visionary, and as a director. I also wanted my fans to understand the collaborations in costume design and just how powerful this gift is. The plethora of talent that has come to this show is amazing. 

Why is Dress My Tour important for the culture? Why should viewers tune in?

Mother says, please tune in. There are a lot of black females working on this show. It’s important because we have been instrumental in tailoring, producing fine fabrics, and our stitching game. Black designers have been thoroughbreds to the visionaries. Plenty of big brands have stood on our shoulders, and some of those unnamed black designers and tailors have gone unnoticed. But the interesting thing is, there is some incredible black and brown talent on this show. There’s something so magical about this show at this time. 

MadameNoire: What do you think is the importance of black designers, especially black female designers, in the fashion industry?

You know, for me personally, it’s very important because a lot of them have gone unnoticed and unchampioned. This [show] is really special because you begin to see that our voice is unique. And it’s unique in the fashion industry. Even our models like Iman carry something in the DNA, which is very necessary. It’s the ability to move beyond what’s already there and be innovative. Black females are innovative by design. We constantly bring something new.

MadameNoire: There are a lot of big names in music on the show. Who’s your favorite artist who stopped by Dress My Tour?

Obviously, all of them are faves, but listen, Paula Abdul, you already know!!! She’s a dancer-turned choreographer, turned artist, turned visionary, turnedhost… That’s my tribe.

7x Emmy award-winning costume designer Marina Toybina, supermodel Kate Upton, and Laurieann Gibson lead “Dress My Tour.” Source: Hulu

But you have to say, “I am not what came before me I am now.”

MadameNoire: You once said you were “born to dance.” How do we, as black women, recognize what we were born to do, and then, even more importantly, how do we resist the fear and have the courage to follow that dream and pursue what we were born to do?

How you discover that is the passion, the burning desire to be attached to that which you are gifted with. The knowledge of that is in the gifting. And you know it, you understand it because it was built in you because your purpose is attached to it.  And I always believed if I could speak to the dream, then I can speak to the circumstance because you cannot separate yourself from that which you already are.

So when you continue to go back to that feeling you get, when you think about what it is you want to do, it steps on that fear. And each time you feel that fear creeping in, you go to the dream, to the vision, to the feeling of the dream. That feeling is greater than that fear because the fear is not real. Fear is just a manufactured perspective of someone else telling you that you can’t, and it produces this feeling of fear.  But that’s not your truth. 

MadameNoire: You’ve made being fearless look easy.

I’m not gonna say it’s easy because yes, boomkack has developed the ability to sustain the dream killers. Yeah, so you gotta watch Dress My Tour because with these young designers, I yet again, pull out my sword and help them fight off anything that should stop them from believing in their dream. I’m back at it kids.

MadameNoire: One of my favorite quotes from the show is when you scream to the designers, “Innovation, don’t play it safe!” What’s the key to not playing it safe as a designer?

You do have to understand the technical aspects of fabricating a garment, right? But I say “innovation” because sometimes, when you go through that process, people may tell you, “No, you can’t do that because if you do this, you have to do that because this is what was done before you.” But you have to say, “I am not what came before me I am now.” You have got to fly in that innovation. And it might not look like something that’s come before you because you carry tomorrow, you carry the new design, you carry the new fabrication, the new inspiration, and that is the magic. I will fight to the bitter end for that innovation. 

Marina Toybina,  Kate Upton, and Laurieann Gibson are all smiles judging the fashion on “Dress My Tour.” Source: Hulu

MadameNoire: You have mastered the art of the pivot. You started your career as a dancer, and you’ve gone on to garner an Emmy for your work as a director, and you even wrote a book. What advice do you have for black women who are trying to break through into a new industry, pivot in their careers, or in their lives? 

Don’t look for yourself. Don’t look for anything that should reflect that which is within you. Don’t look to be familiar. Don’t look for confirmation or evidence of you because you’re not going to see it. We face challenges with an ignorant society that would say that because we are black and female, we don’t deserve what a white man would get, like the opportunity or the pay. I deal with that. But does it define me? No, I keep pressing toward the mark because that’s not a limitation, my sex or my skin color. That is the fabrication of my ability to continue to produce greatness. I think the main thing is don’t look to get that confirmation. Walk in that room knowing you are the change.

MadameNoire: So you’ve walked into many rooms with many big names. Who is the favorite artist you’ve choreographed?

The other interesting thing is that I’ve wandered to a lot of rooms being the change, knowing I was the change, and then got kicked out because I was the change. [Laughs] I think they’re all my favorites. I don’t have just one because each collaboration, and there have been many, has been very special. And the dynamic between myself and the artists is something I covet. It’s very special. It’s very intimate. It means everything to me to pull out of someone what they’ve been dreaming of. And no matter what happens, that still is my greatest joy. 

MadameNoire: You are 54 years young and looking fabulous. What’s the most important beauty lesson you’ve learned about honoring your beauty that all women should adhere to?

Girl who told you that?! I’m actually timeless. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, it is the Jesus in me. It is a prayer, and it is about understanding the power of the Holy Spirit and the supernatural move of God over my life. That 1,000% inside out children inside out. But also a balanced diet. I danced my whole life. I still dance now, I think there is a component for black women through all the stages in life to remain active. Keep moving! Whether it’s your local dance class or hiking, you have to keep that physical sweat and turning over of the blood. Let the toxins out and bring in the new. There is a physical component to keeping you healthy, and that reflects inside out.

The entire first season of Dress My Tour is now available to stream on Hulu.