Dutch RicLamar once dreamed of becoming a well-known fashion designer.
But then life happened and he forgot about that dream.
Fast forward more than two decades later and the Chesapeake native, who now lives in Hampton, will get to see his custom-designed gown worn by Tamron Hall on her nationally syndicated daytime talk show on Friday.
His design is a high-collared, off-white fitted mermaid-style gown with a sheer flare from a ruffled hemline and gold buttons on the shoulders and down the sleeves. RicLamar was one of five selected from hundreds of applicants as a finale designer for the show’s “Up & Coming Designer Series.”
“It’s surreal,” he said. “I can’t even describe the feeling.”
The 1999 graduate of Hickory High School — who was then known as Kendric Lamar Brown — penned in his yearbook that he wanted to be a fashion designer.
He wanted to go to the Fashion Institute of Technology, but when that didn’t work out, he landed a job as a member service representative in the insurance industry.
“As you get older you stop dreaming, just start living and then you just start surviving,” he said.
He was earning a good living and had stability — until the day he got fired from his job.
That’s when his sister, Katrina Brown, asked him to make her an outfit.
“I didn’t even know how to sew,” RicLamar said. “I put three squares together with a hot glue gun and a drawstring.”
Katrina Brown wore the two-piece black and turquoise outfit with a kimono-style blouse to church and “people went crazy over it,” he said.
“She’s the reason my whole company was basically built from that,” he said.
Prayers ensued, and he purchased a sewing machine and taught himself everything he knows.
Today, it just feels “right,” RicLamar said of his business that he operates from a studio in the front of his home.
The bulk of his clientele — gained from word of mouth — are church women.
“I feel like I should’ve started doing this a long time ago,” he said. “When everyone was betting on me, I wasn’t betting on me.”
He plans to host RicLamar Fashion Weekend, themed “The Valley of the Dutch Dolls,” in Portsmouth and Hampton on March 27-29 to give back to and celebrate his clients.
“I create for that everyday celebrity — for the person that doesn’t mind standing out,” he said. “If you want to stand out and show off the best parts of you, then I’m the man.”
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com