For Frisco-based designer Josette Golatt, winning the first Soul of the City fashion show Sunday night was not a complete surprise, even though she will tell you she was not confident she would win.
Since a group of judges at one competition may love your work and group of judges at another competition may condemn your work, she mentally prepared herself to push on with her designs, even if that meant that someone else did not think as highly of them as she herself did.
But the first place award she received for her collection of classy but sassy fashions has become only part of a fitting story that, like her designs, is "one of a kind."
Golatt drove through Dallas last year on her way from T.D. Jakes’ Megafest in Atlanta back to her former home in Oakland, Calif. It was while visiting her sister in Allen that she said to herself "this is where we can do this," in reference to her dream of starting a fashion school for African American youth. The school, as she envisioned, would introduce youngsters to the basics of fashion and design and expose them to a world that some veteran designers have a hard time navigating.
She didn’t know how right she was.
For one, the cost of living in Texas was much cheaper than California, she soon learned. And after getting lost on the North Dallas Tollway, the "signs" from God were just too hard to ignore, she says.
Golatt kept circling the Frisco area during her Allen visit last year. Actually, she got lost on the North Dallas Tollway and somehow came across "Blackhawk" street in Frisco, similar in name to her dream of living in the "Blackhawk" area of San Francisco, she said. A year later, Golatt is a Frisco resident and plans to begin her first fashion design class at the Frisco Chamber of Commerce on Dec. 17. (Interested students can register online at www.aneyeforstyle.com.)
Golatt’s story of coming to Frisco is similar to how her designs have landed on the backs of music legends Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan and gospel singer Yolanda Adams. By chance, Golatt designed a dress for LaBelle’s assistant and instantly caught the diva’s attention.
"Patti said ‘Girlfriend that dress is bad. Where’d you get it from?’" and the rest, as they say, is history.
Of course, in the world of Hollywood stars and Motown legends, it doesn’t take long for word to spread of who is wearing what and where stars can get the latest "one of a kind" ensemble. Just like Golatt was a "friend of a friend," so was Chaka Khan to Patti LaBelle, who asked LaBelle the same question. ‘Where’d you get that from?’
Golatt laughs about the whole experience now. "I was destined to be here," she said. Even the gospel fest she attended in Atlanta has a connection with her current life now. She is taking a business course through the Metroplex Economic Development Corporation based at Bishop T.D. Jakes’ Potter’s House. Once her fashion school is up and running, she hopes to pass on her knowledge to other youth.
"I believe kids in Frisco are going to eat it up," she said. "The sooner we are able to tap into a young person’s talent, the sooner we can get them to achieve their dreams. We know the original designer, and that is God.
"No one can do what you can do."