WENDELL SAKIESTEWA: DESIGN STAR ON THE RISE
FROM STREET WEAR TO CELEBRITY WEAR

Wendell Sakiestewa (pronounced "Sock-ee-ess-ta-wah") grew up in Arizona surrounded by the creative arts of his Native American Indian heritage. It was Wendell's grandmother, especially, that nurtured his early talents, she entered him in every art contest she could and he won most lot them! As he got older, Wendell was encouraged to follow artistic family tradition and pursue crafts like carving, jewelry, and painting. Creativity came naturally to him, and he easily mastered any craft he undertook, whether it was sewing, drawing, or beading. While he loved the arts of his heritage, Wendell wanted to try something new and different, so he decided on a career in electrical engineering. He loved drawing blueprints and schematics, and used these skills for a job creating cockpit gears.

After five years in that profession, he was ready for a change. He was fascinated with interior design. Even with no formal interior design training, he had an insatiable desire to learn and succeed! Sure enough, soon he was busy with many interior design projects. He excelled at working with fabrics, colors, and textures. He was on the right track, but it would take one more leap to find his true calling. He took his love of all that was decorative about interiors and transferred it to fashion design. Wendell enrolled in fashion courses at a local community college and found a job designing swimwear.

With his newfound passion, Wendell decided to head for LA and complete his fashion design education at FIDM. It wasn't easy, as Wendell financed everything on his own. He was determined to follow his dream and had total confidence in himself. While at FIDM, he interviewed for a cashier's position at Scott Hill, an upscale clothing boutique in Beverly Hills. They were so impressed with Wendell that they didn't hire him as a cashier. Instead they brought him on as an assistant designer! Wendell did it all, from managing to taking Inventory and helping the store's tailors. He was a jack-of -all-trades!

At Scott Hill, Wendell worked with lots of celebrities arid it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to put together an entire outfit priced in the $15,000 range! It's there where he met and befriended Keanu Reeves. The boutique sold high-end clothing as well as Scott Hill's own line. After two months as assistant designer, Wendell started controlling the manufacturing of Scott Hill's line from Italy, which meant lots of Italian business trips! Wendell's experience with Scott Hill provided inspiration to succeed on his own.

After graduating from FIDM's Fashion Design Program in 1986, Wendell worked for several companies designing junior and missy wear. Confident that he could do everything involved in producing a line, Wendell decided to go freelance. He says, "Now   I wear many hats. It's stressful but rewarding!" Being able to do it all-design, costing, production, and sales-is a major benefit of r Wendell now that he runs his own business. "It's very important to put your hands into everything in this industry!"

Eventually he started designing menswear and realized that he excelled at streetwear in particular. He loves the edginess of streetwear and is always miles ahead of mainstream trends in his designs. His clothes do particularly well on the East Coast and in Asia, which Wendell appreciates. "I love knowing that people are wearing my clothes all the way in another country!"

Wendell designed musician Smokey Robinson's line of clothing call BornStar. Through that, he made a new connection that landed Wendell a high-profile project with rap superstar Snoop Doggy Dog, who was launching his own line of urban apparel called Motavate Wendell explains, "I vibed with Snoop and we went from here!" Snoop's team had already done the market research, but I took Wendell's design genius to bring the look to life. Motavate sells in shops on Melrose Avenue, the Beverly Center, and in street-wise "lowrider" shops.

Recently, FIDM's Career Center helped Wendell make a stellar celebrity connection. Madonna's guitarist, Monty Pittman, called FIDM looking for a designer to create costumes for a major media event, the premier of the movie Snatch, starring Benicio Del Toro and Brad Pitt, so where is the Madonna connection? Snatch was written and directed by Madonna's new husband, Guy Ritchie, and some of her band members performed in the film. The Career Center knew the perfect designer for the job-Wendell! He met with Monty that same week to discuss the style they were going for. Within one day, Wendell completed a series of sketches and fabrications. It was Madonna herself who had to approve his designs, and she loved them! Monty wore Wendell's striped cotton zoot suit to the premier and was bombarded with one question: "Who's your designer?" Realizing his last name was somewhat difficult to pronounce, Wendell had armed Monty with business cards to hand out when the important question came up.

Wendell has also applied his creative talents in styling photo shoots. He has a credit in a recent issue of Eamshaw's magazine for a photo shoot he styled at Smokey Robinson's house.   "Each year gets better. I meet more and more people in ht entertainment industry and my name is getting out there!"

Wendell advises students to not get caught up in the "glamour" of attending a fashion college. Re knows firsthand how important it is to stay focused and get as much technical, functional knowledge as possible while in school. He explains. "When you get out into the industry you really have to put your nose to the pavement and make it happen, because no one is going to do it for you."

Of all the great experiences he had at FIDM, it's the terrific instructors that stand out most in Wendell's mind. "They pushed me really hard, and if they hadn't, I probably wouldn't be where I am now." Wendell felt that they recognized and acknowledged his talent, hard work, and determination and that meant a lot to him. He gained confidence through their confidence I him!

What's in the future for this determined young designer? "I see myself gaining wisdom and growing my business." Other goals include his own clothing line inspired by his Native American roots... more celebrity clients..., and we predict stardom!

download resume: sakiestewa.pdf