Clothing Designer Spotlight: DS Bullock from Biddeford, Maine

DS Bullock is a creative fashion designer who enjoys making beautiful, out-of-the box garments. On top of designing, she works as a fashion stylist. She has two types of clothing lines, one includes accessories and clothing made of recycled inner tubes (Road Rash Rubber), and the other is more of a regular clothing line called DS Bullock (DSB).

Additionally, she enjoys oil painting and art.

It was a pleasure interviewing DS Bullock for this feature.


Image Credits: Photo-William Cox, Models-Jordan, Ariana, Hair-Grayling Cunningham

AVIVA: How long have you been designing clothing?
DS BULLOCK: I've been designing and making clothing for 26 years, since I was a little girl and my mother taught me how to sew.

AVIVA: What excites you about designing clothing?
DS BULLOCK:I get very excited imagining the potential places my garments could go, what settings they would fit into, what kinds of people would wear them. I love making clothing that is unusual for iconoclastic individuals and it excites me to imagine what kinds of adventures they could take my garments on.

AVIVA: Do you have any designers that inspire you? If so, who?
DS BULLOCK:Galliano, without a doubt. Vivienne Westwood to a certain extent. There are a number of Belgian designers referred to as the Antwerp Six whose work I eagerly follow, as well.


Image Credits: Photo-William Cox, Model-Jordan Rose,Hair-Grayling Cunningham

AVIVA: How did you get started with clothing design?
DS BULLOCK:My mother taught me how to sew when I was a child because I was always drawing the kinds of outfits I would like to wear. We were extremely poor and I identified with Wanda in The Hundred Dresses. So my mother taught me how to sew and let me raid her fabric stashes to make some of the garments I had been designing. Eventually, I was making all my clothing and making clothing for my friends. It just evolved organically from there.

AVIVA: Besides clothing design, what are(is) your other passion(s)/interest(s)?
DS BULLOCK:I love music and am in a punk band. I also love interior design and DIY home projects. I also am completely in love with Spain at the moment and am very passionate about flamenco dance. Well, I love all kinds of dance, actually. And, last but not least, I could not live without painting.

AVIVA: If money/time were no object, where would you like fashion design will take you?
DS BULLOCK:I imagine I would be working in Europe, we'll just say Spain since it's my favorite place in the world right now, making one-of-a-kind clothing for eccentric socialites.


Image Credits: Photo-Josh Band,MakeUp-Meg Czel



AVIVA: Do you have any crazy/weird/funny photo shoot incident that you'd like to share?
DS BULLOCK:I have a number of crazy/funny/weird photo shoot stories but the one that takes the cake was a shoot in an abandoned factory in the dead of winter in Detroit. The photographer who organized the shoot was a poor planner (and a poor photographer, coincidentally) who forgot the lights, ran out of gas for heater and generator. We all wound up freezing in the dark without flashlights and, to top it all off, we were nearly arrested by the police for trespassing! It was such an awful experience and, in the end, I couldn't use any of the photos because the models were so cold their noses were all red.

AVIVA: Any additional comments?
DS BULLOCK:Fashion design is an extremely difficult world but there is plenty of room within it for independent designers who have enough passion and persistence to tirelessly follow their own vision. For models, designers, stylists, and photographers, the key to success in my opinion is an unfailing persistence.

I would like to thank DS for her time and this interview, and I wish her all the best in her design career.

You can see more of her work on her Website and Model Mayhem Account.

Aviva :)