FASHION
A CHAT WITH
Dane Young
C
ultural influencer and media expert Dane Young is
the founder of New York-based B Young Consulting
Agency, and is a publicist and celebrity handler. He has
been developing cool and innovative ways to integrate
brands into the lives of both the urban and LGBTQ+
communities for more than a decade. One of his biggest projects is the
globally coveted New York Fashion Week. Young shared a few of his
thoughts with Gazelle.
Q: How did you get started in the fashion and event planning
industry?
A: The entertainment industry subconsciously found me. The universe
Q: You played a key role during the shows at NYFW. How did
you get involved?
A: Yes, I had a significant task at hand to assist with the overall fashion
week experience for our clients, and I thank The Riviere Agency for
hiring my company as a consultant for its shows. We’ve built a strong
three-year relationship, and I am forever grateful. I had the daunting
task of being the celebrity liaison. I use the term daunting because of
the difficulty and tiresome effort of coordinating celebrity schedules
in hope of their appearance. The odd in-between negotiations for
procurement can be a lot, but I am definitely the man for the job.
Q: What is your most memorable fashion week moment?
A: Believe it or not, my most memorable fashion week moment was last
September, when my mother got to witness firsthand what I do for a
living. She had one of the best experiences ever. She met tons of
celebrities, and got to see top-tier runway shows - even those that I
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GAZELLE
Creative
has placed me in certain positions even when I was too clueless
to understand what they were. My first true introduction to event
planning and fashion started back home in Detroit, where I developed
a keen sense of the power that creativity and hustling provides. While
in high school, I was a member of the student body council, and we
raised funds for school festivities through organized events. With me
being the visually driven person that I am, I always knew we had to do
something extraordinary. I also attribute my interest in fashion to my
mother, Vanessa Samuels, and growing up in the late 1980s. She and
her friends were my first depiction of “it” girls, before I knew any of the
socialites and supermodels of the world. From there, it was onward and
upward for me, though my career trajectory was to become a lawyer, if
my mother would have had her way.