Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Biancha Jones. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Biancha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One of the most meaningful projects I have worked on in my costume design journey is my Video Vixen project. What started off as a project for me to increase my skill set in sewing turned into something with a deeper meaning. I have a 9-5 doing merchandising so I would do costume design as a way to keep creative. During the start of the pandemic when I was furloughed from my past job,I wanted to take sewing more serious.I kept feeling stuck because I would see such beautiful fabrics and outfits but all I knew how to sew was cotton and spandex. I wanted to sew more things. I would recreate things for Halloween and I noticed, by doing so, it taught me how to work with newer fabrics. I expressed my concern to my mentor at the time and she gave me an idea to recreate Amerie, a R&B singer who I love, her famous outfits. I thought that was a great idea but after recreating an outfit worn by a video model in a jay z video, I decided to go with video vixens instead. I watch music videos all day everyday so it was easy for me to do.
It started off as “I like her outfit, let me recreate it” to “this outfit represents her story, I am going to do it”. That’s what costume design is all about, story telling. I remember I went from just picking the outfits to asking each of the prior video vixens, can I recreate their outfits. That made the outfits more special to me, it reminds me of when an artist’s ask “can I draw you”, that’s literally what I am doing. By doing this, I was able to bond with them more and listen to their stories. I literally will not sell any video vixen recreations I do because I do not want to profit off of them and their stories. They represent so much.

Biancha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name Is Biancha Jones, it is pronounced “Bianca”. I am originally from The Bronx, NY and was raised in Brooklyn. I currently live in the Boogie down again. Growing up, I have always loved music videos, it is one of the reasons why I pursued fashion in college, I went to FIT for Fashion Merchandising Management and have a lot of industry experience in Fashion as well as product development. Because I was always artistic, expressing myself through Art and Dance, I wanted to still do so as an adult. Working in corporate America,you don’t always get to be as creative. I would use Halloween to be creative. I remember the first time I made my outfit for halloween, It was Beyonce in Gold member. It was so fun doing so, that it became tradition. My boss at the time, would be even more excited than me, because she was anticipating my next costume. She would show all of our buyers during our meetings. Love you Susan! I would have never thought my costume design, would get me posted on Beyonce’s page in 2020 and Amerie. I would’ve never thought my costume design would be a way for me to help honor women who society was not the nicest too. This has been such a heartwarming experience. That I would be in vogue based on the project I was doing. I remember feeling confused on what exactly my path was but I knew working on this felt right and realized this was my path to be in. No one else is doing what I am doing.
I am most proud that I can say that on my time on earth, I was able to make women feel seen. Even when I was dangerously sick myself, you can’t even tell that I was sick at my exhibit. My iron was very low and my hemoglobin was at a 5, I am extremely anemic so that was not good at all. I was holding it together at the exhibit, my friends and some of the vixens knew I was sick though. Just know, two days after my exhibit I had to get 2 blood transfusions. I don’t recommend people being sick for their art but I said to myself, I can take care of myself when the event is over. lol don’t do that! please take care of your health. Although I am happy at the outcome.
People always ask me what’s next but I want to continue to do projects like these, where I can use my art to make people feel good, to make people feel loved and seen. Whether on my own or in shows/movies/concerts. This is the best thing I have ever done in my life.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal for my creative journey is to be able to continue to make people feel amazing through my art. However, my goal for my video vixen project and exhibits are to get these wonderful women into a museum celebrating their contribution to music. I feel like they are being left out but they were a big part of the journey. At a time where the video helped to sell the song, they were there and they helped to make the video such a story telling piece. I don’t think they get enough credit for that and the way society made them feel, was not ok.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding things about being an artist is being able to put my emotions into what I am working on.I speak so passionately about my project because it is literally my baby. I have an emotional connection to each of the costumes I make, even when I make them for others. I’ve noticed the more emotion I put into making things, the better they come out. When I am feeling sad, I made some of the best costumes that way and when I am extremely happy, same thing. It’s so interesting. Not only this, Since I do a lot of recreations ( I sew these from scratch), I get to honor the women and men who created the original outfit, whether it be from styling to designing. It’s so cool to do so especially when they are not getting their most deserved credit from it. Some outfits I recreate when I found out who styled it or designed it, I am always amazed. I always say they are extremely talented and my love for them grows EVEN more, it’s crazy that It can grow more because I hold them in such a high regard, but it does., Overall I would say that is the most rewarding as well as the people I have met along the way. I have bonded with so many people based on our love for what I do and our passion.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bianchajones/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BianchaJ
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/baddie_bi
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bianchajones

Image Credits
Photographer: Lalea Raymond