B Michael on the happy fashion memories he shared with icon Cicely Tyson

Fashion designer B Michael recalls a memorable moment with his effervescent fashion muse, legendary actress Cicely Tyson. The incident occurred on the morning of Aretha Franklin’s funeral, when Tyson didn’t agree with the size of the hat he was offering, fearing it could block guests sitting behind her. “She rejected me,” he says on the phone. In response, she remembers telling Mrs. Tyson, “I don’t think anyone sitting behind Cicely Tyson is going to complain that they can’t see through your hat.” He added: “This is Aretha Franklin. She was the queen of soul and you’re the queen of culture. You must wear this hat. According to Michael, she eventually wore the hat and it was well received by those attending the funeral.

This story highlights the fun and joyful moments that B. Michael and Tyson, for whom he has been designing clothes since the age of 80, experienced. Their bond, launched in 2005, resulted in the creation of decadent gowns for the historic award ceremonies the actress attended. Michael compares their friendship and closeness to the iconic duo of Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Giverchy: “It’s a really visual way to see how we saw ourselves as a designer and a muse. What sets us apart is the fact that we had a very spiritual and wonderful relationship,” he notes.

The inspiration for Michael’s recent book, Muse: Cicely Tyson and me: a relationship forged in fashion, results directly from their relationship. “We know this is who we are,” Michael says. It expresses that there may be all the time a bond that connects two people and fashion is what brought the duo closer. Their shared interest in textures and patterns became a major aspect of their collaboration, allowing them to mix Tyson’s identity with Michael’s creativity.

Ahead of the book’s release, we sat down with B. Michael to debate the historical memories he shared with Ms. Tyson, his joining Council of Fashion Designers of Americaand more.

ESSENCE.com: What’s the happiest moment you have experienced recently?

B.Michael: I’m grateful that the book is finished and now going out into the world. It allows me to share the narrative and voice that is a component of our history. I’m grateful for this chance and all the wonderful reactions we receive. And that once I am long gone, this narrative will still be a part of our story and the telling of that story.

Can you tell me what it was prefer to turn out to be a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1998?

When I got here onto the scene as a designer, I never considered myself as anything apart from a fashion designer. Then, in fact, you realize that you simply are a rare breed of an already rare breed since you at the moment are a black American designer. This was what I used to be told, after which I used to be told [began] to comprehend the responsibility for this and the importance of this, it has turn out to be and continues to be something that I take to heart and recognize that we now have a responsibility for excellence, which we all the time do, but we also must make certain that we again provide a path for many who will follow us. So I’ll turn out to be what Arthur McGee was to me. I used to be sponsored by Oscar de la Renta. This was very significant for me

What was your first moment with Ms. Tyson?

Yes, that is the moment you’ll all the time remember. [In 2005] Joey Mills, who was a famous makeup artist, especially in his day, called me and said that Cicely Tyson was there with him and wanted to return over to see if I could make her a dress for Oprah Winfrey’s upcoming Legend Ball and that she knew about me through Susan Fales-Hill. I said in fact. He said, “Well, she would like to come to us right away.” She actually did. She showed up after about half-hour. I’ll all the time remember once I opened the door and there stood Mrs. Tyson, by no means what I expected. I’ve only seen her in movies.

Now standing here is Mrs. Tyson dressed very casually, as I describe in the pages of the book. He has a pad with him, involves the studio and tells me that this event took place [a few] days and might you dress me? Of course I had no selection. That’s where it began. The event called for black and white, so I dressed her in a shirt and evening skirt. She liked the idea of ​​an eclectic style. When I met her, it made perfect sense. So that is how we began. But I’ll all the time do not forget that moment once I opened the door and he or she stood there.

I saw in the book that Beyoncé wore the same skirt to Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball in 2005 that Ms. Tyson wore on the album cover, and I believe that is form of a full-circle fashion moment.

Yes, absolutely. And what I like about it’s what they each represent. However, they each represent something very powerful, but they’re very different. As a designer, I like the incontrovertible fact that I can reach each of those areas in this manner. I mean, it makes me feel like that is what I’m alleged to do. When Mrs. Tyson [first] she got here to me, she was 80 years old, but I hadn’t seen 80. I just saw this amazing woman. [It’s] the same thing once I see Beyoncé, she’s just an incredible woman. I’m delighted that I managed to attain this [what I did] with each and one skirt.

What made Ms. Tyson walk the runway during your 2011 New York Fashion Week show?

It was an amazing moment. So Mrs. Tyson said to me, “I would like to walk down your runway. and I would like to wear this dress. That’s the way it was. During this time, she really liked the set of dresses I created [for] BET honorable mention. One was black in the front and with a white back, and the other was white in the front and with a black back. I actually liked each versions I created and wanted to offer her the selection of which one to wear. She loved each. On the day of the performance, audience members accustomed to seeing her in the front row noticed that she was not there. This caused confusion at the front and everybody wondered where was Mrs. Tyson? When she finally appeared on the runway, there was a roar from the audience, which was quite exciting.

Once again, it was about the muse and the designer and what that meant. We’re at New York Fashion Week, we’re on the calendar. I mean, it was an important moment, and at the same time very intimate for us.

I have to mention the stunning dress she wore to the 2018 Governor Awards, where she received an honorary Oscar. What led to this moment?

Mrs. Tyson and I talked on the phone on daily basis, first at 9:30 a.m. And then, depending on what was going on, we’d talk all day if we didn’t see one another. But in the evening I often say, OK, I’ll talk over with you tomorrow morning. And this particular evening she called me and I used to be like, oh, what is going on on? When I answered the phone, she was emotional and almost lost control. Once she calmed down, she told me that she had just talked on the phone with the president of the Academy and her manager. They just informed her that she’s going to receive an honorary Oscar.

And then, in fact, I responded and now we’re each touched. Finally, she added her humorousness. When she accepted her Tony, I joked that I had prayed to God for a vision of her dress. So she interrupted our emotional moment by saying, “Well, you went to God for Tony, so where are you going to the Oscars?”

What happened next?

I recognized, and he or she jogged my memory, that the world would need to understand how she can be portrayed at this point in her profession, after so many many years of labor. All fashion houses [wanted] dress her and [were] offering their services. [But] released an announcement: “If they know who I am, they know that B. Michael will be making my Oscars dress.” And I did. Let me let you know, I knew it couldn’t just be a dress and it couldn’t be, it needed to be a part of the story.

Several years [prior]I purchased a material that was very rare in Europe in a factory at the moment [that] he made all the couture fabrics when the House of Dior was with Mr. Dior and Saint Laurent was Yves Saint Laurent and so on. I purchased this item and put it in what I call my fabric library, pondering I would want it sooner or later. And that is the fabric I selected to create her dress. The dress is made up of 144 pattern pieces and every bit needed to be redone because the fabric itself is vertically striped and I didn’t want it to simply be a striped pattern. So, to create the abstract striped pattern, every bit needed to be taken with a stripe running in a unique direction.

If we’re talking about a very old fashion, and it’s a dress, it consists of two parts. This bolero is cropped at the front, [has] buttons at the back, the train is asymmetrical. The wonderful thing about the train was that when Mrs. Tyson walked through the huge auditorium towards the stage, where the side of the train faced the audience, it was just wonderful. The dress truly is a component of history in every way, in every stitch. That evening, Mrs. Tyson was a giantess in a royal dress. [Afterwards] it was reported in the press and now we all know as a incontrovertible fact that it was me the first African-American designer to decorate an Oscar winner. Once again, in a single evening, in an enormous way, Ms. Tyson and I remade history together in each of our industries.

What is the biggest lesson you learned out of your time with Ms. Tyson?

I might say it has to do with loyalty. And loyalty, but take it a step further, because what Mrs. Tyson represented and what united us was intentional and that word could be very vital. Ms. Tyson had many options, but this was her intention. So her intentions when it comes to the roles that she selected, I mean, that was an important operational factor for her. In terms of what we achieved, that was the intention. This is one great lesson that stays with me. Loyalty is the intention that drives it and perfection because ability is one thing, nevertheless it is the perfection that must sustain it and offer you the right to it. So perfection can also be a really, very vital lesson.