by Nadirah Simmons
Toni Scott Grant’s career in fashion knows no bounds. Her first “real” gig-her words-was to outfit the VA-bred Hip-Hop legend Timbaland, and her most recent most jobs include styling on the set of Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu and the Super Bowl LIV halftime show. A woman of Houston, Texas and a student of both FIT and some of the biggest names in the industry, she sits on a long list of Black women designers and stylists who have contributed to the fashions of some of our favorite moments in music.
She got her start as a kid redesigning the clothes on her Barbie dolls before making her first move to NYC. There she studied at FIT, and a chance meeting on a Geto Boys shoot kickstarted years of work in the industry. Then, after years of shopping as a stylist and not seeing items that reflected how she looked or thought as a Black woman, she launched her line Haus of Swag, with the mission to “create distinctly curated images of self-expression and empowerment for women of color.”
Grant doesn’t really like the word “unsung”-”it feels like a diss,” she says. But she says that there are a lot of Black people within the fashion industry, more specifically within Hip-Hop, who are not celebrated or praised in the way they should be. Especially when Black people and Hip-Hop alone and together drive the culture. She’s one of those people.
We sat down with Grant to talk about her start styling artists for music videos, the work that goes into creating your own brand, the importance of lifting as you climb, and more.
Well let’s get into it! When did you know you wanted to work in the fashion industry?
I know everyone always says “ever since I was a little girl” but basically it is true. I was always redressing dolls, it started at about 8 or 9 as far as what I didn’t know would be styling. Redressing, reimaging, reimagining ideas for people, but it can in the form of dolls when I was very small. I would always hand sew little clothes on dolls because I never liked what Barbie sent, so I’d remix it!
And then looking at movies or film I always had the curiosity: “who dressed them? Where did they get the stuff? And when they build out costumes how does that work?” And that started around 12 or 13. And then Mo’ Better Blues changed my image forever as far as the color and what Ruth was able to do with those costumes, and I think I was in high school then. That movie and seeing [Black people], us, sparked [something].
I love that you mentioned Mo’ Better Blues because I’ve never really thought deeply about the fashion in that movie!
You gotta watch it again and look at the style! But that’s why I was so curious, the color. It was a lot of red, it was dreamy to me!
Now I know Houston is your home.
Yessss, H-Town!
Talk to me about a little about the characteristics of the style there.
I’ll jump and then I go back! Coming here [to NYC], whenever I would say I’m from Houston people thought “country.” But a lot of what I was hearing was “I got friends in Carolina, I got friends in Virginia, my family is from the South!” But that style, when you think about it, we were very colorful. I remember my aunties, when they went out you were going to see them because they were going to have on some glitter, they were going to have some sparkle! I think about the Pointer Sisters, even though they weren’t from that town, when I like at my mom and my aunties it was their style. And I don’t think the Pointer Sisters get enough credit, but back to Houston. Always color, always glamorous, always beautiful, we made something out of nothing when we didn’t have much. It influenced me and my life for sure.
And then you moved to NYC from Houston, with relatively no friends or family in the town.
Coming from Houston, I had met a girl on a Geto Boys video shoot. So talk about Hip-Hop, talk about style. And funny story, Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child make an appearance in that video. And my hairdresser, she was picked to do the hair on that video and she knew I wanted to be a stylist. She was like, “You gotta come just play like you’re my assistant.”
And Chris Robinson who is a famed video director, who’s directed so many videos and also did an episode of Wu-Tang-which we’ll jump to, his assistant and I, we clicked! She lived in Brooklyn and she was like, “you should come.” I was fearful but I wasn’t, because I was like whatever New York has to offer me I should check it out. So I linked up with Chris’ assistant, she was already living in New York, and she had a few connects and that’s how it got started.
I also went to FIT during that time because I was also like, I wanted to get the business side of fashion too.
I love that you mentioned FIT because it comes up a lot when I talk to my friends in fashion. What did you get from these sets versus the experience you get at FIT.
FIT is a great experience for anyone. I always say black and white is always good. You kind of want to know business side of fashion, and I know in many ways it has helped me on my journey as an entrepreneur. And I wouldn’t take anything for granted even though I didn’t finish because I had gotten so busy with style work. It wasn’t one of things where: “Oh my god I’m making so much money I should leave school.” Because that’s where I learned my principle because my study was design.
I don’t know how it is now, but back in the day you had to go up against a committee if you were studying design…You go up to a committee, bring your sketchbook of what your designs are and you show them and it’s a yay or nay, and it was a “no” for me. My feelings were crushed. But every dark story has a brighter story. One of the counselors saw how hurt I was so she asked if I ever thought about merchandise and management. Never heard of it, FMM, fashion merchandise and management, and she thought it would be a great fit for me…I learned so much about textiles, fabrics, buying, international, global, so many things now that people don’t take the time to read. Even an online boutique or whatever, you want to have some book knowledge!
And I know while in NYC for the first time you met The Fashion King, Groovey Lew, who’s styled Diddy, Biggie, Lil Wayne, Lauryn Hill, and Nipsey. What was this meeting like?
Ah my brother. The Lox were having a listening party and I was asking around, “who’s the dopest stylist that’s a male” and “who’s the dopest stylist that’s a female?” Who hits the block in New York? And just making a point for the kids, you don’t have to have a celebrity behind you or a lot of work. If you have a passion and a fearless energy in you that this is something you know you need to be doing, you just figure out who’s a player in that movement. So people are saying “Groovey Lew, Groovey Lew.” And at this listening party my girl points him out as the guy with the head wrap. So literally, with my country self, I walked over to him, confidence abound and I told him: “you need me.” I told him I just wanted to assist and I had previous work with Timbaland and Geto Boys and I really love Hip-Hop. And that if he ever had any work I would love to help, and he asked me if I could work that weekend!
He gave me his number and I called and the next thing you know I was flying to Los Angeles within a week to style Snoop Dogg, Jagged Edge, Jermaine Dupri. It was a video for Harlem World, Mase’s group. And Loon was in that group!
Oh my god, this is making me so excited!
This was my intro to Hip-Hop styling beyond Timbaland. And I would be remiss to not mention that Timbaland gave me my first start before Groovey Lew.
But the next week I’m in Los Angeles. And Mase has a twin sister, her name is Baby Stase. She was the person I was appointed to assist and style, and we get to the shoot and she doesn’t like anything that we brought. So I’ve got go to the Beverly Center, and Groovey Lew was kind of like “you know what to do.” He gave me the opportunity, [basically saying] “this is your chance.” So I brought back a few things and she loved it. Also funny story, we were in an area and I can’t remember what area if it was, Bloods or Crips. But we had to pack up and move to another location. So all of that was happening, and I was a newbie!
I love that you mentioned Timbaland because that was going to be my next question! You called that your first “real gig.” Were there any other style moments outside of that, the Geto Boys, and Snoop that stand out for you?
Shout out to Snoop. I’m very introverted. So, I didn’t really know that once you dress everyone you can come off the trailer. Snoop comes on the trailer, I’ve got his stuff ready for the Harlem World shoot and he’s like, “Why you on this trailer ma?”
I told him I had to wash the clothes and he’s like: “No. You come off this trailer and if anyone says anything to you tell them to say holler at me…You need to see the action, you need to what’s going on, you need to come off this trailer.”
It was a very good moment because he saw me. And every time since then, I worked the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame where Tupac was being honored and Snoop was there. I hadn’t seen him in many years and he said, “What’s up H-Town Love?” He gave me that nickname on set.
But I think, one of my biggest moments was J Lo’s Super Bowl. And even though it was in an assisting capacity, what do you say to that? And even though I was still Kaepernick all the way, just to be in that moment with a Fly Girl from the Bronx who’s done so many great things. It hit me on field day rehearsals, it was mind blowing. And shout out to Shawn Beezy for that opportunity.
I like to give credence to people because a lot of people who work behind the scenes, we don’t get the credit we deserve. And I will say a lot us who do work behind the scenes, we don’t care for the shine or the spotlight. But when it’s time to inspire and motivate another Brown or Black queen, we gotta do that.
And even through my research on you and the ways that you’ve shouted out April Walker, Dawn Haynes, Misa Hylton, Sybil Pennix and June Ambrose-I find that so inspiring and important. Tell me a little bit about the camaraderie amongst Black women stylists in music and more specifically in Hip-Hop.
What can I say about April Walker? A queen and someone who lifts as she climbs…You know, we didn’t have a blueprint. Everything was from scratch and we built. And you weren’t afraid to listen to the elders. So to answer your question, for people like April Walker and Dawn Haynes and Sybil Pennix, they are people that people should know regardless of whether they want their shine people should do their research on.
The blueprint certainly didn’t start with me. I learned from watching these other young Black women do the thing. I mean Misa, what do you say about Misa?
They had a retrospective of her work at an event a few days ago and I was invited by April. And I literally have a card from Misa that she gave me 22 years ago in a ladies restroom. I was at Bad Boy Christmas party I think, she didn’t know me, and I walked up to her and introduced myself, told her I assisted Groovey Lew a lot, and said if she ever needed help I was here.
My grandmother has this saying: “The smile don’t meet the eyes.” So when I’m talking to people I always look at the eyes and she was so kind and so regal. And she didn’t look through me, she looked at me, and told me to give her a call. And she hugged me and she was so grateful…And I was so grateful to say to her that she didn’t turn this young queen away. So kudos to those women. Shout out to those women.
Well I want to switch gears a little bit and talk about ‘Haus of Swag,’ founded in 2011. Talk to me about the inspiration behind launching this line and the work that went into it.
I created this line to be of service to Black women. The way the story goes, I was shopping for t-shirts because obviously as a stylist I’m always running through stores doing wardrobing and costuming. But I was looking for a t-shirt that spoke to me or my homegirls, and there was not one shirt that had a Black woman or a woman of color that I could relate to. And out frustration I had this idea that I put in the back of my mind.
I had a physical boutique in Houston called Scott Free, a play on my maiden name Scott. The 2009 boom came and I had to shut that boutique down, and then I had a car accident that put me on my ass and I was laid up, woke up from a dream, and in that dream Lauryn Hill was in that dream, Billie Holliday, just fly women from Jazz and Hip-Hop. And I was like, I need to put that on a t-shirt. And that’s how Haus of Swag was born.
Then the business side, if I had to give pointers or say the difficulties: trademark, trademark, trademark. A lot of people come up to me saying they have ideas for a t-shirt brand or a handbag or accessories. Trademark your work. If you feel that work is very important and it’s going to be important to culture, trademark your work because we are in a copy and paste environment. Originality doesn’t get credited and mediocrity rises to the top.
I know that you’ve also done work in television! Talk to me about your work in that industry.
Doing a lot of the videos back in the day was a great start. And then that film in the Hamptons that I quit my job for…But I really didn’t hit my stride until my second move back [to NYC]. So I’ve got to say one of my greatest moments is working on Wu-Tang, the Hulu series. I mean hello! Shout out to Marcy Rodgers, costume designer. Just having that experience and not fangirling looking at RZA everyday on set, telling that Hip-Hop story, and seeing April Walker from Walker Wear, and seeing her wardrobe be brought onto the truck and placed on Dave East, who plays Method Man. Just watching all of those things and the characters come alive, It’s just one of my best fangirl experiences.
And you did the key costuming on the Bad Boy documentary too?
I sure did! And that was here in Brooklyn and that was a tester, they were going to see if that would make a good run for the turn. Kind of like how a show does a pilot. It wasn’t a tour at first, that was their test run.
That experience, omg. Seeing Black Rob and being able to [establish looks for him]. Groovey Lew was there with Diddy and seeing him and catching up with him was great. DMX, god rest, he was there. One of the girls from Total had a wardrobe malfunction and I had to run onstage while to show was going on to help pin her costume. Those moments, I don’t trade them. I’m so grateful for those moments.
We’ve talked about so many things today, and one thing that’s been a constant in all of these industries is the presence of Hip-Hop. How would you describe the relationship between fashion and Hip-Hop today?
It’s a needle mover, there’s no movement without us. So many of those pioneers, April Walker, Misa Hylton, they didn’t know Hip-Hop would be what it was. They did it for the love. And all of us in Hip-Hop, we love fashion. You can’t have one without the other and you see the influence everyday.
If you think about a lot of these brands, I see Burberry very logo’d out, Versace very logo’d out, it’s cool. Sneakers and all of that. But a lot of [these] things they would not have done prior [to Hip-Hop]. These brands had to recognize who we were, and I don’t think we needed them. They needed us. They still need us.