Stevie Boi – The Rock Star Designer

Stevie Boi, a fashion designer destined to become an international film and TV personality, was preparing for New York Fashion Week, announcing a new line of shoes and proclaiming some epic surprises when we spoke recently.

Last year, Get Out! featured Stevie Boi (“The Boi in the Bathtub”), and once again he has agreed to speak about his upcoming fashion creations, as well as his ultra amazing media accomplishments.

I know that you’re a fashion designer, but I feel as though you are just as much of a personality as designer.
I agree, pretty much. I put the title of designer on my resume, because I don’t want to say “I’m this, I’m that.” I just say I’m a designer, and then go off of that. But I am breaking some boundaries here, in regards to a couple of things. Usually designers are in the house, boring, which I am.

I think you are anything but boring..
I’m boring in the aspect …like, you said I am a personality. If you throw a camera in my face and ask me questions, I can give you something entertaining, but otherwise I am very old in my mind. I sit at home and watch daytime talk shows and drink tea all day long.
Really?
Yeah. I don’t go to parties and clubs, unless it’s a booking, but I’m a Southern boy; maybe that’s why. But I like to be in the house.
After seeing that picture of you on Get Out!’s cover last year, in the bathtub, naked, I would have never guessed that about you.
I just know how to get attention. That’s what I learned in the industry, but in the daytime you have to stay at home and be as humble as possible, otherwise you’ll get too caught up in it, and you’ll get lost somewhere. I don’t want that to be me. I’ve seen a lot of my friends in the past six years in this industry just falling off the planet, just disappearing. I just found a way for me to stay relevant and sane at the same time.
So you’re about to embark on a tour?
I just finished my last tour, and that was insane. I toured over 30 different countries and U.S. cities. I was in Dubai, I was in Egypt, the list goes on. Name a country, I was there. I was also in Africa, but this year is even bigger. I’m doing 30 more. I’m about to do Australia, Russia again, Germany. I started my tour February 13 in New York City for Fashion Week. Then I went to Vegas on the 20th, then London on the 22nd, then Italy, Paris, then Australia. The list goes on.
What kind of show do you present on tour?
Last year I was showcasing my collection in different cities. I am basically like a rock star designer. I created the whole tour thing. I created this whole concept of instead of me creating just in London and New York and all the normal places, I started taking it to other places where people may have not heard of me. I basically just show my line. There are different fashion weeks in different states and countries. I got my team together, got sponsors, and made it happen.
So what’s new for this year?
I have so much! Right now they are about to announce the fact that I designed my first line of luxury shoes. They are about to announce that in an hour. I have a luggage collection coming out. I have a brand-new eyewear collection coming out, over 900. You say, “What? Over 900 glasses coming out?” These are luxury optical reading glasses.
I love your sunglasses.
These aren’t my couture ones. These are the real deal. They are going to be in a couple of stores in London and Paris. We are working on that right now. We are not going to get them in stores until April or May. I am opening up a flagship store in New York City on the lower East Side, and an official store in Baltimore. I have Batman verses Superman, a design for that. That comes out in May. Oh, I got casted in a movie. I’m acting in a movie March 13 through the 19th called “Protocol 734.” It’s my first major role. It comes out in theaters October 30 of this year. You can get the information on my website.
So now you’re a movie star too?
I’m trying. That’s why I took the title designer and stick with that! I’m just going to keep it like that, and everyone else can decide what I am in order to keep myself relevant. It works!
You are a busy boy.
I am extremely busy, but that’s what I signed up for.
What inspired you to sign up for this? I know you had a strict upbringing, so how did this happen?
Yeah, military parents, and religious. My dad passed away a few years ago, but the good news is that my mom is very supportive. She comes to all of my shows. She’s coming to Vegas so we could have a good time.
Good for her.
Now my uncle is starting to come to all my shows, so it’s becoming a family affair. At first I kept my family separate, because some of the things that I do may be shocking, especially with such a strict, religious background. I didn’t want to expose my family to everything, like walking around naked, like that cover I did for the magazine. I don’t think my mom has seen it. It wouldn’t be bad. She would tell me that I’m crazy. Now I’m comfortable with it; it’s not weird or anything.
What else is on the horizon for you? Tell me everything.
I’m about to start doing more TV, like “The View,” Wendy Williams,” more national TV stuff. I’m filming three different projects. I have a reality show that I’m filming in Vegas called “Stevie Takes Vegas.” We started filming it when it was hot. We’re not done yet. We will finish when I go back there next month. That was a lot of drama. That was fun, I guess, as I repent! Me almost throwing up in the helicopter, the helicopter almost crashed, the car broke down, my makeup artists quit on me, he got hit by a car. Whatever happens in Vegas should literally stay in Vegas, because all that devil stuff better not follow me back to Baltimore. It was the most traumatic situation ever!
Wow, that’s a lot.
Then in New York, for New York Fashion Week, comes another reality show that Whoopi Goldberg is producing. This isn’t my show; this is about the first trans model agency. Basically they are providing models for my show. It’s basically me just helping the girls and the guys, the trans models, to understand how the business works. There’s only three days of filming. It’s going to be on Oxygen.
Is there any particular designer that inspires you?
It wasn’t necessarily a designer. Grace Jones has always been a huge inspiration for me. Alexander McQueen is a designer and has always been a huge inspiration to me. I’m not really a big fan of a lot of designers. There aren’t that many designers that look like me or do the things that I do, so it’s kind of hard to be a fan of other designers. I took Grace Jones as a person, and Alexander McQueen as a designer, and I mixed the two. Musicians have inspired me, like David Bowie. Everything he’s ever done has been out of the box. Bette Midler, it’s kind of random, but her stage performances always inspired me.
Great choices.
Great choices, and also
very gay choices!

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