When Kanye West summoned Dylan Richards and Sebastian McGirr Hunt out to Los Angeles to work alongside the legendary hip hop star and his wife Kim Kardashian West, the Auckland-based fashion designers didn’t think twice.
It isn’t everyday two 24-year-olds receive a call from one of the world’s most renowned rap artists with an offer their wild dreams were built on.
‘I was on my deathbed one hungover Sunday, Dylan ran in screaming that Kanye West was about to call us personally. The next day we were in LA,’ Hunt told Daily Mail Australia.
Kanye West summoned Dylan Richards and Sebastian McGirr Hunt (pictured) out to Los Angeles to work alongside the legendary hip hop star and his wife Kim Kardashian West
‘I was on my deathbed one hungover Sunday, Dylan ran in screaming that Kanye West was about to call us personally. The next day we were in LA,’ Hunt (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia
The two 24-year-olds received a call from one of the world’s most renowned American artists with an offer only their wild dreams were built on (pictured: Dylan Richards)
Dylan and Sebastian commissioned Kardashian West’s ‘Selfie jacket’ (pictured) from New Zealand designer Clara Chon of Blue Blank
Considering their achievements up to that point it was an invitation that was in their destiny.
Following recent bids toward international acclamation, which included styling Parris Goebel’s ReQuest Dance Crew for Justin Bieber’s Sorry music video, and a series of high-fashion styling gigs with distinguished fashion houses, it was only a matter of time before their talent overtook their own expectations.
Now rubbing shoulders with Kanye and Kim Kardashian West is all part of the job description for the stylistically in-tune duo.
‘We literally used to tell friends one day we would get to style Kim Kardashian and they would laugh. Guess who’s laughing now?’ said Hunt of naysayers who were quick to knock their ‘sky’s the limit’ mentality.
Getting to that moment however didn’t happen quite as quickly as their overnight sensational job opportunity.
Richards was just six-years-old when he was drawn to fashion.
‘Growing up I would dress my friends, which I still do to this day,’ he said.
‘From a very young age I’ve always taken a lot of pride and enjoyment in what I was wearing, what brands I had, and how I was putting together my style.
Rubbing shoulders with Kanye and Kim Kardashian West is all part of the job description for the stylistically in-tune duo (pictured: Kardashian West styled by Richards and Kanye)
The pair skipped university citing that learn the technicalities around creativity proved a chore (pictured: Kim Kardashian West)
The humble duo now work alongside Kanye West (pictured) and worked alongside him for the the Yeezy season two, three and four zines
‘To try further my technical knowledge in fashion I studied at two different tertiary institutes but dropped out within a year at each of them, as I hated how theory heavy it was, and the way they categorised things as ”right” or ”wrong”.’
He would prefer to let his creativity run wild in order to get his best work, and the limitations put on him at fashion school outlined predetermined barriers that narrowed that scope.
‘I knew I wanted to work in fashion and wasn’t going to let these out of touch schools dampen that for me, so I opted for real-world experience.’
Similarly, Hunt couldn’t quite get down with the principles set out by imprinted regulations and a formalised learning environment either.
‘I got kicked out of high school, and dropped out of university after about two months because it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t have the patience for a fashion degree to be apart of the industry.’
Both Richards and Hunt got internships at a fashion PR showroom which really gave them a huge insight as to what the fashion industry was about (pictured: Richards ((middle)) lending some light to Kardashian West as she strikes a pose for one of her famed selfies)
Dylan Richards (pictured) says in life you can work incredibly hard but you can’t force opportunities
Despite the ‘boy done good’ success story the humble pair haven’t let their success get to their heads (pictured: Sebastian Hunt)
‘We both got internships at a fashion PR showroom which really gave us a huge insight as to what the industry in New Zealand was about.
‘We learnt a lot which really set us off to start working on our own projects.
‘Being a freelance stylist, or freelance anything, is definitely challenging but we knew what we had to do to get what we wanted,’ Richards said.
The pair ran into challenges when brands stopped lending them clothes and agencies stopped offering up models for the determined pair to work with on their own shoots.
‘That was just another hurdle Dylan and I would gracefully fly over,’ Hunt said.
The idea to work overseas was always in their sights.
‘New Zealand is great, but it’s just very small and limiting when it comes to fashion.
‘Being on Kanye Wests The Life of Pablo tour has to be the highlight of my whole career so far,’ says Hunt (pictured: Kanye West)
‘Working internationally just keeps it exciting. There’s unparalleled access overseas you can’t get in New Zealand from clothes to models to budgets and all that which makes the job more fun.’
Through determination, a disciplined work-ethic and a little help from social media, the pair were scouted on Instagram before being granted the chance to fly over and work with two of the world’s biggest pop culture icons.
Now they work alongside Kanye while playing a key role across day-to-day fashion duties with Kim Kardashian West and other notable figures.
‘The past two years have been mind blowing,’ Hunt says.
‘Being on Kanye Wests The Life of Pablo tour has to be the highlight of my whole career so far.’
‘Moving state to state everyday traveling all over America with such a good group of people was an incredible experience,’ adds Richards.
Hunt and Richards worked on Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 3 zine (pictured: The premiere of Yeezy Season 3 and first official streaming of his album The Life of Pablo)
Bids toward international acclamation included styling Parris Goebel’s ReQuest Dance Crew for Justin Bieber’s Sorry music video (pictured)
Despite the ‘boy done good’ background the humble pair haven’t let their success get to their heads.
They remain grateful for the shot at defined careers and offer up advice for other young people looking to break through.
‘Life is not meant to be easy,’ Hunt said.
‘You can work incredibly hard but you can’t force opportunities,’ adds Richards.
‘Always be yourself, and never let anyone’s negativity get you down and stop you from accomplishing your goals and dreams. I have witnessed that.’
The pair say setting goals is vital, to have both a long-term objectives and smaller short-term ideas.
‘It isn’t an overnight thing,’ says Richards. ‘Get your work seen and out to the world.’