Why She’s Interesting: A self-proclaimed “sustainability junkie,” Cierra Boyd, the CEO of FriskMeGood, creates fashionable styles from preexisting pieces. It's a passion of hers, but the practice also cuts back on the harmful effects of fast fashion. Her pieces are summed up as “retro futuristic fashion,” a vision of the way people of the past used to dream the future would appear.
Fashion Meets Passion: Boyd says sustainability chose her. Fresh out of college, the Ohio University graduate didn’t have the finances to keep up with skyrocketing fabric prices, so she started to create clothes from what she had at home. “Eventually I was able to afford the fabrics, but I started to notice a difference in the way people responded to my upcycled stuff.”
Make It a Major: At the state school in Athens, Boyd enrolled as a business major but requirements like high-level calculus made her decide to follow a path that seemed a little more fun: fashion school. She graduated with a degree in retail merchandising and fashion product development. “I started meeting other people around campus who dressed like I did and they were very flamboyant with their style. [We'd dress] to the tee for class everyday.”
Shoes are a Girl’s Best Friend: Boyd was in the attic of her mother’s house trying to make an upcycled shirt out of shoes for a competition when inspiration struck. “When I put the top on it wasn’t looking right, so I don’t know if I was taking it off or happened to move it down, but when I put it around my waist I was like OK, this is cute.”
Party with Cardi: Her shoe corsets got so popular, they caught the attention of Cardi B’s fashion team, which flew Boyd out to L.A. to create a corset for the rap star to wear to her husband's birthday party. “I didn’t know that I was going to be at her house or go to the party or be on her team that night. I felt like I was in a dream.”
Local Celebrity: Boyd spent more than a month in L.A. filming for The Hype, a design competition show. Though she did not win the grand prize, she did end up with connections and opportunities to collaborate. “It was dope just getting to meet other designers and test my skills and abilities as a designer.”
The Ongoing Dream: Her connections from The Hype got her in front of Beyonce’s
designer. She's still dreaming of styling other celebrities like Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. “If Rihanna wears it, I’m done. That would be so awesome.”
Click here to meet Cleveland's Most Interesting People of 2023.
