Two reasons:

1. I had always had a knack for dressing women. Even when I was super young - junior high school - I used to help friends, my mom, my sister, with style questions. "Does this coat look good?" "Do these earrings work with this top?" The advice I gave was generally not what they were expecting, but it turned out they loved it. Often, when shopping with female friends, I'd suggest they try something on... they'd look at me weird, and grudgingly say, "Uh... ok." and try it on... and it would become their FAVORITE item in their whole wardrobe.

So it seemed I had a talent/eye for women's styling. I wondered if that talent carried over into design, as well... and...

2. I needed a job desperately, and because I didn't have a college degree, I couldn't even get my foot in the door anywhere. When I looked at my finances and realized that in a short 18 months of intense school schedule I could get that check mark AND find out if I was a good clothing designer, well... it seemed like the right idea at the time.

It led to a VERY interesting 5-7 year phase of my life. Here's a photo of me being interviewed by Hip Bop Battle magazine/podcast, at the MAGIC Menswear Tradeshow in Las Vegas in 2007, for example.