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Making Her Mark

Frewsburg’s Native Fashionista Immerses Herself In Passion

Gina Vincenza Van Epps, a Frewsburg native, has earned her place in the fashion industry over the decades. She has costumed dancers and celebrities for performances by Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and more and now wants to help establish a fashion district in Orlando. Submitted photo

ORLANDO — Gina Vincenza Van Epps immerses herself in the world of fashion, not only making it a full-time career clothing celebrities, but also trying to leave a lasting impact on the industry by pursuing a third fashion district in the United States, hopefully in the heart of Orlando.

“I keep setting new goals for myself,” the go-getter and Frewsburg High School alumna said. “It’s very intentional. I’ve basically found at least a 100 different ways making money doing what I love to do.”

Those familiar with pop culture may be familiar with Van Epps’ work over the years as she recently has provided or prepared costumes for Rihanna’s male dancers, Taylor Swift’s dresses for her Red tour, film costumes for Justin Bieber’s “Believe,” dancers’ costumes for Beyonce’s Formation tour and more.

She said since artists make more of their money through tours compared to when she was growing up, the bar has been accordingly raised to impress fans. Van Epps costumes most often for performances at the Amway Center in Orlando and Amalie Arena in Tampa.

“I enjoy my job,” Van Epps said. “That’s what makes it worth it. It just doesn’t seem like work when you enjoy what you’re doing.”

This is good for Van Epps, who also has three young adult children. She said she hasn’t had a day off since Thanksgiving; her “Psycho Seamstress” moniker fits well as she’s tackled a variety of projects, from preparing for Michael Winslow’s comedy tour and crafting Universal Studios super hero mascot costumes to setting up an Orlando Fashion District nonprofit in an attempt to establish both a fashion and garment district in the famous tourist destination. She’s calling it a “multi-million dollar mission.”

She said the desire to make Orlando a larger fashion destination comes from just how impressive the tourism industry has been in years past. Van Epps said the theme parks alone bring in $53 million of revenue annually. She added that growth is happening faster than the infrastructure can keep up with it.

The current fashion districts are located in New York and Los Angeles, which are largely supported by the costuming for Broadway and Hollywood respectively. She thinks the cost of living is contributing to a shrinking district in New York and sees an opportunity for Orlando to rise with the backing of its theme park and cruise costumes and tour fashion.

Van Epps plans on hosting more pop-up shops for networking, showcasing products and sales to kickstart a possible district. She said it makes sense for Orlando to become self-sustaining in this way.

Community service opportunities have found Van Epps in other ways too. Corrections officers in Orange County, Florida have reached out to her to teach a set of fashion design and sewing classes to help prepare inmates for entering the workforce once they are released. Van Epps also finds herself doing cosplay commissions for interested individuals, but she said she usually teaches the enthusiasts to build their own costumes in the future instead of just make one for them.

“My whole mission with that is to promote the love of sewing and help people,” Van Epps said regarding the sentiment that applies to everything from the fashion district project to smaller acts of instruction.

She’s also the design house owner of House of Vincenza. Van Epps wasn’t always this successful; she had desk jobs in decades past as her hobby and passion slowly grew into a full-time career starting several years ago.

Van Epps’ first example of notoriety may have been when she was voted “most artistic” at Frewsburg High School before she graduated in the Class of 1985. She wants teenagers growing up to find what they like to do for fun and try to make it a career. She said she taught herself many of the advanced sewing skills she needed for her profession.

“It took a minute to get there,” Van Epps said, “but I got there!”

She never imagined herself being in a fashion video for a star either. But that’s what happened when she appeared in one of Beyonce’s behind the scenes videos. After that, she ended up restoring Janis Joplin’s cape for the Hard Rock Cafe in San Francisco.

“That project was probably the most epic, historical project I’ve done so far,” Van Epps said.

Repairing everything from Scooby-Doo to Harry Potter costumes for Universal Studios as a costume fabrication specialist may be more common, but she said the pop culture side of her never tires from it. After helping prepare costumes for the likes of Paul McCartney and Elton John, she’s felt privileged to provide value to their shows.

In contrast to the high-profile jobs she’s worked on, Van Epps started with humble beginnings learning how to sew in a home economics class taught by Debra Cable at Frewsburg High School. She still remembers the first shirt she ever made was in that class. She encourages students to stand up for the arts and classes like home economics that have inspired her.

“I think the arts are important, and sometimes they get neglected when budgets are being cut,” Van Epps said.

Van Epps is a third generation seamstress and still uses some of her grandmothers’ supplies because she likes to get use out of them. Her two daughters assist her in organizing the Orlando Fashion District, and one of them is even interested in modeling.

“It’s great to have them involved,” Van Epps said.

She encourages young people to pursue their dreams and create the kinds of jobs they would want to do. Van Epps noted that what she does now didn’t exist to the extent it currently does when she was growing up; she wants children to know that pursuing something unique is worth it.

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