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That weekend, Jeremy Scott received an honorary degree from the ����TV���� after delivering the commencement address as the Jedel Family Commencement Speaker. He returned to a city with which he has a complicated history, but one he now speaks about with affection.

With the Fiber students, he recalled spending hours at local art house cinemas, most now gone, watching old black and white Hollywood films or whatever happened to be playing. Early on, he pursued ceramics and paper sculpture, developing the first instincts of his making his own clothing. Leaning mostly into sculptural pieces because he knew little about sewing or patternmaking.

By his own description, he was a flamboyant young gay person growing up in 1988. It was not an easy life, and he faced hostility and challenges that many students today find difficult to imagine.

“I think you all are the age group that grew up with Glee. That is not my reality,” he said. “And I knew I had a light burning inside of me that was stronger than where I was from, and I needed to go somewhere where that light could shine.”

“I was doing six shows a year. And my shows weren’t like, ‘Oh, we’ll just lengthen this skirt for next season.’ No, each one was a whole other character, a whole other world. So I started asking myself, do I really want to keep pouring my creativity into this same medium?”

When asked how he approaches challenges and exhaustion, Scott pointed to a mix of grounding practices, long-standing relationships, and a deep sense of trust in the unknown. He described looking to astrological ideas for perspective and spending time hiking as a way to reset.

“It’s very ‘granola,’ but yeah, nature and all of that,” he said. “And I am still best friends with people I went to college with. My best friend from Lawrence, Kansas, who was a painting major at Pratt [Institute], has worked with me through my entire career. He’s like my external hard drive backup to the memory of my life.”

He added that, beyond these anchors, his approach ultimately comes down to trust: “And then just fully believing that the universe has got me. That's it.”

During an interview at another school, he was asked about his clothing: “Who is this for? Where are the sportswear separates?"

“I was like, ‘Oh, these are for me and my friends.’ And they’re like, ‘Well, that’s not a clientele.’ And I beg to [expletive] differ!”

“Because, really, speaking your truth and for your people is how I have made my career. I honestly wouldn’t put things out that I couldn’t imagine somebody wearing whether it’s someone I know to the level of Rihanna or it’s a friend’s mom.”

His honesty, outgoing personality, and bold yet approachable nature followed him to the Pratt Institute. There, as a freshman, he acted as an unofficial intern for seniors, sewing buttons and doing whatever it took just to be involved.

“Sometimes you see something and think, ‘Oh, I hate that,’ and it helps you realize that’s not really you,” he said. “It’s very easy to think one thing is for you until you realize, ‘Actually, I’m more suited for something else.’”

Scott’s bold style even caught the eye of Marc Jacobs, who complimented him during a chance encounter on the street. Seizing the moment, Scott asked for an internship right then and there, landing an opportunity purely on the strength of his personality and drive, long before he had a degree.

“When I mentioned how people perceived my look at that time, I was the fashion show. Every single day," Scott said. "Because I didn’t have a runway to put it out there yet, my body was the canvas.”