Owatonna meets Beyoncé While growing up in Owatonna, Scott Nylund would draw women in fabulous gowns. As an art major at Luther College in Iowa, he continued to put them on his figure drawings. So he went to New York and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Now, at 32, he's been Tina Knowles' "right-hand man" in the design business that generates many of her daughter Beyoncé's dresses and their clothing lines.
An August exhibit of "An Evolution of Illustration" at the Owatonna Arts Center traces Nylund's work from the early drawings in 1989 to the full-out fashion illustrations he does now. He called in while in town to put the show together.
Q How did you start working with Beyond Productions (co-owned by Tina and Beyoncé Knowles)?
A I got a call to come in and meet with them. I was so excited about meeting Tina Knowles that I prepared a project. We hit it off right away. They offered me an assistant design position before anyone else was hired. Because I've been able to work with them the most [over the past five years], they've become comfortable with my aesthetic. Now I'm the design director. It's wonderful. As Tina would say, I'm her eyes and her ears.
Q What does a design director do?
A [Tina] will start us with a color palette such as red, gray, white and black and we'll fill in the rest. Or she'll come back from London inspired by the English countryside and lion's head door knockers. So we'll go find fabric, inspiration illustrations. Being a director is like being a choir director: You make sure the cellos and violins are playing the same note at the same time -- coordinated and cohesive.
Q Were you involved with Destiny's Child at all?
A I was part of the Destiny Fulfilled tour. It was one of the most amazing times. They were just starting to talk about [Knowles' label] House of Dereon's part in that. We went from song to song. My notebooks from that experience will be on display in the exhibit.
