IN Peters Township October/November 2017 | Page 40

INPERSON
(L to R): Joanna Wentling, Malori Bailes, Brian David and
Divauna Taravella at Fashion Week Downtown 2017.
Passion for Fashion
BY NICOLE TAFE
Peters Township alum Brian David Thompson
enjoys his dream career as a fashion designer.
P
eters Township graduate Brian David Thompson has dreamed
of being a fashion designer his entire life. Designing under the
name Brian David, his vintage inspired clothes for the modern day
woman have been seen at fashion events throughout the Pittsburgh area
for a number of years.
Thompson is the son of David and Vicky Thompson and has two
sisters—Dana and Britney. His family moved to Venetia in 1994, and
Thompson graduated from Peters Township High School in 2000. He
and his partner, Adam Jones, lived in a small ranch style home in Venetia
for 11 years until just recently, when they purchased their first home.
“Growing up I always knew designing and creating clothes was my
calling,” says Thompson. “When other boys were hunting and playing
sports, I wanted to spend my time making clothes for Barbies! My
mother tells me when I was young, I saw her sew on a button—and from
that day on I was hooked!”
Thompson considers his freshman year of high school as his first step
into the world of fashion, when his talent for sewing was recognized by
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the high school's theater troupe. Thompson’s first task there was creating
the costumes for the 1997 run of “Little Women.”
The following year, Thompson was asked to design and create his
very first prom dress for a friend. The dress was a black corset with a full
purple ball skirt, black sheer overlay—accented with a few
hundred purple rose buds scattered around the bottom. By Thompson’s
senior year, he was well on his way to perfecting his trade. Thompson
lettered three times in theater, and won the “Thespian of the Year Award”
in 2000.
After graduating from PTHS, Thompson tried his hand at college—
only to find it was not the path to achieve his dreams. He returned
home and got a job catering for what was, at the time, The Post Gazette
Pavilion. Thompson spent the next three years serving food, stalking
dressing rooms and tour buses and meeting more musicians than most
people would meet in a lifetime.
One day, by chance, Thompson met a woman from the Pittsburgh
Wardrobe Union. She took his contact information and said she would