I’m a ‘Basketball Wife of LA’ & fashion designer – I was bullied on TV, now I dress celebs like Cardi B & H… – The Sun

ANGEL Brinks has reality television under her belt, but a few projects up her sleeve.
Best known for her role in three seasons of VH1's Basketball Wives of LA, she told The U.S. Sun that that's not where her notoriety in the fashion world started.
The 41-year-old has worked with some of hip-hop's biggest names, including Cardi B, Missy Elliott, and Lil Kim, dressing them to the nines.
She was even featured in Forbes as being one of the "Top 10 Women Leaders who conquered 2023," according to an Instagram post.
But she was a new mom venturing into reality television for the first time when she stepped onto the public scene — and it wasn't all sunshine and roses.
Angel had just welcomed her daughter, Amani, with NBA player Tyreke Evans when she joined Basketball Wives of LA in 2015.
"I was really stressed out in my relationship, so I thought it was more of a sisterhood and we can talk about the life that comes with basketball," she said.
"I wasn't married, but I started a family with him. So, for me, it was about wanting to build my strength and feel like we all can relate.
"I kind of came into it with a pure heart and then I realized it's a lot going on."
Angel has spoken out about being "bullied" by the other wives on the show, saying they didn't take her fashion designer aspirations seriously.
She went on to appear in three seasons of the show — and those she said it was "hard," she's glad she did it.
"I learned a lot about people. I learned a lot about myself," she said.
Angel's experience didn't go unnoticed by A-listers, including an upset Cardi B.
The WAP rapper didn't appreciate how Angel was treated by other cast members and enlisted her to make an MTV VMA dress.
"I was working with Cardi B right when she got on Love and Hip Hop, if not before," Angel said.
"So she and I already had a working relationship. I was designing for her," she added.
"And she happened to be watching as she had tweeted, 'Angel Brinks is actually really a nice person and I don't like what they're doing to her. They're really mean to her for no reason,' or whatever the quote was, she pretty much said that in a nutshell," she added.
"Cardi B is very amazing to work with," she said.
In addition to designing for Cardi B, Angel has also worked with several other iconic names in hip-hop.
"I think Missy Elliott was probably one of the biggest challenges for me, because she's she's an extreme perfectionist," she said.
"Lil' Kim is, too, and a lot of the girls are, but Missy has been around for a while and she knows what she wants and she has to have it be perfect.
"Sometimes it's challenging, but I love nailing it, and it makes me feel better. I feel like, 'OK good. I've made her happy. I did what I had to do.'
"I did a Super Bowl commercial with her, and that was a major career move for me … because the check came in from Pepsi. You're like, 'Oh my God!'
"[Missy Elliott] was amazing to work with and very humble, very nice," she added.
More hip-hop names she's designed for include Megan Thee Stallion and Saweetie, but her reach doesn't stop there.
"Anitta was major for me. Never met her, but when I got the call from her stylist to design for her that was a major," she said.
Angel has also designed for Heidi Klum and Melanie B of the Spice Girls.
Angel's designs have evolved to grace red carpets and large-scale commercials, but she started off with a niche.
"I originally launched leggings 14 years ago — just leggings," she said.
"Leggings were really hot back then and at that time it was really just American Apparel and there were just basic leggings," she added.
The lack of variety in the market sparked into a full-blown entrepreneurial endeavor.
"I was like, 'Let me take the leggings amplify them with glitter, cut them up, paint them, or do different things.
I grew up playing with Barbie dolls and wanting to dress my Barbie dolls. Now I have real-life models and dress-up mannequins.
"And then customers were like, 'Can you make me a matching top to go with this?'"
They also began to ask for pieces that accentuate specific body types.
"I noticed over time that I'm not just creating more designs, girls are saying, 'I really hate my arms, so can you make this with sleeves?'
"Some girls say, 'I really hate my back. Can you can you make my dress with a full back?'"
Angel Brinks Fashion is now a haute couture brand with some ready-to-wear apparel available.
"When it's made to order, it's not just hanging on a rack, because obviously at the showroom, people can come in, they try it on, they might mess it up.
"When you're getting your piece, it's not a return piece and it's not sitting on a rack getting tried on by so many people.
"Your piece is coming fresh off the sewing machine, so there's a lot of good things that come with that, which just require a little bit of patience," she added.
Her styles clearly cater to curves as Angel herself said she was inspired by the female form.
"I grew up playing with Barbie dolls and wanting to dress my Barbie dolls. Now I have real-life models and dress-up mannequins.
"The women's body is my inspiration. Just really accentuating or adding to a woman's curves."
Co-star Draya Michele, and real-life friend of Angel's, invited her to be on the show that put her on the reality TV map.
Draya, a media personality, landed the spot on Basketball Wives of LA due to her track record of dating NBA players.
"[Draya] was one of the most popular girls on the show. So she brought me in and I'm extremely thankful and grateful for her. She didn't have to do that," she said.
Angel added that watching her friend get bullied on the show hurt her on a personal level.
"I was brought on by Draya and a lot of girls came for her, it's a form of bullying," she said.
"So coming in as her friend the first season I was attacked because I'm Draya's friend, but I took it. You're not going to attack my friend. So whatever it is, let's get to it," she added.
In addition to loyalty towards her friend, she said she felt targeted due to her positive attitude.
"I'm a very easy target. I'm very nice. I stand with women. I'm major on women's empowerment," she said.
"My whole company is based off of women. I just can't sit there and put down another woman, because it's totally against what I believe in," she added.
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