Need Gold? Call a Los Angeles Designer
STAY GOLD: Steve Valentine, pictured left, and dance coach Robert Tristan take the Gold in Gay Games' Latin Dancing
Los Angeles design can make you a winner. Just ask Steve Valentine and the guys of the L.A. Eclipse soccer team.
Valentine and the men of the Eclipse asked Los Angeles–area designers to create costumes and uniforms to compete in the Gay Games VIII, held in Cologne, Germany, last month. Literally looking good, Valentine and the soccer players returned to their West Hollywood–area homes with big wins.
The Eclipse won gold medals for the games’ category of Men’s Soccer Division 2. As reported by Apparel News on July 29, the team asked West Hollywood boutique and manufacturer LASC to make team uniforms for them.
Valentine, a prominent public-relations agent, engaged designers Maggie Barry and Gamila Smith to create a costume for his competition in the category Men’s B-Class Latin dancing 18+. Valentine may have known that the sartorial track record of Barry would give him a boost.
She made stage costumes for rockers David Lee Roth and some contestants from So You Think You Could Dance. Valentine and his dance coach, Robert Tristan, won gold.
Valentine’s costume featured a light stretch material and a lot of feathers. Before he hit the competition, he asked the designers to cut out panels in the front and back of the costume’s shirt. The bare spots were replaced with sheer, mesh material. His daring might have been a Hail Mary pass. “If it was not over the top and sexy enough, I would not have won,” Valentine said.
