June Ambrose

June Ambrose is a creative director, costume designer, stylist, and entrepreneur whose career has influenced the relationship between hip-hop culture and high fashion. Ambrose is known for styling prominent hip-hop and R&B artists in high fashion pieces, including Missy Elliott and Jay-Z in widely recognized 1990s music videos. She is credited with integrating high fashion into the hip-hop and R&B sphere and introducing streetwear to fashion runways.

After graduating, Ambrose worked briefly in investment banking before interning at MCA Records, where she began styling new artists. This experience led her to found The Modé Squad, Inc., expanding her reach within the music and fashion industries.

Ambrose's portfolio includes work on many of hip-hop's most visually defining moments. She created memorable looks in music-video history, such as the shiny red suits worn by Mase and Puff Daddy in "Mo Money, Mo Problems" and Missy Elliott's vinyl balloon suit in "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)." Many of these projects were collaborations with director Hype Williams and have become iconic representations of the intersection between hip-hop and fashion. Ambrose has designed for more than 200 music videos, served as costume designer for the film "Belly," and worked as a stylist on "The X Factor." She was also the creative director for the Missy Elliott × Adidas "Respect M.E." collection, the first of its kind for a female hip-hop artist.

Ambrose has contributed to the industry by creating opportunities for other stylists of color, building connections between luxury European fashion houses and hip-hop artists, and pioneering celebrity brand collaborations. Her influence extends beyond styling into authorship and television. She published "Effortless Style" to guide individuals in personal styling and has appeared as a style expert on television programs including "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "The View." Ambrose also hosted "Styled by June" on VH1, where she worked with celebrities to revitalize their personal style. She has collaborated with brands such as Target, Macy's, and La Mer to develop lifestyle products.

Her work in sports fashion includes serving as creative director of Puma Hoops, where she released "High Court," a women's basketball collection and the first of its kind for the brand. Ambrose has received recognition for her contributions, including the NAACP Image Awards Fashion Vanguard Award and inclusion in the Council of Fashion Designers of America's "28 Black Fashion Forces" initiative. She has created nearly 250 looks for Missy Elliott's North American "Out of This World" tour and served as creative director for the artist's Coachella performance.

Ambrose is the global ambassador and creative director of Naturalizer, collaborating on collections that merge fashion and sport, including the "STYLE-LETICS" initiative. She has delivered keynote addresses at industry events such as the Unstereotype Alliance Global Member Summit, discussing culture-shifting work in fashion. With a career spanning more than three decades, Ambrose continues to influence the fashion, music, and sports industries, shaping the visual language of contemporary culture.