Deontré Hancock opened with a bold introduction in the first episode of Season 2 of Netflix’s Next in Fashion.

“I’m here to claim my prize,” Hancock said to hosts Tan France and Gigi Hadid. His self-assured entrance set him up well when he –spoiler alert– became one of three finalists on the show, giving the world a taste of what he has to offer. 

While Hancock didn’t ultimately win, making it to the final round created a buzz around his work – and his vision –  which are heavily inspired by his upbringing in Northeast D.C. 

We sat down to chat with Hancock about his fashion journey – from growing up in the city dreaming of a career in fashion, to landing on stage as a top contender in the popular Netflix competition.

Hancock says he developed an affinity for fashion early in middle school and was inspired by his parents dressing up for church, as well as the ways his sister customized her own clothes. 

“When I was going to the school dance, I would literally distress my jeans, bleach them, and take patches off this SpongeBob chair and stitch it onto my jeans; like something really wild and crazy,” Hancock says. “I did not know what I was doing, but I was like, I want to look different and cool.”

Although inspired by the streetwear that dominates D.C. fashion, Hancock says he always knew he wanted to elevate those looks by taking a trend he likes and putting his own spin on it.

“I want to do streetwear, but I want to take it to the next level and have people wearing stuff that they normally wouldn’t wear with streetwear,” he says.  “Just taking it into the future and making it more creative than what it was.” 

Many of his skills are self-taught. In 2010 at age 18, he watched YouTube tutorials, bought a sewing machine, and went through the process of trial and error to develop his craft. He progressed a lot on his own but says there were still a lot of gaps in his learning.

After graduating high school and taking time to determine how to best pursue his passion, Hancock considered some of the top design programs in the country, ultimately landing at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California. There he was exposed to more professional skills like fashion sketching and illustration, a variety of mediums and materials, as well as industry terminology. Hancock was also introduced to the new and bold styles that helped to influence his pieces today. 

“I think what stuck out to me the most was this topic of extravagant fashion, which is stuff like Thom Browne would do,” Hancock says. “And I’m like, ‘This will be really cool if it was streetwear.’”

Hancock’s signature look is his elevated puffer jackets, and his time at the Academy of Art inspired him to take those designs and make them “really big and out of this world,” he says. The inspiration for his jackets didn’t come from the runway, but from his time spent in D.C. and San Francisco with people who could benefit from the pieces the most.

“I remember when I came back home to D.C. and I was just telling myself, ‘One day I’m going to make clothes for homeless people where they can be fashionable in the day, and then at night they can have like a warm place to lay in and like have clothes that will keep you warm,” Hancock says. “And for me, it was puffer coats.”

Hancock still holds onto that dream and says once he’s established himself and his brand, Hoodlvm, it would be a full circle moment to be able to give back to the people that inspired him.

As Hancock continued to make puffer coats and other clothes, his designs caught the attention of producers for Netflix’s Next in Fashion, who reached out to him via Instagram. After Hancock vetted the offer as real, Netflix vetted him. Over a period of three months, he was interviewed and selected to fly to New York for a final test for the show as part of an intense audition process. He did this all while juggling a full-time job at a law firm as a guest service representative.

Hancock was one of twenty finalists to reach the final round of Next in Fashion out of the tens of thousands of designer hopefuls who aimed to book the show. 

On Next in Fashion, Hancock demonstrated his versatility beyond his puffer jackets by quickly adapting his skills to new challenges, like constructing a corset for the first time or making a humongous coat. The show requires that competitors collaborate with one another and work under incredibly tight deadlines – filming over the course of four months. Even under extreme pressure, Hancock says he stood by his vision, played it cool, and prevailed.

“Walking into that competition, I was nervous; but at the same time, I was like, I never really want them to see me sweat.” 

Now after his run on the show has ended, Hancock is really just getting started. On April 16, his work will be featured at the DC Emancipation Fashion Show, and on April 21, he’s showing his entire collection to Georgetown University’s fashion program. His brand website, Hoodlvm, launches with more inventory in April as well.