Influentials Interviews Costa Rica Sims April Influential: Eboni Khan
Written by Sydney Bonde Wednesday, 20 April 2011 19:40
Costa Rica Sims April Influential is an accomplished Second Life creator that began her Second Life in 2004 and has become one of the grids respected fashion designers. Her flair, sense of style and generosity have made her a fashion staple in many SL closets. We are honored to have her making her home in Costa Rica along with having one of her store locations in the Costa Rica Sims Fashion District. Please meet and help me congratulate our April 2011 Influential: Eboni Khan!
What brought you to Second Life?
I was originally a member of There.com in 2003. My friends from There.com moved to Second Life and I decided to come here also since most of the people I knew were in Second Life and no longer in There.com. I used there.com and Second Life originally just in a social capacity because I traveled extensively for work at the time.
Having already been online with There.com what were some of your first impressions of SL?
I started with there.com in 2001/2002. My first impressions of SL were all the avatars were ugly and the default animations were unrealistic. There.com looked much better than SL and the dances and animations that were built into there.com were superior. There was cartoonish but it seemed more polished and it worked better on lower end computers. I thought Second life really had no future long term due to the learning curve in Second Life and how Second Life was being managed. I am very happy to have been extremely wrong about the future of Second Life.
How long have you lived in Costa Rica Sims?
I think I have lived in Costa Rica about a year now, I am currently living on my second property.
How did you find yourself in Costa Rica Sims?
I moved to Costa Rica because I wanted to be more connected with some of the community in Second Life. I found that I was just spending all my time on private sims and interacting with the same people. I didn’t want to lose touch with what people are doing in Second Life.
What are some of the things that you love about your home in Costa Rica Sims?
I love the terraforming and landscaping of Costa Rica. The land alone is really a work of art. I have never seen a group of residential Sims so well maintained and designed.
What do you consider the most important thing that Costa Rica Sims offers its residents?
I think the very active community if very important, there are constant events on Costa Rica, you never have to be bored if you live in Costa Rica. I think after that, a planned community is extremely important. When you get a new neighbor in Costa Rica you don’t have to worry about them making your land uninhabitable for you, people maintain the feel of the community.
The Costa Rica Fashion District has recently been remodeled and you have a store there how do you like it?
I love the new remodel. Barnes did an amazing job as usual and the touches added by Cory Edo really accent the build well. I think that the build really represents Costa Rica and the residents of Costa Rica well because it is so vibrant like the Costa Rica Community.
You have been in Second Life quite a while when did you start creating?
Well almost everyone who started 2003-2005 started creating right away. You just had, there were not that many retailers and at that time Second Life attracted people that wanted to build something. I first opened a futon store that sold working futons, called Nkenge Futons in mid 2004. Then later I created Eboni and Co which was a custom jewelry store. I then created a partnership with my friend Flamey, and we started Hucci in mid 2005.
What prompted you to begin your Second Life business?
I wanted a way to earn L$ and I just wanted to have a business. Almost everyone in SL had a business. It was just something to do in the beginning. I left and took a break from SL for a few years, when I came back ready to work I came back with the singular goal of launching again Hucci and making it the absolute best brand I could in Second Life.
Designers usually create many things before deciding on their specialty, what made you focus on fashion or did you know right from the start what you wanted to create?
I like a lot of things but fashion is the most fun for me. I come from a long time of women who are seamstresses as a hobby and I have been sewing and designing my own patterns in real life since I was 8 years old. I used to dress all the dogs, and then later in High School and College I made formal gowns to help fund my education.
I love the name of your business, how did you settle on that for a name?
I did not come up the name, I am really terrible at naming things. My friend Cristiano Midnight, the owner of SLUniverse.com and Snapzilla, came up with the name for me. A lot of older residents were complaining about all the hoochies and bling wears coming into SL and “ruining” things. I thought this was pretty silly because the “hoochies”, bling wearers, and role play people in SL spend the most money because they are most immersed. So, he came up with Hucci which is a play on words, mixing hoochie and spelling it with a European slant to make it “classy”. It is all just in good fun. My original goal with Hucci was to build a brand name in SL. At that time a lot of people were using real life brands in Second Life and I thought in an emerging virtual world, a virtual brand could be marketed to people. I was a little ahead of the curve at the time, people weren’t really ready for that in 2005. Now looking at Second Life, you have brands like LeLutka which are kind of status brands, and I love seeing that. Hucci as a brand is such a strong name to me, people have a strong reaction to the name, sometimes negative, but they don’t really understand the meaning. It is just a brand name, not some political statement or a statement on women.
Do you have any RL designer that you draw inspiration from?
Actually my real life design inspiration doesn’t really come from real life. It comes from the movie Mahogany. Tracy the main character in the movie wants to be a fashion designer and she has to give up a lot to get to the top then once she is there she is all alone and has paid a high personal price. Her designs are very reflective of the 70s. There are lots of loose flowing gowns in bright vibrant colors. When I design in real life I make a lot of loose flowing things in rich fabrics. I like things that are fitted in the chest and at the waist and then flow. This design style isn’t currently reflected in Hucci due to the constraints of Second Life but I hope to one day with the help of mesh really be able to bring my real life design style in to SL and change the face of Second Life formal wear.
How often are you designing something and you wish you had in your RL wardrobe?
There are a lot of things that I would wear from Hucci to go party. The gold Rush dress is a dress I would love to wear in real life. There are a few sheer items I would love to wear also like Evia, I love sheer! It is just like being naked without actually being naked, the perfect tease. If you wore anything
Do you have anything that you would consider to be your favorite thing you have created?
There are so many things that I really love. Right now I would have to say the Circolo bodysuit because the alpha on it was really hard to get right, and I put countless hours into getting it correct.
If you could give any fashion advice to SL residents what would it be?
Wear what you like. Don’t be like everyone else, don’t be afraid to experiment and buy color! People are always in black, experiment, this isn’t real life, you can wear what you want.
Are there any fashion tricks or tips you would like to share?
Don’t be afraid of prim feet. They can really polish your avatar; they are not as hard to match as in the past.
Is there anything from your RL that you bring to SL?
I have a business background in real life and I try as much as possible to apply real life business and marketing principles to Second Life. It is hard to apply real life business principles to Second Life because you are competing with people with low or almost no operating costs, but it can be done.
Has SL taught you anything that you have carried into your RL?
Second Life has taught me so many life lessons over the years. I have met so many people and learned so much from them. I would say currently Second Life has proven to me that I can really accomplish anything I set my mind to, and that means a lot to me.
What advice would you give to someone that is interested in creating in SL?
First make a plan, write a business plan, set goals, even if your business is just casual. Setting a plan and deciding on an identity will help you a lot down the road. It will help you make smart decisions based on business and not personal. If your goal in SL is to make money, you need to continually invest back in your business, which can be hard but if you continue to do that, you will see a profit after 6-9 months. Finally never have a partnership in SL. Business partnerships are hard to make work in real life and almost impossible to maintain in Second Life.
Thank you so much, any final words you would like to share with our readers?
Enjoy your Second Life. Be honest with people, this isn’t just a game, there are real people, real money and real feelings involved. Be honest and treat people online exactly how you would treat them in real life.
I want to thank Eboni for taking the time to answer all my questions, it's been a real pleasure getting to know her better. If you haven't checked out her stores stop into the Costa Rica Sims location and have a look around I am sure you will find something perfect for your SL closet! Visit the store here:
Syd <3
