From Struggle to Strength
I was born in Brooklyn, New York, where life tested me early. Coming out as a lesbian shaped much of my journey—most of my family rejected me, except for a few, whose love and acceptance gave me the strength to keep going. The names, judgments, and rejection became fuel for my fire. Running away as a teenager and experiencing homelessness taught me resilience and forced me to find power within myself. Every hardship made me tougher, sharper, and more determined to create a life that was mine. I Designed Myself.
Fashion In My DNA
Fashion has been in my life since childhood, even though I once thought I’d be in the WNBA. I started playing basketball at age 9 and eventually became a team captain, learning leadership, communication, and how to adapt to different learning styles—lessons that now influence how I work in fashion. Meanwhile, I was customizing clothes for talent shows in elementary and middle school at P.S. 298, styling friends in high school with my clothes who couldn’t afford designer, and winning “Best Dressed” in every yearbook. Summers were spent designing for dancers at local block parties, and my grandmother taught me the basics of sewing—seeds that would eventually grow into a full-blown career in fashion and styling.
Birth Of GucckiiDaGreat
I’ve carried the essence of this name since 9th grade, when kids in Brownsville started calling me Gucckii V. By 12th grade, my math teacher, Ms. Anderson, stopped me in the hallway and gave me the name GucCkii DaGreat—a title that stuck as I entered the business world. While I considered changing it, this is the name everyone knows and recognizes. Though it echoes a famous designer, it’s uniquely mine—spelled differently, carrying my story, my identity. I made such an impact in my teenage years that one male and one female even named themselves after me, wanting to be GucCkii too.
Building Brands & Legacy
Today, I am the founder of multiple brands and ventures: Maison de Vie, Living Life Apparel, Gucckiidagreat & Co , Styles By Gucckii and GDG Ventures. Through these platforms, I design, style, and create opportunities for others. Gucckiidagreat & Co. focuses on model development, modeling classes, e-commerce styling, community fashion shows, curating fashion shows for other designers, and providing styling e-books and modeling handbooks. My journey started with struggle, but it’s grown into a movement of resilience, creativity, and representation—showing that with vision and persistence, greatness isn’t just possible; it’s inevitable.