From IMVU to SL – Chontei.
We’ve recently had the honor of sitting down with a few very influential people within the SL community. Back and better, we have Chontei (audemarz@SL) who we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know in our Feb 2017 issue when he was featured as our Male Fashion Icon. Chontei has moved on to Second Life and has begun designing women and men content, and we were able to get a full scoop of how life has been for Chontei since moving to Second Life.
Could you state your name and the name of your Brand? "I'm Chontei Bourne, owner of BETRAYAL."
Could you give us a little backstory on your store? "My computer died completely in the middle of me doing a huge collection of clothes and mesh heads for IMVU, and I was unable to recover my files, So I started SL in March of last year after I got my new gaming laptop. I was not that interested in SL honestly, I thought it was weird, but I liked taking high-quality photos. I had several friends on SL who I kept in contact with after they left IMVU way back in 2013 so it wasn't like I was starting something entirely new and I just ended up being on SL more then IMVU. I wanted to bring my IMVU brand Maison Prive to SL with Maison Prive's original name, BETRAYAL. I had been sneakily taking 3D design essential classes in college (Which had nothing to do with my major) under my parent's nose so I could learn how to mesh my items on Secondlife By June I had a few official mesh products and under the guidance of my momager Dreem, I began working on my store."
Can you tell us more about you and Dreem? "Yes, the crazy thing is me and Dreem have known each other for years and never liked each other, but we never had the chance to get to KNOW each other. Coming here we were able to squash beef and it turns out we have a lot in common than we thought, and she's just such a role model for me because I see her as the first to do anything for black gay males on SL/IMVU She's done me the biggest favor anyone on this game could've ever done for me and she didn't have to but she wanted to, she believed in my fashion sense and my vision and didn't expect anything from me in return. She stayed on top of me with deadlines, and even gave me a collab! with no prior release from betrayal at that point."
When was betrayal born? "Well, if you ask me, BETRAYAL was born 4 years ago November 23rd, but my temporary main store finally opened in October of 2017 after getting many angry messages from people not being able to purchase my past releases [laughs]."
Where was betrayal four years ago, when it was born? "I started my IMVU shop four years ago and released a mini collection on Thanksgiving break, but by the second released I changed Betrayal to Maison Prive."
Could you share with us the style of clothing and items you sell in Betrayal? "Betrayal is streetwear with a runway vibe I like to take things off the runway and make it suitable for streetwear and to elaborate on my style; I love making runway items to Ready-To-Wear items, especially on SecondLife. With a very saturated fashion market on here, it's pivotal to bring newness and excitement to your clothing if you want to be at the top and stay there."
How was your experience on IMVU? "My experience on IMVU was great, honestly. Before I even had a shop, I was known and appreciated for my fashion. My shop came about from people constantly asking me to try creating."
Are you still active? "Since I've been focused on my SL store and lost all of my IMVU files, I have not been too active on IMVU but to go there to visit my kids on there and send them money, see friends or when I'm asked. However I was going through my old IMVU pages (Maison.Prive & Genesis.Atelier) and there was literally dozens of DMs of people saying they hope that I was doing fine and/or they want more products from me It made me sad because I felt like I left so abruptly and my IMVU support base elevated me to where I am now so I have been working on a new collection of mesh heads for IMVU as of late."
What is it about SL that made you want to use that primarily over IMVU? "Well, the social aspect. Many of my close friends on IMVU have left, and it was just a lot of stupid, bizarre drama on there (this new generation of IMVU is way too much for me). I'm so accustomed to being on the mic now and doing it as I work it doesn't even feel like it. Quality is an issue for me too. On SL I create WHATEVER I want because I mesh anything I like and on high-quality non-blurry textures that I don't have to manipulate for them to look good. On IMVU I had to make sacrifices with my vision continually because the deliverables are limiting and I won't settle for having my creativity defined when there's a platform that's going to give me near endless possibilities."
Do you have any advice or useful sites for people who are looking to learn to mesh? "So outside of schooling, Youtube helped me make clothes. I would search up things like, how to make jeans in blender or shirts, jackets, etc.. Also, I would search Second Life it would bring up a lot of results from the SL community that would teach you how to mesh, and rig. You need the patience to sit and watch through them."
What did you find most challenging as a beginner? "Meshing was the most difficult thing to learn how to do was rendering metals like gold and silver and making them look like they were reflective. The hardest thing for me about creating, in general, was trying to stay on top of everything and not getting lazy consistency is important."
How was the learning experience? "Texturing wasn't hard for me. I had experience with IMVU, and it was much easier since the maps are way bigger and everything is spread out. I HATE uploading and packaging. It takes several hours for them to do it. I wake up at about 9 am, freshen up and things like that, eat and start at 10 I literally won't be done packaging and setting up my booth until nearly 6pm."
Must you get it right the first time? "On SL when seeing previews of your texture, when the texture window pops up you click "local" instead of inventory. and you upload the texture for free without paying and every-time you overwrite the file when saving in photoshop it automatically updates in SL, but only you will be able to see the texture, you have to upload it for 10 L for everyone else to see."
What's your stance on the whole IMVU vs. SL drama? "It honestly annoys me. People on Second Life think they are better than people on IMVU, and you know IMVU is my hometown, so I defend it every time [Laughs]. Some people take from SL over IMVU because things on SL do look so good they want to mimic, and there are people on SL who recreate things done on IMVU and obvious make it better because of the platform. But IMVU was so much more creative than SL; we had an industry full of singers, designers, talk shows, etc. and, somewhere like SL, where nearly anything is possible, doesn't have that. For example. I want to have a fashion show so bad on SL, but that doesn't seem to be a thing on SL."
How were you featured at such large shopping events? "Once I did the collaboration with Sabotage for Mancave they invited me back on my own, and I've been there ever since."
Is it hard to get into these events usually? "Yep! My debut in Tres Chic was last minute, I had applied for the following round, but they were looking for replacements, and Dreem suggested me, I showed them what I had they loved it, and I've been there since. People do say it's hard to get into them, but events like Tres Chic have a balance, they give people chances."
So, a new SL dev shouldn't expect to get on the first try? "Nope, never. Before I started this I had at least one marketplace release, but since I had meshed items in advanced I would show them and let them choose, But having a clean, neat marketplace is a way to get in events Quicker. Oh, and a custom mesh is extremely important as they do not allow marketplace mesh."
What advice would you give to an experienced creator, who has learned SL controls but wants to begin creating as well? "They need to start branding themselves; making Facebooks and Flickrs for their brands so it can get some traction – the marketplace needs to be done nicely. Remember to PROMO! Post every ad on every social media outlet you have. It's up to you to make it happen to your brand and also if you use marketplace mesh to start to remember that thousands of people have already used that same mesh before you, which means the community has seen it several times."
Do you have anything else you want our readers and your supporters to know? "My Instagram is @Beyontei, this is my Flickr and, of course, my main store on Second Life can be found here."
Disclaimer: the personal views and opinions written in this post are from the writer and do not always express the professional opinion and views of Verve X Magazine.
Interviewer: Tamekah
Photos: Chontei
Copy Editor: Somiar
