Ka Leo O Hawaii

Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: Mixed Plate

Media Credit: Courtesy of Gregg Van Camp Looks are deceiving in the case of 48-year-old psychology student Gregg Van Camp. He's a former high-fashion designer and stylist.

Sometimes the most interesting people are the ones who get by without us noticing. Take Gregg Van Camp. He is 48 years old and legally blind and deaf. People sit in class and wonder why he is in school.

At first glance, wearing slippers, khaki shorts, a T-shirt and brown-rimmed glasses, Van Camp looks like any other student who attends UH, but the way this high fashion designer and stylist got to University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is different from most.

Originally from the small farming community of Freedom, Wis., Van Camp taught himself how to sew at the age of 7. With his burning desire for sewing and altering, he began making clothes for his older sister.

In 1975, at the age of 16, he started his fashion career as a tailor at a department store 120 miles away in Madison, Wis. He graduated from college with a degree in business and moved to Los Angeles in 1985 to work on clothes for television shows from the '80s, such as "Dynasty" and "The Wonder Years," and music videos, such as Janet Jackson's "Alright."

Van Camp moved to Europe in 1988 and worked in Paris and London. While in Europe, he was recruited by Style International, an agency which represents fashion designers.

Van Camp worked as a freelance designer with Giorgio Armani, Diesel Jeans, Ralph Lauren and Barney's New York. While working for Style International, Van Camp also ran his own company called "Saint G" from 1999 to 2005.

Van Camp worked in the New York, Los Angeles and European fashion centers with designers, models and celebrities, on fashion runway shows, in television and on Broadway. However, his career was slowly being destroyed.

Once the lights were dimmed backstage at fashion shows, Van Camp could not see the dress on the model, though other designers said the room was not that dark. He would not be able to hear designers and clients, and when they greeted him with a handshake, he would not even notice them.

Style International began receiving complaints about Van Camp. Some designers would not hire him to be on their fashion staffs. He wondered why.

After getting a checkup in 2005, Van Camp discovered he had Usher's Syndrome, which causes blindness and deafness. He had carried this disease his whole life, but it did not begin affecting him until he was 46.

Van Camp had no choice but to leave the industry, but instead of letting Usher's Syndrome take over his life, he went back to school. He is now working on a degree in psychology to help others cope with their disabilities. He started at UH in the fall of 2006 and will be graduating this semester.

Hawai‘i has the "aloha spirit and kind welcoming people working with the KOKUA program on campus, which helps me with my classes, and also the Ho‘opono Blind School of Hawai‘i," Van Camp said.

"I feel it is important to motivate people to overcome obstacles," he said. "Although I don't think I'm a special case, I also think it is important for people to realize that there will be setbacks in life, but you should always continue with your goals and be positive."

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