COLUMBIA — Sergio Hudson is a fashion designer known for his elegant, hyper-feminine frocks and razor-sharp suits, but when he’s back home in Columbia for a visit, he sticks to the simple pleasures of life. 

“I love the fast food in South Carolina,” the Ridgeway, S.C. native said at the Columbia Museum of Art Nov. 17. Bojangles, Captain D’s, anyplace that excels in fried food and sweet tea, he said.

But Hudson wasn’t back home to sample local flavors. His original fashion exhibit, “Sergio Hudson: Focused on the Fit,” opened at the Columbia Museum of Art Nov. 18. It’s the culmination of two decades of work as a high-end fashion designer, a career that began on Sumter Street in downtown and has since taken him across the globe. 

Hudson was born and raised in Ridgeway by his mother — whom he credits as his muse — before heading to Atlanta for fashion school.

After graduating in 2003, he opened his first design studio on Sumter Street in Columbia, where he worked for a decade before attracting one of his first celebrity clients, Kylie Jenner.

From there, his star skyrocketed. He moved to Los Angeles, C.A., in 2015 and has since become one of the most sought-after womenswear designers in the country, debuting at New York Fashion Week in 2020.

Since 2015, Hudson’s frocks have been worn by Beyonce, Keke Palmer, Blake Lively, Anne Hathaway and former First Lady Michelle Obama, to name a few. 

From the beginning of his career, Hudson has worked with Charles Lynch, who serves a co-creative director of Hudson’s eponymous brand and has been actively involved in curating the CMA collection. 

The exhibit was guest curated by Meghan Pinckney Rutherford, a local fashion influencer and entrepreneur who was one of Hudson’s earliest clients. The custom wedding dress he designed for her stands outside the doors to the second-floor exhibit. 

The exhibit features dozens of fashion illustrations, garments and memorabilia from Hudson’s brand, Sergio Hudson. Amongst the collection is the strapless white gown Keke Palmer wore during the 2023 Met Gala, where the internet’s favorite actress served as Hudson’s muse and guest. 

The exhibit features Hudson, a gay Black man, and the work he primarily makes for Black celebrities and world leaders. Rutherford hopes the example makes an impact, particularly on young folks who come to see the collection. 

“One of the things that I’m most excited about is really to see pop Black culture into a museum setting,” Rutherford told Free Times when the exhibit was announced. 

While Hudson cut his teeth in Columbia, it wasn’t until he moved to the West Coast that his career took off. It’s a similar story for creatives who come from small, Southern cities like Columbia — to make an international impact, you must leave home. 

“I think the biggest thing is support, you know what I mean?” Hudson mused about the success of Southern artists. “And let’s be honest, money makes the world go round. So support financially; That was a big problem that I had when I was here. I had good clients, but it wasn’t enough.” 

Hudson said he mentors fashion students from South Carolina, because of the homegrown connection, but he hopes to see folks still living in the state to pay attention to the work already being produced here. 

“We have to do a better job by getting our people out there,” Hudson said. “There are a lot of influential people from South Carolina who could get these people out there, but when you meet them, what are they wearing? What art are they using?” 

CMA and Rutherford’s hope for the Hudson exhibit is to expose South Carolinians to the possibility of a a career like Hudson’s being within reach, whether you’re from Ridgeway or New York City. 

It’s a motto Hudson has lived by — believe in yourself, and others will, too. 

“Your talent can take you places that you never dreamed you would go, to take you exactly where you want to go,” Hudson mused. “And if you believe in yourself, if you work really hard, it will pay off in some way.” 

“Sergio Hudson: Focused on the Fit” opens Nov. 18 at the Columbia Museum of Art on Main Street and will run until June 2024. Hudson and Rutherford will anchor a panel that includes Lynch and Hudson’s business partner, Inga Beckham, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $100 for general admission and $75 for museum members.