She's into leather

DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFFRoseanna Ansaldi (left) is a leather designer and teacher at two schools. (DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF)

Not many designers can boast they've created for Steven Tyler, Snoop Dogg, and Mariah Carey's Jack Russell trriers. But Roseanna Ansaldi - one half of the Antonio Ansaldi hip-hop design team and a teacher at the School of Fashion Design and Bay State College - has enjoyed an incredibly diverse two-decade career. A leather specialist, Ansaldi has created upscale children's clothing and major league sports jerseys. She now divides her time between the Antonio Ansaldi shop in Dorchester, her Andover studio - where she also does custom work and alterations for Louis Boston and Coach - and her students. She talked with us recently about her love of leather.

Q. How do people react when you tell them you're into leather?

A. When I say I'm a leather designer, people assume the worst. Probably they might think biker or S&M.

Q. Why leather?

A. It works with you. Certain fabrics . . . the delicate fabrics, that would be torture for me. With leather, I just staple it and I stitch it . . . hit it with a hammer. It's more of a craft to me. It's like building something, really. You're working with tools. I'm not a delicate flower.

Q. How did you get started?

A. I worked for Boston Ballet to begin with. . . . I thought the ballet was so glamorous and then you're there with the smelly costumes and the cheap fabrics and it's not so great. Then I was introduced to a designer for Aerosmith, Francine Larnis. I did leather when I was in school and that was my niche. It was really fun . . . but she moved away. Then I started making children's clothing . . . little pants with vests and little leather skirts, little bomber jackets. My first account was Saks Fifth Avenue.

Q. How did you get into hip-hop?

A. I went back to custom clothing and got a studio on Newbury Street. I used to do rap groups in Boston through a store on Washington Street. One group always had a Bruins logo, they were RSO, now they're Made Men. Antonio Ennis was in the group and their manager was the owner of the Source. . . . [Antonio] decided he wanted to design. Their manager gave us free full-page ads. A lot of people were sort of skeptical; you could see their eyeballs go back and forth because we're such an odd pair. But it was the perfect fit because he's very creative. . . . It was like a fresh shot in the arm. Antonio does the designing and I do the technical stuff.

Q. Tell us about your star clients.

A. Mace, Snoop Dogg, Ja Rule, local athletes, Mariah Carey. She had these little dogs. . . . We did a shearling coat and matching booties. She loved it and sent me an autographed picture. We did vests for the movie "Shaft." In the '80s, I did a suit for Steven Tyler, metallic painted suede . . . black with silver. He had a show at the Orpheum - I was there to see it - and the heat from the lamps on stage reacted with the paint in the suit and he actually passed out. People probably just thought he was high.