WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) – A woman who helped design the outfits for Usher and his dancers at last February’s Super Bowl halftime show grew up in the Lowcountry.

“I remember waiting on the sidelines for Usher to come out,” says Cylinda Nesmith Davidson. “There were so many good memories for that day. I could go on because the whole day was a rollercoaster of emotions.

Nesmith Davison has worked as a costume creator and stylist in film and television for over 20 years. Six weeks before Super Bowl LVIII, the Nesmith native received a call from the head designer who would create outfits for superstar Usher and his dance crew.

“I helped her decide how much fabric to buy, what type of fabric to buy for each costume, that I thought the costume would work the way it was designed,” she says. “So, if you put it in terms of building the building, I’m kind of like an architect.”

Although he spent most of his time preparing the dancers’ outfits, he also started working with Usher.

“He was very interested in the look of the costumes, so he would come into the workroom and look at the props and give positive feedback,” she says. “I had the chance to go to his camp and fit in a few things. He’s a very nice young man, so very friendly. “I’m smiling all over because the experience was great.”

So how did a woman who grew up in the farming community of Nesmith in Williamsburg County end up working as a stylist to the stars? Spending time with her grandmother as a child.

“One of the things she and I did on Saturday afternoons was make quilts,” she says. “He was the one who showed me how to thread the needle. “He was the one who showed me how to put the fabric together.”

Several family members who worked in sewing factories in the area would bring home scraps of fabric so she could make doll clothes. He then began creating pieces for himself.

“I think I made my first completed dress that I could wear in sixth grade. And when I was in high school, I made all of my own clothes, like almost my entire high school wardrobe,” Nesmith Davidson says.

He joined the army to earn money for fashion school in Atlanta, then opened a children’s clothing store.

His big break came when a friend in the film industry asked Nesmith Davison to take over a job his friend couldn’t finish. This led to him appearing in a long series of films.

“When it comes to Atlanta, it’s ‘X Men First Class.’ I worked on ‘Fast and Furious’. I think it was 5, 7 and 8.”

Famous stars she has styled include Queen Latifah, Lupita Nyong’o, Gal Gadot and Coming to America’s Shari Headley, as well as singer Gladys Knight and singer-actress Teyana Taylor.

Comedian Leslie Jones even flew Nesmith Davison to Paris to stay in style at the Olympics.

But of course, there will never be an experience like the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show.

“I started screaming when I heard the crowd screaming and as the doors opened for the players to come onto the field from one side, the designer and I were running towards the field from the other side. He grabbed me by the hand and said: ‘Cylinda, pull this, we’ll never see this again.’”

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