Ashley Capri’s creative life didn’t begin in a studio in New York City—it began in the heart of Toledo, Ohio, a city better known for its blue-collar grit than its artistic opportunities. Raised between two households, her mother’s in the hood and her father’s in the suburbs, Capri navigated a childhood shaped by contrast, but, through it all, the influence of her Guyanese grandparents remained steady. “They introduced us to opera, ballet, theater—even Irish jig shows when they came to town,” Capri tells GU. “They made sure we saw there was more out there.”
This early exposure planted the seed for a future that would bloom across dance, fashion, and community organizing. From the moment she saw the dancers of Ailey II perform, Capri knew she wanted to be a professional dancer. “I had tunnel vision,” she says. “The first time I saw Black dancers on stage, I was like, this is what I want to do.” Despite Toledo’s limited creative infrastructure, Capri was always drawn to artistic expression. “I was one of the few Black ballet dancers I knew,” she says. “Dance was my therapy—it was my escape. I didn’t think about anything else when I was in that space.”
She started ballet at eight years old and eventually trained at the prestigious Ailey School in New York. But her path was anything but smooth. “There were times they told me I couldn’t train in pointe, that I didn’t have the body or the look,” she says. “It was a lot of rejection, racism, and body shaming. But I knew my bigger picture was outside of Toledo anyway.”
With the help of her father and biggest supporter, Douglas “Doug” Duke, Capri began a journey that would take her from being one of the only Black girls in her dance classes to carving out her own space in the commercial dance world of New York. “He was always like, ‘This isn’t your end. This is just a transition.’ He gave me that agency to cry at home but go out into the world strategic and strong.”
After years of working with concert dance companies, Capri shifted to commercial dance out of necessity. “I needed something sustainable,” she says. “Concert dance wasn’t paying enough. My dad was like, ‘Either get a dance job or go to grad school.’” She auditioned for the Knicks and then the Brooklyn Nets—and landed her spot with the latter in 2015 becoming a Brooklynette.
“The Nets was a four-day audition process. I wasn’t even expecting anything, but I made the team,” she says. A decade later, Capri remains one of the most enduring members of the squad, now also serving as the team’s costume manager and designer. “My boss, Criscia Long, gave me the agency to create the costume department from scratch. Now I design, source, and manage everything.”
Capri’s insider experience as both a dancer and designer has been essential. “I know when a material’s not going to work for a specific trick. Before I stepped in, there were disconnects between what the choreographers envisioned and what the costumes could actually do.”
One of her proudest moments was designing for a Black History Month performance inspired by The Wiz, featuring nearly 90 dancers. “I had maybe three weeks total to design and produce everything. But when you love something that much, it doesn’t feel like work.”
Her creativity doesn’t stop at the Barclays Center. In 2017, Capri founded Capri Swim™, a luxury swimwear line inspired by her own needs. “I model, and tan lines were a problem. I needed minimal, thong bikinis and couldn’t find them, so I made them myself,” she says. “My favorite suit is the bronze and chocolate reversible one—it’s a nod to my Guyanese heritage, since Guyana produces gold.”
Capri also founded Creatives Nexus, a curated networking experience born from the soul food nights she once hosted for her Nets teammates. “People talk a lot about community, but I wanted to create an intimate space where people could really connect, not just exchange business cards,” she says. “I’ve always been the link—connecting one opportunity to the next, one person to another.”
As she looks ahead to the rest of 2025, Capri is expanding Creatives Nexus with professional development events, including a live-streamed resume-building workshop for creatives in collaboration with HR consultants. She’s also preparing a new Capri Swim™ capsule collection, scouting Black and brown designers for future collaborations, and continuing her work designing for the Nets’ next season.
What drives her now is a deep sense of purpose and giving back. “Toledo inspires me,” she says. “I knew a lot of talented people who didn’t get the chance to explore their creativity. If I can help even one person see that it’s possible to make a living off being creative, I’ve done my job.”
Her advice for young creatives? “Be kind. Make genuine connections. Be curious. Learn how to talk to people again—off social media. And always be willing to do the work to figure out what’s next.”