Local designer Magnus Juliano is one step closer to making waves in the fashion world after a picture of one of his bead designs made global fashion news.

“It’s overwhelming but in a positive way,” says the Columbus-area native. “It’s pushed me into make changes in my life, because I know now what I’m supposed to be doing."

His signature look is marked by big, colorful hair beads in a variety of designs. One set of these 3D beads are catching attention in the fashion world.

“Oh my goodness, it went crazy,” said Juliano during a photoshoot with his new bead design, modeled after prescription pills. “I thought maybe we would get a couple more likes than i usually get, but it went crazy.”

The post, featuring beads inspired by the logo for fashion house Louis Vuitton got more than 15,000 likes on Instagram and attracted the attention of some of the world’s major fashion blogs and websites. Juliano says he's enjoys all types of creativity, but the beads hold a special meaning.

“Beads are something that are very, I feel like, cultural, but at the same time can also be very artistic,” says Juliano. “So, I wanted to kind of use that as an expressive tool, and i wanted to make my own beads. I couldn’t find beads that i would enjoy so that’s why the beads became so large."

Juliano says he sketched the bead designs, then converted them into 3D renderings to be printed on a 3D printer. He and photographer Mystic Elena snapped a photo that he posted on instagram tagging Abloh - who he says influences him.

“[[Abloh]] would just design like, a lot of street wear,” says Juliano, who hopes for an internship with the iconic designer and brand. “And, to see him now at Louis Vuitton, wow that’s progress.”

The original instagram picture was covered by fashion websites across the world, many marking the designs as a hot new trend.

Everywhere from Vogue to Harper’s Bazaar, to you know, the Daily Mail, says Juliano. “And it hasn’t stopped, and people are still anticipating my next designs, and i’ve grown my following a lot.”

Juliano gained more than 10,000 Instagram followers after the photo, and is heading to New York Fashion Week – hopefully for more opportunities.

“I don’t know I hope it’s big, whatever it is,” says Juliano. “And that it’s exciting, and that’s it’s bringing joy and it’s bringing thought and it’s bringing creativity.”

It’s a creativity he says is inspired by his experience as a black, queer person.

“I would not be as bold. I would not be as, I feel like, driven, motivated, if i didn’t have my history,” says Juliano. “And, people who taught me how to love and how to fight and how to create.”

But, he says putting his experience out there has its drawbacks. Most of the comments about his braids are positive, but he says there were some haters.

“Being a black queer man, like, i’ve been dealing with it basically my whole life,” says Juliano. “Everybody telling me what to put down and what to pick up. I honestly at this point just kind of scan over it, but sometimes they bother me, I'm human, I'm not going to lie.”

Juliano says he’s working on a way to possibly market the beads, and is still waiting for that possible internship. He says he's taking all of this social media attention in stride.

“The thing i’ve learned is that I've learned nothing at all. The thing is that if I knew everything, I would not want to keep pursuing it,” says Juliano. “It’s a challenge, you know learning the business, learning people, learning design still. I’m still growing about design. Just learning about myself too, learning a lot about my limits and where I want to go. I’ve had to challenge myself on everything I thought I knew.”