Biography

 

I consider myself an extremely creative person. Thanks to my fathers influences during my early years I developed a special love for sewing, design and fashion in general. My dad was the first person to teach me how to sew. At home, He was the one who would repair, fix or create our clothes, costumes or school projects. He would tell me the story of how he learned how to sew because he wanted to transform his bell-bottom jeans into skinny jeans because of new trends in the 80’s and the growth of rock and roll.

With my fathers influence and fashion sense I grew up exploring many different ways to express and represent my personality through fashion. I was raised with an older brother, as you can imagine, I often inherited all of his clothes. My parents’ priority was always education so we wouldn’t have the chance to get new clothes often. Still, that was never a problem for me! I loved to use my brothers clothes. I would fix, transform or style any piece so I could wear it and be the center of attention. 

Fashion makes me feel invincible.

As soon as I finished high school I was eager to start my fashion career, and so I attended an art and fashion program at my local University. I would split my time between studying and working part time so I could afford to pay tuition and school materials for my projects, homework and personal garments. After 6 years of hard work I graduated from college with a Bachelors degree in Contemporary Art with a minor in Fashion Design.

Over the past few years I have been fortunate enough to experience many different areas of the fashion industry. I have worked for many local and international retailers as a Style Advisor. Although not necessarily a designer like I would like, it was an important part of my professional growth due to the fact that I learned so much about the market, trends, costumer service, but most importantly, it gave me the opportunity to see what the next steps for Fashion would be.

Working in retail has given me such a different perspective regarding how some patterns must be change. Fast fashion has confused the costumer and thrown them into this never ending cycle of seasons and trends. In addition, although it is sad but true, the contemporary fashion world has also dictated who can or cannot use certain garments.

One of the biggest challenges of working in the luxury fashion industry is that I had to deal with unhappy women and men on a daily basis who have never felt taken into consideration when it comes to sizes. 

Fashion has immensely contributed and supported to the social construct of the “ideal” body image. A construct that is completely distorted and misrepresentative of what beauty truly is. The economic influence and trends that some brands have established in todays society, has taken the beauty of design and creativity away.

Working as a designer with a big company taught me the reality of mass production, cost and price vs environmental responsibility, sustainability, and fair production standards. For the longest time I wanted to work as a designer for a big company. I admit that at one point I was part of that never ending cycle, and don’t get me wrong, there are many positive characteristics about the industry, but most of them consist of the human aspect behind it. The team work, goal setting and achievements, mentorships, and the confidence and empowerment that fashion gives many people is a beautiful thing. However, for this next chapter of my career, I rather take what I have learned and focus on changing and developing new mentalities, procedures and conversations about the Fashion Industry, helping to create something meaningful, responsible, and timeless.

As an independent designer I have had the chance to modify old patterns and develop a creative and responsible design oriented lifestyle. I say lifestyle because fashion is my life, my comfort zone, represents most of my creative side, my culture, my roots, and my heart. In 2019, I took in a new challenge of evaluating what I needed to change to create a new form of responsible design that goes together with my values and beliefs. I know my point of view might not change the world but with small and consistent actions I hope my mentality/ mindset can help inspire other peoples way of thinking.