Living in joy while loving Mother Earth

Arts, crafts and sewing have played an important role in my life since I was a little kid. I discovered my creativity through sewing when my mom taught me how to create hair scrunchies in the '90s and then I scaled up to make dolls and even clothes. My mom used to say that I was always challenging her when it came to creating certain outfits or dresses. I even designed and sewed my prom dress with the help of my mom. Because of this love and passion of mine, I thought I had to do something and I decided to study fashion design in Puerto Rico.

Many women in Puerto Rico like to dress up for any kind of event, like a party or even to go to the store. Women are obsessed with appearance. Back in high school, for example, if there was a disco party it was a must to get a new outfit. Nobody would dare to wear the same outfit twice! Girls and my girlfriends would get anxious or stressed out when the day was getting closer. They were always in a rush trying to find the most unique or trendy outfit. There was never enough clothing in their closet!

I wasn’t a disco party girl, so I never understood my friends. I used to stay home and sew clothes, create jewelry, sew handbags or create any type of craft because that made me so happy and fulfilled my heart in a way I could never explain as a child. Of course, every time I tried to explain the amount of joy I had when creating things I love, my friends never understood me. I was too revolutionary for my age and ideas. I never wanted to follow the trends but wanted to create trends from my own ideas. And it’s funny, but I always wanted to change the world in some way, haha.

I remember going to disco parties just three times during my high school years. I knew that I didn’t belong to that place, but that I was certainly living a happy life using my creativity to create something. In between fabrics, colorful threads, pairs of scissors, and my sewing machine I was feeling a complete sense of fulfillment and happiness! Who would have thought in that moment of my life, that by doing all those things that I was being prepared and empowered to become a fashion designer? Above all, you have to follow your heart and what really makes you live in joy. You are special and unique just the way you are!

After studying fashion design and understanding fashion history, and what each piece of cloth would represent for each generation, and what cloth represents now for us, I started to wake up to our rampant social problem. What I never understood in high school, I understand now. The fashion industry was bombarding us with ads and TV commercials about buying trendy clothes, bags, and shoes implying that the things we owned weren’t enough. We were comparing what we owned with what others owned and projecting that insecurity of feeling accepted in society, by buying new and trendy clothes to show off to our peers. Even as an adult we repeat that behavior and feel peer pressure wherever we go. We know this is how marketing and companies work in order to make that profit at our expense by telling us we are never enough. Our clothes, handbags, shoes, makeup, skin, hair, body, and so on are never enough.

As I grew older and understood the footprint we are leaving behind in the environment because we can’t stop buying clothes and things, I got really concerned. As a fashion designer, my intention is to create a truly sustainable fashion brand. I am aware that we need to start at the source and lookup for materials that don't contaminate the environment in order to bring a solution. As designers and consumers, we all are responsible to take care of Mother Earth, our only home.

I remembered hearing stories about fashion designers that created clothes out of reused fabric or from other clothes. I even heard of a movement called upcycling. The eco-friendly fashion blog Ecocult explains that upcycling means transforming clothes, accessories, and textile waste into new products. I realized I wasn’t alone and I started to feel hope. In this new journey as a fashion designer, I went to different thrift stores to buy dresses and other items to turn into new garments. I knew what I was doing was the right thing to do. I kept discovering more about this sustainable way of creating clothes and jewelry. I was so inspired that I opened my jewelry line made out of precisely cut rubber.

I have to confess, using recyclable materials is not always peaches and cream. There are some challenges involved when I am using non-traditional materials. For example, the rubber I used to create jewelry is hard to cut and because of the way the material is, you need to rely on sharp scissors. I have always relied exclusively a lot on the sharpness of Fiskars scissors and I have been impressed with how durable they are throughout the years. I have used them to create so many of my clothes in the past. This is especially true with upcycling materials. One definitely needs a great tool for specific shapes and textures.

I also started creating dresses out of recyclable materials or “reusable trash” as a way to reflect on how we are consuming products and creating so much trash. In 2016, I created my first dress made out of cardboard and participated in an event called the Trash to Trend fashion show and I won the prize for the Avant-Garde category. Isn’t life great! I felt grateful that many people were starting to support a more sustainable way of living and loving where we live a little more.

We have to take care of ourselves and by taking care of Mother Earth we are also taking care of our precious bodies. We are so blessed to have these incredible bodies that are capable of creating art, crafts, and other things we love, are passionate about, and that makes us live in joy. We can definitely create our happiness just by knowing our hearts. We are definitely enough and we are unique just the way we are!

Our minds and emotions are also part of our bodies. Taking care of these will empower us as humans in a way that love will rise and no harm will occur to us or our ecosystem. We should stand strong in our beliefs and embrace our ideas for the good of everyone that lives on the Earth and all our existence as a human race. Some people may call it a revolution, I call it a world where humans can go back to being human and live in love in harmony with nature. I believe with our creativity, innovation, and technology we can create a positive impact on the quality of our lives and strive for the happiness we have been looking for. We are in this together and we will thrive only if we work together!