Mexican-American prodigy Isabella Rose Taylor and one of Latina’s 30 Under 30 sat down with us backstage before her New York Fashion Week debut for Style360. This 13-year-old member of MENSA, college sophomore and all around awesome chica gave us the inside scoop on being a fashion designer, her inspiration, and fun DIY Halloween costumes!
Are you excited to be at New York Fashion Week?
So excited! A little nervous, but it’s just so exciting!
What has the journey been like from when you started designing at the age of nine to now showing at New York Fashion Week at thirteen?
It’s crazy. I never imagined that I would be doing New York Fashion Week and every designer dreams of it, but it’s just a dream come true. It’s so unreal. It’s what I love to do. I mean I love designing and creating clothes. It’s just like painting for me. It’s just like color and form. It’s just so amazing to share it with everyone and I hope everyone enjoys the runway.
What was the inspiration behind this collection?
My inspiration for spring is always about the girl who would wear my clothes. So that street vibe with a little bit of hippie with some quirky details. So it’s a little bit of a girly, punk kind of look with the hair and makeup. I’m pairing a lot of flowing maxi dresses with structured pieces and mixing a lot of pieces with textiles that I painted and drew.
How did you choose the fabrics that you’re using?
I always go to my fabric place and I have to make sure everything feels soft because I would not wear it if it’s not soft and [also] make sure that there’s no shortcuts in the sewing so that it’s really well made.
As a teenager, who inspires you?
Everyone around me. My parents inspire me because they’ve been so supportive and I’m grateful for that. And just everyone that’s a part of the show because it’s all the people that make these things happen.
Is there a Latin designer that you look up to?
I got to meet the designer Cesar Galindo and I got to spend a day with him. He was so nice and I learned a lot about his process about picking out fabric to going to the show so it was really fun and he was such a nice person and I learned a lot.
What was something you learned from Cesar?
I learned the importance of having a team with him, because really it’s the whole team that makes those pieces better and it takes a good collection to a great collection.
What does it feel like to be one of Latina’s 30 Under 30?
It is such an honor! It is so exciting! A lot of the people on that list are very inspirational to me, so I feel so blessed to be on there.
What is your ultimate DIY Halloween costume? What would you wear?
I’m pretty lazy when it comes to Halloween costumes, so definitely I see costumes with an oversized t-shirt that’s a color with an “m”, for “M & M” and I think that’s cute. The simpler the better for me because I’m always like last minute with costumes.
Any ideas on what you’ll dress up as this Halloween?
One thing I’ve actually done in the past and I’ll probably do again is a long flowy dress and some wings sort of like an angel or a fairy. It’s a really simple costume but it’s really cute because you can just wear a nice pretty dress.
What advice would you give to others following their dreams?
Immerse yourself in whatever it is. Take classes and just learn as much as you can but just know that no matter how many books or classes that you take, you have to just do it and practice it.
For more about Isabella check out www.IsabellaRoseTaylor.com
For more about Cesar Galindo click here.
For more New York Fashion Week happenings, visit Latina.com/FashionWeek!