At age 18, Albania Rosario, founder of Fashion Designers of Latin America, moved from the Dominican Republic to embark on her own version of the American Dream. The CFDA spoke with Rosario to kick off the celebration of Latinx Heritage Month. She discussed the importance of cultural diversity in her work and how she empowers the Latinx community both personally and professionally.
How does FDLA empower Latinx individuals in their professional and creative journeys?
FDLA empowers Latinx designers by offering unique opportunities to help grow their business and be recognized and discovered in the so competitive industry. FDLA founded its development on providing exposure for established, emerging, and upcoming clothing designers from Latin America in an effort to extend meaningful fashion trade. Accomplishing this has been an undertaking in nurturing opportunities for the publicity of international talents whose creative abilities are overflowing but financial resources are not.
How has diversity contributed to the success of your business?
Diversity, inclusivity and Multicultural are the three main characteristics that describe what the FDLA platform is all about. Working with individuals from diverse walks of life provides us with the balance of voices, talent, and diversity of thought that we want to represent. It also means more creativity, innovated, productive, and happier work atmosphere which contributes to the grow and expansion and success of the business.
What advice would you share with someone who is inspired by your professional career?
The advice I would share to anyone inspired by my career is to aim high, believe in their vision and in themselves even when no one else believes in them.
Let your drive, passion, courage be of inspiration to others, even when you know things are not going the way you expected. Be patient, have self-confidence and stand up for your values and most importantly aim to make a difference.
What were the greatest challenges you faced professionally, and what strategies helped you overcome them?
Being a woman an immigrant minority whose first language is not English, it has made it very difficult to break into this competitive industry, especially when trying to have other people understand my vision of FDLA. It was even more difficult to get people to believe in this project and get the support to move forward. I remember so many times when I was told to find a real job and forget the fashion industry. I was told that this industry is for selected few and not for me, so many things that it was challenging to remain positive and focused. Resourcefulness was the strategy I applied to overcome all these difficulties. I learned to find clever and quick ways to overcome and break through obstacles and find new opportunities.
What is your greatest achievement in your career thus far?
The greatest achievement in my career this far has been the ability to help so many talents across Latin America not only growing their business from a financial aspect but also the experience to see them be discovered and be recognized and fulfill their dreams as designers.
Why is Latinx Heritage month important to you? How do you honor this month beyond just the month but throughout the year?
I am 100% proud to be Latina, to work with Latinos and elevate our community in United States. I love my country, the Dominican Republic. I love Uptown New York, where I’ve resided most of my adult life. I’m one of the millions of immigrant stories. I came here, I’ve struggled, I’ve conquered and I continue to strive for higher levels of success. The goal is always to support the Latino movement here. But we must look further and realize the importance of our platform to empower the Latinos in the diaspora, an often forgotten but crucial detail when it comes to uplifting our community.
Latin heritage month is so important to me, but I realized that in our celebration of Latinos in the U.S., we sometimes forget our responsibility to the countries that make our identities so delicious and rich. Along the way, I decided that what needed to be created was a local global movement. So, I began to not only showcase local up-and-coming designers, but throughout the years I have incorporated designers from many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean including Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Dominican Republic, among many others. This is an integration that I take most pride in. What we provide at FDLA is a marketing opportunity like no other. It goes without saying that showcasing in one of world’s fashion capitals, designers are able to grow tremendously, not only in their country but also globally, raising eyebrows from fashion weeks and around the world. The ripple waves of influence go far beyond anything I could ever imagine.
