It’s been 21 years of success for the Zero + Maria Cornejo brand. The core of her business – female-owned and female-powered – remains steadfast.

As a child to socialist parents, designer Maria Cornejo’s upbringing in her native Chile was cut short. After the country’s 1974 coup d’état, when she was just 11, her family left and sought political asylum in England.

Arriving at the peak of the mid-70s glam rock era of David Bowie, Cornejo’s acclimation to her new “home” country wasn’t necessarily smooth, but the UK’s new subculture provided major inspiration and she connected with other creatives at London’s Ravensbourne College, where she studied fashion.

“It was a way of expressing myself as a language,” said Cornejo. “English is my second language, so for me it was easier to express myself visually than with a spoken word.”

It seemed an organic degree to pursue. She picked up knitting and sewing skills as early as seven years old by her grandmother, using her grandfather’s big construction nails instead of common double-pointed needles (that was before there were children’s sewing kits). At the time, it was typical for one’s clothes to be made at home, and because Cornejo’s mother was a working professional, many of the designer’s childhood outfits were made from leftover fabric from the mother’s ensembles.

Cornejo’s graduate collection sold to Joseph and Whistles, and after college, she moved to Paris and collaborated on a label with designer John Richmond, with much success. By the time she was 23, she had 22 freestanding stores for the Richmond Cornejo label.

In 1996, the designer moved to New York with her husband, fashion photographer Mark Bothwick. As someone who’s been displaced and called many places home, she left England with some apprehension but gradually fell in love with the Big Apple. Zero + Maria Cornejo was born in 1998.

Her work has always been thoughtful. She’s collaborated with artisans in Bolivia to hand-knit sweaters for her latest collections and has manufactured locally in New York to reduce her carbon footprint. “My father would have wished I was a doctor or probably in politics, but I think you can make political statements by the way you create,” she said.

Her new role on the CFDA Board of Directors is the culmination of more than three decades of contributions to the fashion industry (both domestically and internationally).

“I think you can only change things from within so I hope to lead by example, and I think that’s what I’m doing,” she said. “Actions speak louder than words and what I’m trying to bring is being sustainable, an independent business, being a woman, a mom, and a Latina.”

For Cornejo, this month is an opportunity to celebrate the multifaceted and diverse,rich culture of Latinidad whose people encompasses 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“I feel like my sense of humor and irreverence is English, when I’m chic it’s French, and the Latina is in the color and the flirtiness,” she laughed. “It’s good to reconnect with our roots. My roots are all over the place, but being Latina is at the foundation.”