Activism and Education Through Fashion with Nasheli Juliana Ortiz Gonzales of Nasheli Juliana

Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. With twenty years in the fashion industry, Nasheli’s design experience includes working as technical designer, draper, tailor and seamstress in couture sewing techniques for designers based in New York, Dominican Republic, Italy and Puerto Rico. She currently performs as Chair and Associate Professor in the Fashion Design Department at Moore College of Art & Design. Beyond academia Nasheli is part of the women collective Taller Malaquita in Puerto Rico, co-founder and head designer of 22 Studio, a women-lead transdisciplinary design practice and as the owner of the fashion label Nasheli Juliana.  Nasheli Juliana works with research of political, social and religious issues from an apparel point of view. Looking at social justice from a wearable perspective, she works with upcycling, organic and recycled fabrics. NJ has presented in some of the top fashion design platforms, featured in Next in Fashion 2020, Netflix and in magazines such as Vogue and Forbes, among others. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Nasheli came to be involved in the intersection of fashion and politics The story behind Nasheli’s latest collection Appropriation that she showed at Paris Fashion Week at the beginning of 2020 Why Nasheli starts every collection with extensive research What Nasheli’s creative process looks like How Nasheli uses her runway shows to educate the viewers Nasheli’s thoughts on entering political and social conversations as a brand Why Nasheli thinks having a global perspective that is considerate of others will change the industry for the better Nasheli’s experience being on Netflix’s Next In Fashion What place Nasheli thinks fashion reality TV plays in the industry People and resources mentioned in this episode: Nasheli Juliana website Nasheli’s email Nasheli Juliana on Instagram Nasheli on LinkedIn Next In Fashion Netflix series Do you want fashion business tips and resources like this sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes plus daily content on creating fashion that fits your customer, lifestyle, and values.