We recently connected with Felisha Rose Santana and have shared our conversation below.

Felisha Rose , appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

As a child I showed early signs of creativity and imagination. I loved playing dress-up and dressing my Barbies and dolls in their everyday outfits and for their “special occasions.” My parents were attentive and encouraging to my interests. As I was growing, they guided me in my decisions instead of making them for me. I was never pressured to be or do anything according to their visions of me. Their expectations didn’t count neither for them or for me. The best did they have done is listen and trust me to follow my heart. I feel privilege to know such love and support.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. I kind of always knew I was headed towards a fashion career although, I didn’t know what the options looked like for me. The fashion industry is extremely limited in my home town and there is a culture of disregarding art as a career. As a senior in high school, I knew I had to leave, and then a world of opportunity opened up for me.

I am a recent graduate from the Savannah College of Art & Design, where I discovered my true passion for technical design and garment construction. I would say my specialty is make. I always say it is easy to design something beautiful, the real question is: ‘how will I make this?’ This question inspires my quest to perfect the make of clothing products. To me, there is nothing more fulfilling than figuring out how to get from point A to point B in a technically challenging piece.

‘Proof of Life’ is my collection thesis I completed a couple of months ago. It is my pride and joy where I illustrate everything I love about designing. The collection is very feminine, colorful, and floral. I proudly designed a collection that is ready to wear as well as visually stunning at the same time.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

For my thesis collection I designed a tiered sleeve I like to call “the petal sleeve.” I cannot tell you how many times I re-drafted and sewed samples and mockups of the sleeve. It became a running joke with my friends and classmates where everyday they would ask me, “did you finish the sleeve yet?” The first draft alone took me about 3 weeks. In this journey I learned perseverance, a quality I didn’t realize I possessed. Fashion education is very successful at mimicking the fast-pace of the actual industry. Every day is crunch time and it still surprises me that I was able to go through with the design and make it to the finish line.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me it is definitely the community. For so long creative careers were under-appreciated. The same way I have learned so much about the fashion industry alone, connecting and learning from other artists and creatives is truly humbling. It’s like you don’t really know of something until you’re involved in it. I learn so much of what goes into other creative careers and artist and their journeys.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @felisharose.santana
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/felisharose

Image Credits
Photographers: Fernando Tipacti Jr. Alexandra Perez Rivera Abigail Wornock Models: Julianne Cournard Emilce Roman Fatima Pealez Jayden Abigale