We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Giselle Rodriguez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Giselle below.
Hi Giselle, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
Well it all really began when I was a little kid and largely attributed to my parents. My father is an artist. He went to school for art and started a business designing and constructing Caribbean carnival costumes.
Growing up in New York City with my mom, my mother had this penchant for interior design so each room in our apartment reflected a different color. My dads house was the antithesis and gave off this old antique vibe. Think old furniture, slightly squeaky wooden floors and oddly shaped key holes on doors. He had a bunch of different art that he created from when he was younger hung up on the walls throughout the house. In retrospect, my entire life was exposed to art as a result of my parents interests and the ways in which they designed their homes which I think naturally rubbed off on me while inhabiting those spaces. Leading into my interests of pursuing different artistic mediums such as writing, photography and fashion.
When I was in high-school I was really into modeling and style. I always admired looking at the way people accessorize their clothing and followed many fashion bloggers on tumblr. I had this weird obsession with playing dress up in my house and constantly trying on different outfits. During this time in my life, I was sort of figuring out ways on how I wanted to express my individuality outwardly with the clothes I put on.
Fast forward to the beginning of college, i developed an affinity to writing. I would randomly write poems in my notes and quickly realized how easy it felt for me to rhyme words together. As my time throughout college progressed, I developed an interest in photography due to my love of being in front but also behind the camera. Leading to the purchase of my first camera. My sophomore year, I decided to study abroad in London and took a few trips to a few other European cities and started capturing all these moments. The summer of 2015, Ianded me an internship in a wework space where I was surrounded by a ton of different entrepreneurs starting their own ventures and felt inspired to finally launch my blog (originality conquers) that I had been rationally toying around for some time. The blog became a way for me to express myself artistically through my eyes behind the lens. Call it a digital collection of my travels and moments.
Now lets fast forward a bit further to 2018, the year after I graduated. A good friend of mine from college reached out to me and asked if I wanted to join his team and help with furthering his fashion brand. Immediately decided that I wanted to because of how much I saw the vision. At this point, I could say this was the start of me deciding to pursue an artistic path professionally. It’s been 5 years of being involved in this fashion brand and I am excited to be apart of the journey and all that is coming next.
Giselle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hello there! My name is Giselle Rodriguez and I was born and raised in Manhattan, NY. I am a sister, aunt and creative. I went to school in Manhattan on the upper west side until the 6th grade and then transferred to boarding school in Washington D.C. from 7-12th. During my time in boarding school, I developed an interest for modeling and started modeling in school and did some photoshoots on the side. I became quite consumed with following street-style bloggers on tumblr. I really got into fashion street-style in middle school onto high-school. I am not sure if this is due to my schools uniform policy or stemming from my earlier years in school in Manhattan where I would be sauntering throughout neighborhoods observing others’ unique sense of style.
Fall of 2013 when I got into college, I started modeling for our homecoming fashion show and had the chance to meet some of the designers that made clothes for the models to wear for the show. This is around the time where I began to cultivate a friendship with my current business partner and longtime friend, Stanton. At the time, I admired how creatively talented Stanton was with coming up with ideas to alter and design existing garments while simultaneously deciding that he wanted to launch his own brand. It was not until a year after I graduated that Stanton invited me to join his team on his fashion brand which is the business that we now run together “Somniis”. A unisex luxury streetwear fashion brand. We just recently launched our 5th collection “Shadows of the mess you made” which purpose is to inspire those who have been doubted and to become steadfast in their efforts through all areas of life. Use the doubt as motivation and prove those that questioned you wrong. “Shadows” is meant to represent the pits that doubters will stay in as you succeed. “Mess you Made” is the phrase representing the success that has been motivated by those who don’t believe in you. You can read and see more of collection V on our website – somniisbysj.com
I am incredibly proud of how much we have grown together as a brand. The milestones and accomplishments that we have achieved over the years together. From long hours on the phone, to brainstorming, strategizing, building relationships etc. All of these moments prove the amount of time and dedication that it required to materialize the opportunities we have been afforded and where we are today. We are currently placed in two stores in Brooklyn, NY and are looking to expand to more in the new year. We recently had our 1st fashion show during New York Fashion Week to showcase collection V. It was really nice to see our family and friends in the audience to show their support.
We really want to inspire others to dedicate to their passions and know that great things take time, consistency and work. It’s important to have people surround you that are positive, inspire you, keep you motivated and grounded. Currently we are working on our next collection 6 and are hoping to even have a bigger space that we can do our fashion show in 2023. We hope that you all will follow us along this journey and stay tuned for what we are going to release soon.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect for me is the people that I get to connect with, inspire and meet along the way. Being an artist and creative, you’re constantly coming up with ideas that you can implement in your work but also translate to some area of your life. Everything sort of works synchronistically. I really like how there are so many different interesting people that you have the opportunity to meet, all because of the work that you are involved in. It’s truly a wonderful thing to learn from other people and listen to their inspirations, challenges and stories. It becomes an equal exchange of information. For me it’s about creating those meaningful connections and inspiring others to take those next steps in creating something of their own.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
The drive for me is really just having that positive impact on other people and inspiring others to launch something of their own. The goal is never really monetary but to just formulate connections, continuously grow and have that positive influential impact. If my work, words or actions could inspire someone to make a positive choice in their life towards a new direction. That is enough for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://somniisbysj.com/
- Instagram: @somniisbysj
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisellerodriguez123/
Image Credits
Azikiwe Aboagye