Spotlight Designer: Venezuelan-born Carmela Osorio Lugo
Carmela, the Venezuelan fashion designer that charmed Ralph Lauren himself with a basket of arepas, a traditional and delicious food from her native home.
Courtesy of @carmelanyc
The young designer has an impressive resume and design trajectory. She studied and graduated from SCAD and during her time in Savannah she worked for Ralph Lauren, Elie Tahiti and DKNY. She got a personalized letter from Ralph Lauren expressing his gratitude for her work and announcing her renewal in the company. If that wasn't impressive enough she also won the CFDA Claiborne Award in 2014, using her winnings to fund her senior collection.
She went on to create her own fashion label, CARMELA, which she founded with fellow SCAD alumni Kyra Webb. A brand built on sustainable values, as it implements recycled fabric waste that transforms into their luxurious denim. Since then she has moved on to new projects.
Courtesy of @carmelanyc
Courtesy of @attire
She is currently working as the head designer of Attire The Studio, the fashion label of Sweden influencer Xenia. A brand that is built solely under the principles of honesty and transparency. They work with small family owned factories and are kin to showing what the customer is paying for.
Courtesy of @attire
Courtesy of @attire
Xenia got in touch with Carmela through DM’s and quickly set up. They both fell in love with each other and Xenia was so impressed by Carmela's resume she had to do a background check to see if everything was true, which it was. Soon Attire The Studio was born with Carmela as its head creative director.
Carmela has shown that sustainability and designing with purpose are the most important. She has expressed how the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries, with this in mind she has built a career where she can be both a designer and a social activist.
Courtesy of @attire
Courtesy of @attire
She has built a prominent community in her Instagram where she has opened up about her life, her struggles, her passions making her followers feel close to her realness. If you take a look at her videos you will immediately fall in love with her positiveness, her realness and with her overall fun personality.
Here are some of Carmela's designs for Attire The Studio, fashion that puts the environment first.
