With a few strokes of her pencil Johana Hernandez creates designs that will be worn by a celebrity bride during her latest fashion show.
She makes it look easy, but behind these designs is a history of a woman and her family.
“I wouldn’t be here if my mom wasn't a seamstress and my dad, and my grandmother, who was a designer in El Salvador. That’s why I named my brand 'Glaudi,' because it’s inspired by my mom's name, Gladis,” said Hernandez.
As she picks out materials for her designs, Hernandez, who was born and raised in Compton, talks about how her parents immigrated to the United States from El Salvador.
As a child, she watched as her parents worked sewing in sweatshops to support their family. Hernandez got her first job as a head designer at age 18. In 2011 she created Glaudi, specializing in haute couture dresses and bridal.
“I always said when I saw my parents getting paid very little sewing clothes, I said I don’t ever want people to go through that because my parents worked so many hours sewing jeans and pockets,” she said.
Now she has a whole team of people she employs, but she’s still involved in every aspect of her designs, even picking out the outfits for the models that walk her runway shows.
Hernandez emphasizes that the perfect Glaudi model has more to do with what’s on the inside than on the outside. She frequently picks inspirational women to walk her runway, women who are a lot like her.
In 2013, she starred on NBC’s designer competition series, Fashion Star and quickly rose to the top of the fashion world. Now her designs are worn by influencers, powerful business women and celebrities.
For the finale of a recent show at St. John’s Cathedral, she had singer and television personality Chiquis Rivera walk the runway.
While her designs make people feel glamorous she emphasizes that her brand isn’t just about the clothes.
“It’s about my family and to inspire other kids to be proud of their parents and where they come from,” she said.
It’s that same pride that she exhibits in every design.