Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariana Peña-Cárdenas.
Ariana, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve always loved fashion and when I was 14 years old, I was watching “The Style Network.” At the time they actually posted fashion shows basically all day, and a tv host mentioned the school “Parsons School of Design.” After doing my research, I realized it was THE fashion school, the one all the biggest designer went to. After graduating with a business degree from Dallas Baptist University I moved to NYC to follow my dreams and go to Parsons School of Design and hot a degree in fashion studies which included merchandise and marketing. I spent eight years in Dallas and owned my own boutique in the heart of Uptown and then decided to sell and work for a bigger corporate company as an assistant buyer in their footwear department. My husband’s job moved us back to my beautiful hometown, HOUSTON in 2015, and I took some years off with my two daughters. Early this year I took a trip to Singapore and Thailand and while on that trip I realized how much effort I put in my outfits while traveling and started posting publicly on my Instagram goods, travel and my favorite fashion.
My account was always private but I got such positive feedback from my friends that I decided to make it public and became more intentional about it. I realized that a lot of my “plus size” or “curvier” followers were asking me about my clothes and where it was from etc. So I decided to show more plus size fashion because I’ve always been a curvier girl and I want to be a voice and help other women that are not a size 2 and show them that fashion come in all shapes and sizes. You can have a love for fashion and wear all the new trends without being the size of the model walking down the runway. All this awakened my love for fashion and IG became an outlet for me to express my looks. This July I took a trip to Medellin, Colombia to assist with one of largest fashion fairs in the world, Colombia Moda. I was able to connect and meet with several manufacturers and plan on creating my clothing line that will be all size inclusive hopefully for Fall 2020!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I believe everything happens for a reason, and we go through seasons. During those years that I stayed home I can honestly say that I didn’t feel too inspired with Fashion, but that season was for me to soak in the toddler and infant life ☺️. Styling and putting outfits together comes natural to me, so even though I’m still a mom to 2 little ones, it was easy for me to start getting inspired again. I think the important thing is to embrace the season you’re in and focus on the good even when it’s hard to see. Those bumps in the road are there for a reason.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Right now I’m focusing on posting fashion for curvier girls so that they can be inspired to dress out of their comfort zone. The ultimate goal is to build followers of all shapes and sizes so that when my clothing line is ready, all women could shop and not just plus size women. The styles I’m working on are more statement pieces. It would be a dress you would wear on your birthday, a top you would wear on a hot date, or something fun that would have heads turning!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Lately, I’ve been taking several trips, big and small, and have several of my followers interested in the hotels I stay at, the activities we plan or the restaurants we eat at. So I want to be able to start posting more travel too because if I’m honest travel is as big of a passion as fashion is to me. So I want to be able to somehow merge both since I love doing both so much!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: arianapenacardenas
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