Fountain House Gallery visual artist Guiomar Giraldo-Baron is also an accomplished fashion and costume designer. Guiomar was among those honored with an invitation to show their designs at the recent IDENTITIES Fashion Show at Harvard University.

“The vision of IDENTITIES is to make fashion more accessible,” said international student Dogus Mordeniz, a co-executive producer for the show’s creative board. “We are trying to recruit models from all these diverse backgrounds, from all these different ethnicities and body sizes. We want to bring all their stories together with this show.”

IDENTITIES has been pursuing this mission for 13 years and has has five boards – creative, design, finance, production, and publicity – to manage the work. While the team works with designers and brands that fit its mission, it has also showcased pieces from fashion luminaries such as Nanette Lepore and Vera Wang.

Organizers of the 2019 show discovered Guiomar’s designs online (at guiomargiraldo.com) and invited her to participate. Accompanied by her sister Pilar, Guiomar headed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to be on hand for the festivities.

“It was a beautiful show, very exciting” said Guiomar, “and to see such diversity on the runway was inspiring. The lighting, the models’ makeup – everything was professional. Runway legend Coco Rocha was presented with this year’s Leadership in the Arts Award. She arrived in Cambridge a few days early and ran a training to show more than 30 models how to strut their stuff.”

Guiomar Giraldo-Baron

Guiomar holds a BFA in fashion design from Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and has designed costumes for classical theater. Last spring, models donned her designs for a “fashion evening” at Fountain House Gallery, which led to commissions to create made-to-measure gowns for a Gallery supporter. As a painter, Guiomar works primarily in oil and acrylic, and on occasion in watercolor. She has a facility for figurative subjects such as portraits and landscapes.

In reflecting upon her participation in the IDENTITIES Fashion Show, Guiomar said, “This was a magnificent opportunity. The experience has energized me to rededicate my efforts to grow as a designer and as an artist.”

Congratulations, Guiomar!