Vanichi Vision | Ximena Valero Vanichi 11/01/2015 When Ximena Valero was 9 years old, her mother took her to a private sewing instructor in her hometown of Tijuana. That was the moment that would change her life forever. “I was young, but the instructor was very patient,” Valero said. “She helped me discover what I could do with [sewing and design], and from there the possibilities seemed endless. Since then, I feel like everything I’ve done has been to fulfill that sense of possibility.” At the age of 16, Valero enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Diego, traveling across the Mexican border every day to attend classes. She moved to the U.S. at 21, and from San Diego traveled across the country to work at Victoria Secret in New York. These days, home for Valero is Los Angeles where her fashion company is headquartered. The two decades that Valero spent traversing the U.S. in pursuit of her love for fashion, however, hadn’t diminished her patriotism for her home country of Mexico. “Being from Mexico means everything to me. It’s my source of inspiration, and whenever I’m designing, my [Mexican heritage] is always present,” Valero told me. “I am very proud of what my country has contributed to fashion. The hand-made creations, high-quality products, and detailed designs [associated with] Mexican fashion is what I want to show through the clothing I create.”
