Gio’s Story

Designer clothes come from a place of creativity.  Think of all the hours spent choosing the perfect fabric and color, creating the style and cut.  The needle and the thread, the pins, the scissors and the vision, all working tirelessly for that special piece.  Designers are definitely hard-working, dedicated, and wildly imaginative.  However, every now and then a designer shows up who has all of these components and makes beautiful pieces, but along with that he has a story to tell about perseverance, passion and strength that is truly remarkable.  Giovanni Sanchez of Studio GVNYC in New York City has such a story.

Giovanni began his career in Costa Rica at the age of 16.  In a unique twist, his start in the fashion industry was not with dresses but with napkins.  Taken under the wing of designer Orlando González, Giovanni was taught to create intricate fruit paintings on cloth napkins which he later sold as artisan gifts.  The popularity of napkins grew considerably and women began to request that the paints be applied to the front of blouses as well.  Realizing the community’s interest in custom clothing and realizing that his skills with it were limited, Giovanni entered the Modern System Verona design school.  He took every possible opportunity to learn and develop his skill set and began creating his own pieces.  His passion for him continued to flourish as he introduced his works to fashion shows.  His designs of him began to be noticed by very influential people such as the First Ladies of Costa Rica, celebrities and singers.  He found himself quite busy working every day while mastering his skills.

One of the most interesting things about Giovanni is where he followed his path.  Not only did he start out in the fashion industry in a unique way with his grape-painted napkins, but before ending up in New York City with his own fashion design company, Giovanni had a few more twists and turns.  First, he worked in two seminaries making pants, shirts, and robes for the brothers.  The second seminar he worked for was in financial trouble.  With a generous heart he began selling his tailoring skills to raise money for the convent.  He made wedding dresses and men’s suits and gave his proceeds to the convent for food and other necessities.

With his hand in the design again, Giovanni realized that he missed the world of fashion and opened his own Atelier.  He worked with journalists and television stars, and even appeared in the newspaper “Al Dia, Queens of Beauty”.  But with each new adventure, Giovanni’s drive to grow and learn washed over him and he returned to school at the National Institute of Learning by taking an online industry patterns course.  Before he knew it, he was making garments in mass production for Capaz Vaqueras, a company that supplies uniforms for the Army of the United States, Canada, Chile and Brazil by making patterns for companies VF and Goretex.

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Gio Sánchez 

Biography

I am a Costa Rican Designer based in New York City. 

My works were presented internationally at numerous Fashion Weeks for Designer LaQuan Smith in New York 2017 and 2018, Paris 2017 and 2018, Dubai 2017, and Nigeria 2017 

I made patterns and samples for Designer LaQuan Smith for top celebrities such as Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj, Kim Petras, and Cardi B.  Also I made clothes for Linda Briceño, 2018 Grammy award winner with my dress for her was voted a Top 10 dress.  

My Haute Couture collections were presented at: 

2021 Puerto Rico Fashion Exposition

2021 Miami Fashion

2019 New York Fashion Week

2019 Ms. International World Contest Bahamas

2019 One Hundred Successful Women in Business Florida

2018 Costa Rica Fashion Week

2007 Costa Rica Fashion Week

2007 Miss Costa Rica competed in the Miss Universe and Miss World Contests 2005 Costa Rica Fashion Week

2003 Costa Rica Fashion Week

My dresses were shown in many International Fashion Magazines, including: 

Vigour, Vancouver January 2024

Malvie, Paris 2023

Intermodelo Magazine, February 2022

Style Cruze, December 2021

Edith Magazine, December 2021

Enfoque Magazine, December 2021

Prolific Quarterly, September 2021 M

arika Magazine, July 2021

Intermodelo Magazine, May 2020

Perfil, 2007