Bio-Blog Fashion and Theater

A little Bio-Blog by Wilfred Marrero

"Why do I have to dress like him? We are not twins," yelled the little boy aged five as he slammed the door, running out of his room. Yes, that little boy was me, as I remember my first rebellious behavior, trying to find my own identity and style. Hello, my name is Wilfred Marrero Jr, but you can call me Willie-M. I am a Cuban native but a Citizen of the World. I hold the position of Sr. Fashion Designer/Creative Director at Analili, which is part of Olian, Inc.

I started my fashion designing and theatre work at age eleven. That year, I designed and sewed my first dress shirt against my mother's wishes. She always told me, "If you start to design and sew, you cannot escape it; it is a curse," and she was right. Also, that year I wrote my first theatre play, which won the first place in my school. Since then, my life has been a journey between fashion, design, and theatre.

We left Cuba and moved to San Jose, Costa Rica in 1982; a place that I called my second home. There I continued my journey between the arts. We moved to Miami, Florida mid-year 1989. It wasn't easy to live in three different countries in one decade. When you live like a gypsy, you learn from the pebbles on the road. Pay attention, and life will surprise you.

Going forward to July 15th, 1997, a day that like many, I will never forget. I was at the Art Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, visiting the school trying to sign into the fashion program when someone in the office started to scream, "Gianni Versace has been killed in front of his house." I felt like my life had also ended that day. Since the early '90s, I had been following Versace's work, and I used to dream about one day working with him. That day, those dreams were shattered. But something inside of me happened that night, and I started to see the sign as to where my career should go.

Let's go back for a second to 1995 when I became a student of Teresa Maria Rojas at Prometeo Theatre at Miami Dade College. This lady changed my life for the better. I became an active member of the theatre world in Miami at that point. I acted, directed, and even danced (well, only once, but I did). In 1999, I registered at MDC to get my AA and later transferred to Florida International University to obtain my Bachelor's in Theatre. It was at FIU that I became the Assisting Director of the Chairman in the Theatre Department, Mr. Leroy Clark. When I graduated, I began working at the Actors Play House in Coral Gables, FL, as an assisting costume designer. Not too long after that, I was acting as the Stage Manager for the Children's Theater.

But something was missing in my life...

You guessed right: Fashion Design. At that point, I left theatre and started to travel to different fashion houses in Miami until I found my home at Olian, Inc., where I have been designing for the last eight years. I design five collections a year along with the creative team. This was my real school in the fashion world. So you know, I never took classes to be a fashion designer, yet this place has filled the gap, and every day teaches me something new regarding design, production, and what the customers really want. Analili, a brand that we started from zero, designs contemporary women's clothes and is sold in boutiques all around the world and then came other houses but never as successful as analili. People has tried to imitate my design but can't happens. Dora Pino call me "el dios de la moda," or the God of Fashion.

I am a free spirit in a World with too many rules. Thank you for reading, and please enjoy the conversation. You too are part of these chapters in my life. Leave a comment.

Remember, "Fashion isn't only about money, it's about style." - WillieM

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