Fashionpedia

Sheila Rodriguez

"Life is of progress and so is fashion. Don’t get caught wearing last season’s trends."

Sheila, pronounced 'Shay-La' Rodriguez was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and raised in South Florida. Her parents are native Puerto Rican and moved her and her six siblings, one of which is her twin, to Florida when she was six years old. Early on, Sheila always had fashion in her life. Using paper dolls as models, she would draw her own clothing and tape the different outfits to the paper dolls. At age 7, Sheila received her first sewing machine. Unfortunately, for the budding designer, it was just a plastic toy model.
Sheila was very artistic, using drawing, painting and pottery to express her creativity. She began sewing while still in Elementary school. One of the first items she would make were simple pillows that were easy to sew by hand.
Teaching herself to sew on her first machine at age 12, she already had dreams of attending the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Sheila was so determined to attend this particular, school she did not waste time researching any other schools. She attended Deerfield Beach High School, where she began taking her first sewing classes. While in the ninth grade, she began creating unique fashions by turning boys athletic jerseys into cute sexy mini-dresses. Because of her unique fashion sense, she was often thought of as strange or wierd by her peers. Sheila just felt that she was being herself. Soon she began making most of her classmates' prom dresses. She was so talented that her instructor would allow her to make contracted pieces while in class. So she literally got paid to go to sewing class. Sheila received several awards for costume design for the clothing she made for the drama club used in school plays. She also belonged to FCCLA, a home economics club.

Sheila participated in several fashion shows for different charities. She also started working on her first collection. Rodriguez created her clothing line, Genisifunk in 2005. Since its inception, she has had three collections shown. Each garment is unique. Items are rarely, if ever duplicated. She never makes more than 3 pieces of the same garment. Sheila believes that what you wear should express your individual style. That's what fashion is all about.

Designer Facts:
If I could bring back any fashion trend I would bring the 1800's era back. I would love to see women walking around in corsets and bustles. The hair style and powdering of the face was amazing too.

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