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- Camila Romero is a fashion designer and co-founder of clothing brand DeadBlud.
- She came to the U.S. from Colombia as an asylum seeker and is a DACA recipient.
- Romero shares her story of learning to embrace her heritage and finding her voice with insider reporter Yoniji Han.
Camila Romero She is a beneficiary of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which was introduced by the Obama administration in 2012, to more than 600,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children.
The Colombian-American fashion designer and creator is the co-founder of DeadBlud, a sustainable clothing label based in Los Angeles. In the year In 2021, she was a contestant on HBO Max’s “The Hype,” a competition featuring streetwear designers.
This is an as-told essay based on a conversation with Romero. Edited for length and clarity.
I’m from a small town in Colombia called Monteria, and I moved to California with my family in 2000 when I was seven years old. Ever since I started school and decided to go to college, I have been a part of the Dream Act.
We came seeking asylum: there were guerrilla groups robbing people left and right, and they targeted my family because my grandfather owned a cotton farm. My father started receiving threats that I would be kidnapped.
My mother, who traveled back and forth from America as a singer in La Sonora Dynamita, decided to visit me and my father. Growing up there was not a safe environment for me.
Trying to agree
When I think back to when I first came to America, I remember being so far away from school because I didn’t know any English – my first language was Spanish. At first I had a hard time adjusting to being in an all-English school. I had to leave the regular classroom to attend ESL classes, where they explained to me everything I was learning Spanish at school and kept me going.
I really tried to get along with the Americans. That’s why it was easy for me to pick up English so quickly. I completely adapted to my surroundings and threw myself into American culture without looking back.
I joined school activities like volleyball and watched Hannah Montana, on the Disney Channel, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera – all 2000s pop culture, which is still a big part of my inspiration today.
But I lost touch with my Colombian background. I didn’t care. In my predominantly white high school, I tried to suppress my heritage. I only spoke Spanish with my family. At school, I was called a “biner” even though I wasn’t Mexican. People made fun of my parents for not being able to speak English. I felt voiceless then.
Rooted again in the culture
It wasn’t until college that I started to come into my own, away from the pressure of having to get into it. I began to understand the power of creating the person I wanted to be and now I am so proud to be a brown woman.
It was also in college that I started my journey into the fashion industry. I have always loved expressing myself through fashion. As a child, I got a lot of my fashion sense from Rebelde, a Spanish teen soap opera. I loved how they were worn: mini skirts with bell-bottom leggings, cropped tops, braided hair in a ’90s way. I put different hair extensions to have different colored hair. All this stems from being inspired by my idols and mediums.
I started modeling in college and started going to music festivals like Burning Man. It gave me the freedom to go outside and not judge him. I felt empowered to create my own style and find my voice. In the year In 2020 I started my own clothing business, DeadBlud.
My culture influences my style. In Colombia, everyone is free-spirited and open to each other – it’s very different. A subtle piece that you wear every day, or a glamorous outfit that takes you to the red carpet is something I wanted to blend with my palette.
Finding my voice for the dreamers
Growing up, I had no one to look up to and connect with. I want to be that person by sharing my story. Being a dreamer wasn’t something I had a choice to do, but it was something I grew up very ashamed of. I want to be that voice for the people.
I’m an artist, and being a creator comes with the responsibility of influencing others in a positive way. I hope someone can relate to me, “She’s so nice, she doesn’t care what people think, she tells the truth.” I just want you to show everyone, and you can too, as long as you have a dream.
I can’t go back to Colombia because of my visa, but I’m in the process of completing my documents to visit. It will have a huge impact on my life. I can’t wait to get into my culture.
My message to all Dreamers is that your legal status should not define who you are in this country. Your parents sacrificed a lot to bring you here. There are so many different outlets and organizations you can reach out to and get advice from – keep reaching for your dreams.
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