Jersey Girl’s designs hit the big time at New York Fashion Week

New York fashion week is everything when it comes to design and fashion. Anyone involved in it is either a big deal or a future very big deal. It’s where people come from all over the world to see and be seen, to check out what the newest, hottest fashion trends will be for the upcoming season.

The shows are always filled with celebrities and tastemakers. And then there’s Marcia Arnsparger Santiago, Jersey Girl and bona fide tastemaker.

Santiago, a mom and entrepreneur and fashion's latest "it" girl, commutes from her Jersey Shore home to New York City to make waves in the fashion world with her company KlosetSlayer, and her fierce cutting-edge designs.

While it’s very exciting that she’s showing at NYFW, it’s not the first time. It’s actually the fourth. And her popularity continues to grow.

Santiago, a Barnegat resident, got her start when a friend’s granddaughter was in the Miss Teen New Jersey contest and asked Santiago for help in designing an outfit for her, according to an article on Jersey Shore Online.

And the rest is ... well, you know.

Her company is now exploding, with celebrities including reality TV stars, rappers, and pro football players lining up to wear her unique designs.

Take one look at the KlosetSlayer Instagram and you’ll see a veritable celebration of diversity with models of all sizes, shapes, colors and gender identities sporting her clothing. And that’s not just for photo ops. According to the article, Santiago says, “We don’t do regular models on our runways. We include plus size because that’s what’s realistic. Not everybody is a size zero.”

Very few designers can say that and really mean it.

Interestingly, the designer freely admits she doesn’t have artistic training. Rather, she has an eye, a flair for putting the basics together to come up with show-worthy designs. If this collection is any indication, Marcia is in for a very long run in the fashion world.

And we can’t wait to follow her trajectory and be along for the ride.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi Franco’s own.