Chicle! Chicle!Last month, in the midst of design , draping and making all the patterns for my upcoming Spring 2008 Collection--which I am debuting at the W Hotel San Diego fashion show--I received an email from the Wrigley's Orbit Gum "people" asking me to come up with sketches/ideas for a "Concept" and "Red Carpet" dress based on the Mojito Flavor Orbit Gum. They said, if I was chosen, the new Latina Orbit Gum girl, the beautiful Raquel Jimenez, would then wear it at the upcoming Premios Juventud, the Latin version of the Teen Choice Awards.
Well, I was intrigued, to say the least. I sketched about 11 designs and after much client discussion--and a little bit of my input--they choice one of my more elegant yet still fun designs. I had done several, more costumey Miss Universe Parade of Nations Miss Dominican Republic-with-a-lemon/lime-on-her-head types of styles but I am happy with the one that was chosen. It reflected my sexy-yet-elegant sense of style, but was still an obvious nod to the Mojito Orbit Gum.
The budget to make this creation was very good but there was one catch: The Awards Show would be in a week!! Well, it became like another Project Runway Challenge for me. The model, Raquel was in Spain and therefore emailed me her measurements and would not be present for any fittings so I would have to just go by my years of experience to make this custom dress without an actual person and go by her measurements only. 
I kept hearing Tim Gunn in my ear saying "Make It Work!" Well, in the end, I did, with the aid of my partner, David, who painstakingly helped me in cutting the dress as well as making the fun ORBIT GUM pillbox hat AND Mojito scarf.
I then flew to Miami (former Miss Universe and Marc Anthony's ex, Dayanara Torres was seated 2 seats away from me!) and the next day would have an early morning fitting (it was perfect, thank goodness) and then attended the Premios Juventud and walked the Red Carpet (it was purple, go figure), amongst such Latin pop stars as RBD , Enrique Iglesias, and Daddy Yankee. The fans on the bleachers were so cute in that they were all screaming "Chicle! Chicle!" as we walked the carpet. I yelled back "Orbit Mojito! Orbit Mojito!". I was surprised that many of them were "Oh , you're Nick from Project Runway!!" Not surprising the show has a huge Latin fan base. I love me some Miami...as well as Orbit Gum too!!!!