When Johana Hernández was little, her parents used to take her to the sewing factory where they worked in downtown Los Angeles.
“I was 3 years old and my mom would sit me in a box near her station where her sewing machine was,” Hernández recalled.
The restless girl and future designer said that she always wanted to do something, until one day her mother asked her to undo the pockets of one of the pants she was sewing while she was sitting on the box.
"I just wanted to be productive," Hernandez said.
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Years later, the love for factories and sewing helped the Salvadorian woman dress celebrities such as Serena Williams, Thalía, Paulina Rubio, Lucero, Natalia Jiménez, and Chiquis Rivera, among others.
“I never imagined that I would be a designer, because I grew up watching my parents work in factories, my aunts, my uncles; they were all dressmakers,” said Hernández, who commented that, although they worked long hours, she always saw her uncles and her parents very happy.
Hernández said that she sometimes saw the bosses arrive with the designers at the sewing factory and they saw the workers as machines.
"They did not say hello, nor did they know their names," she said.
With the thread and the fabric in his heart, when she was an 18-year-old Hernández applied to the prestigious Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in LA and she was accepted.
“I went with my dad, and in my first trimester, at age 19, a denim company hired me to be its designer. I owe that achievement to my parents. "
Hernández, who has been part of several fashion shows such as in New York, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Costa Rica, pointed out that she wanted to change how the world viewed Latinos.
“I always said, I will work hard to be successful, so that people respect us. I don't want Latinos to be invisible, ”she said.
With faith, confidence and the dream of becoming a designer, Hernández launched her own brand GLAUDI, in honor of her mother Gladis and her family because "I wanted to show them off, they never received such attention."
Now with her own brand, Hernández makes all kinds of clothing and for all body types. In 2015, she became an entrepreneur and opened the first GLAUDI store in Downey.
“I was designing sportswear with other companies, denim clothing, T-shirts, casual clothing, party costumes and clothing of different sizes,” said Hernandez, who was born in Compton.
But the success did not stop there. In 2019, Hernández opened her wedding dress store in Beverly Hills, becoming the first Latina wedding dress designer with her business in 90210.
"There came a point where many of my friends were asking me to make their wedding dresses for them," Hernández recalls and it was there that the idea arose.
“I have always been an entrepreneur, I have always liked the business because my parents worked hard to get ahead,” Hernández said.
And now with the two stores, GLAUDI is a family business, with the help of her three brothers and her mother, they all play an important role in the business.
"I always take into account the ideas and words of my mother, she is the base of this brand," said Hernández.
The passionate designer said the pandemic affected the way weddings will take place "but there is always love."
And precisely in the middle of the pandemic, Glaudi launched her line for men, Rey Collection, in honor of her father José Reynaldo Hernández, who passed away a few months ago.
"Women want and are going to look like queens on their big day, and men also want [to be] like kings and that's why this line is exclusive to them," Hernández said.
"Although my business is not considered essential, love will always be essential, love was never canceled," she said.
This story first appeared on NBCLA's sister station, Telemundo 52. Haz clic aquí para leer esta historia en español. Ver más de Telemundo 52:
