Maritza Ramirez: The Spanglish Designer

In my search for a local fashion designer to interview, I came across the name Maritza Ramirez. I looked at her clothing sold in Cliché in uptown and immediately fell in love with her style and knew I had to meet with her, even better was that Maritza was eager to meet me with me to tell me all about herself.

                Maritza calls herself “a little Spanglish fashion designer”.  She grew up just north of the Twin Cities in Forest Lake, after meeting with her I found we actually went to the same high school! Maritza’s passion for fashion started in high school when she began taking some sewing classes. After graduation she went to further her education at St. Catherine’s University where she majored in clothing design and minored in art history. When Maritza started college she really wasn’t sure what she could do with this love of fashion that she had but she thanks the support of her family and friends who pushed her to go for her dreams of becoming a designer.

                Maritza’s first break into the fashion world was when she designed clothing for a band in the Voltage fashion show in 2009. Cliché boutique quickly took notice of Maritza’s whimsical and feminine designs and offered her the opportunity to sell her designs in the store. Much of Maritza’s designs are inspired by architecture, traveling and the local Minneapolis scene. When designing her garments Maritza says “its all about balance”.  She uses a muted color palette with lots attention to detail. Her look is very structured and tailored with feminine pleats and gathers.

                Maritza keeps her life busy, busy, busy.  She is a one woman show and does everything from the designing to the production of her lines. Maritza jokes that she does actually have an assistant, Pinny, which is actually not much of an assistant but rather her dress form that she spends many hours with. Along with designing for fashion shows throughout the Twin Cities, she has even developed her own fashion show called SCENEaSOTA.  This November will mark her third year running SCENEaSOTA. It began as a very amateur fashion show while she was still in college featuring local designers.  This year it has grown and will feature pieces from fresh designers and more experienced designers along with some new accessory designers.  This past spring Maritza also mentored students in the Apparel Design program from St. Catherine’s in designing their end of the year fashion show. And if all that isn’t enough on her plate she also works at Macy’s in the cosmetics department while she is getting her designs out and known in Minneapolis.

                With Maritza’s amazing passion and drive for success you would think it would be only natural that she would seek to be in New York or L.A. but like many local designers, she believes that there is great fashion scene in Minneapolis and wants to help it grow.