Ximena Valero (born Jimena del Carmen Valero Jarillo; May 26, 1977) is an American, Mexican born

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

and winner of the 2007 International Award for Designer of the Year for Excellence in Evening Wear at ''Miami's Fashion Week''. She is known for introducing Transformable Fashion and has dressed a number of celebrities. Valero made her name in

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

and now lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. She was recently (fall, 2016) featured as a designer and judge on ''The Fashion Hero''.

Early life and education

Ximena Valero was born Jimena del Carmen Valero Jarillo in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Distrito Federal A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or th ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to Carmen Jarillo-Yañez, a school teacher and housewife, and José L. Valero, M.D. a plastic surgeon. Ximena's parents moved to Tijuana, Mexico in 1982. She got her formal training at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in San Diego.She started studying fashion during summer breaks at the age of 8. It was with her mother's influence that she began to study fashion and couture lessons. At which point, fashion design grew to be her passion, eventually leading her to become a student of fashion design at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, in neighboring San Diego, at the age of 17.

Career

She started designing women's apparel in her first workshop in Tijuana, in the late 1990s. In 1999, she was offered and accepted a paid internship in the design department at Victoria's Secret & Limited Brands by Victoria's Secret CEO Grace Nichols. After her internship ended she started working in New York as a free-lance fashion designer. In early 2006, she moved back to the Tijuana-San Diego area. During the following two years, she developed new designs incorporating Frida Kalhlo's look into her apparel creations and also designed women's shoes and pets apparel. By late 2007, she moved to Los Angeles, where she has her current workshop and showroom studio. During 2007 and 2008, she has appeared in several Fashion Week shows around Latin America and the US, and was the winner of the 2007 International Award for Designer of the Year for Excellence in Evening Wear in 2007's Miami's Fashion Week. On October 14, 2008, she was appointed one of 15 members of 2008's Tijuana's Hall of Fame, at the Canaco (National Chamber of Commerce), selected by the Tijuana's Image Committee, headed by Tijuana's tycoon, José Galicot Behar.

Transformable Fashion

Her major contribution to fashion in 2009 was so-called "Transformable Fashion," that is, women's apparel that can be worn in many different ways. On her innovation, she recalled, "I was running out of clothes. So I repurposed what we had. Then I thought, what if I made original designs with that transformability in mind?" Valero went on to design a long line of Transformable Fashion women's outfits that can be worn in multiple ways.

Reality television

Ximena Valero was featured as a designer and judge on ''The Fashion Hero'', hosted by

Brooke Hogan Brooke Ellen Oleksy (née Bollea, born May 5, 1988), better known by her stage name Brooke Hogan, is an American television personality and singer. The daughter of former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, she starred in the reality television se ...

. It is available on Amazon Prime. She has also been featured on a number of television and internet programs.

Celebrities dressed

According to various online and print publications, Valero has dressed a number of high-profile celebrities in her career: *

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

– Composer, Musician *

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

– Pop idol, Singer *

Jessica Alba Jessica Marie Alba ( ; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her acting career at age 13 in ''Camp Nowhere'', followed up by ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'' (both 1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 as ...

– Actress *

Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake (née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress. Biel began her career as a vocalist appearing in musical productions until she was cast as Mary Camden in the family drama series '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2007 ...

– Actress *

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, singer, producer, and businesswoman. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at age three. She appeared as a regular on the soap opera ' ...

– Actress *

Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; born March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, director, and businesswoman. After several guest roles on television, she became recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS day ...

– Actress *

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– TV Host / Personality *

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...

– Rapper, Singer * Ariana Savalas – American Jazz Singer *

Paulina Rubio Paulina Susana Rubio Dosamantes (; born 17 June 1971) is a Mexican singer, songwriter and television personality. Referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Golden Girl", she first achieved recognition as a member of the successf ...

– Pop Singer *

Fernanda Romero Fernanda Romero (born as María Fernanda Romero Martínez on October 4, 1983) is a Mexican actress, model and singer. She is most noted for her starring role in the Mexican telenovela '' Eternamente tuya'' and her supporting role in the Ame ...

– Actress *

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– Mexican Singer *

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– Mexican Actress * Daniela Kosan – E entertainment TV host *

Melanie Brown Melanie Janine Brown, MBE (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Mel B or Melanie B, is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which ...

– Spice Girl *

Guadalupe Pineda Guadalupe Pineda Aguilar (born February 23, 1955) is a Mexican singer considered one of Mexico's grassroots musical icons. She is a recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a multi-Latin Grammy nominee, she has released more t ...

– Mexican singer * Patricia de Leon – Actress * Diana Garcia – Mexican actress *

Leryn Franco Leryn Dahiana Franco Steneri (born 1 March 1982 in Asunción) is a Paraguayan model, actress and former athlete who currently works for the athletics department of Club Sol de América. Franco participated at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics com ...

– Olympic Javelin Thrower *

Cynthia Olavarria Cynthia is a feminine given name of Greek origin: , , "from Mount Cynthus" on the island of Delos. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 17th century. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy ...

– Miss Universe First Runner Up * Alejandra Espinoza – TV Host * Barbara Mori – Actress * Belinda – Pop Idol *

Ninel Conde Ninel Herrera Conde is a Mexican singer, actress and television host known for her performances in '' Rebelde'', '' Fuego en la sangre'', '' Mar de amor'' and '' Porque el amor manda''. Career Her first record production was titled Ninel Conde ...

– Singer/Actress *

Jaslene Gonzalez Jaslene Marie González (born May 29, 1986) is a Puerto Rican model, television host, and winner of Cycle 8 of ''America's Next Top Model''. Biography Gonzalez was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico and grew up in Humboldt Park, Chicago. She attende ...

– American Next Top Model *

Solange Knowles Solange Piaget Knowles (; born June 24, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She expressed an interest in music from an early age and had temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, which featured her older sister ...

– Singer * Debbie Berebichez – Scientist *

Jackie Tohn Jaclyn Tohn (born August 25, 1980) is an American actress and musician. She is best known for playing Melanie "MelRose" Rosen on the Netflix series ''GLOW (TV series), GLOW'' and List of The Boys characters#Courtenay Fortney, Courtenay Fortney i ...

– American actress *

Margherita Missoni Margherita Maccapani Missoni Amos (born February 22, 1983) is an Italian fashion designer, model, socialite and heiress to her family's Missoni fashion house, which was founded by her grandparents Ottavio Missoni and Rosita Missoni Jelmini. Mis ...

– Designer for Missoni *

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– Miss Universe *

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– Film Actress, Model * Ana de la Reguera – Mexican Actress *

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– American Actress * Ximena Sarinana – Singer * Barbara Islas – Mexican TV Host Actress * Cari Lee – Painter and Socialite *

Janice Dickinson Janice Doreen Dickinson (born February 16, 1955)As per Dickinson in NNDB aJanice Dickinson profilegives February 15, 1955, noting, "Although Dickinson has maintained in several interviews and her autobiography ''No Lifeguard on Duty'' that she ...

– Supermodel *

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– Supermodel * Melissa Haro – Supermodel *

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– Supermodel * Tiiu Tulk – Supermodel * Juliana Imai – Supermodel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valero, Ximena 1977 births Living people Mexican women fashion designers People from Mexico City Fashion designers from New York City American fashion designers