Julia Alarcon: In Front of Fashion

Julia Alarcon quit her lucrative sales job at 39 and dove headfirst in the cutthroat world of fashion design. As the legend goes, Alarcon was pulled into her boss’s office and offered a promotion, a plum job that would’ve made her the envy of all her peers. Rather than jump for joy, Alarcon felt trepidations. “It came out of nowhere,” she says. “I realized I didn’t want the promotion and really wanted to be a fashion designer.”

Alarcon’s Spanish parents frowned upon her desire to study fashion in college, so she instead studied international business and Spanish, later earning her master’s degree in international affairs. But it was her love for the big fashion houses, like Yves Saint Laurent, that truly quenched her thirst. She quit her job, enrolled in Parsons the News School for Design and outlined a 6-month business plan with her sister Natalia (who has since left the business).

Lialia was born in 2005 and has turned into a down-to-earth but lovely women’s wear line for a lady who Alarcon says, “has a little more life experience.” You could easily picture Michelle Obama or Carla Bruni attending a high-profile luncheon in one of Alarcon’s smartly cut and sophisticated dresses, often in interesting prints or soft grays and whites. After a successful stint on Sundance’s “All On The Line,” Alarcon is in negotiations to sell her wares in Nordstrom. Fingers crossed.