Victor de Souza’s journey to New York Fashion Week

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — PIX11 news got a behind-the-scenes of one the hottest runway shows at fashion week with Victor de Souza .

A Harlem-based couture designer from Argentina who dresses stars like Lady Gaga and even Lauryn Hill, de Souza hopes to inspire the next generation of Latin American designers and give back to his Hispanic community.

The second floor of the Consulate General of Argentina in Midtown has been converted into a fashion lab.  The 24 hours before his highly anticipated runway show during fashion week, de Souza takes great care in every detail. Every shoe and every stitch matters.

His coolness under pressure he says comes from his family and humble upbringing. De Souza was raised in Argentina.  At the age of 20, he came to America and now lives in Harlem. His inspiration he says is his strong grandmother, who helped raise him.

Now, twenty years later, he is the founder and CEO of his own fashion line and dresses celebrities, including Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Cindy Lauper, and Lauryn Hill. De Souza says his designs come from his heart, and the love of his culture and community.

He showed us the beautiful staircase his models would walk down, with no music, in silence, to a crowd of photographers, the fashion elite, and his fans. De Souza says he hopes to inspire other young Hispanic designers to break into fashion.

He says NYC, especially Harlem, is very much a part of the soul of his new line, which he describes as the rabbit hole of style, using his past, making it modern, and weaving in his intense pride in his culture.

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