

Altoona-indigenous Marcia Arnsparger Santiago is a style designer primarily based in New Jersey. She is the creator of
“KlosetSlayer.” She will be participating in her fourth New York Trend Week on Sept. 11.

Italian vogue magnate Miuccia Prada at the time claimed that fashion is immediate language. If correct, then Marcia Arnsparger Santiago speaks it fluently.
The Altoona indigenous and 42-12 months-previous mom of just one is making ready for her fourth New York Vogue Week exhibiting. Taking position on Sept. 11, superstars ranging from RuPaul Drag Race’s Honey Davenport to Really like and Hip Hop’s Nicki Baby will acquire to the runway to design parts from Santiago’s trend label KlosetSlayer.
Having said that, the highway that led to this moment wasn’t usually a straight just one, Santiago said.
An alumna of the now closed Theodore Roosevelt Junior Higher University and the Altoona Space Substantial College, Santiago liked taking part in basketball and sneaking out to go dancing with her pals. Explained as huge-hearted by those who know her, Santiago’s mother, Luanne, reported that “her nickname was ‘Sunshine’ increasing up because she was often happy.”
Santiago’s enjoy of trend commenced all through her childhood, when she started off sewing with her mother.
“I was into styling since I was a child,” Santiago explained. “I would enable persons with their outfits and issues like that.”
It was not until eventually large college that she bought into style. She would aid classmates with promenade dresses and outfits for special events.
Not lengthy soon after high school, Santiago designed the transfer to New Jersey, in which she completed nursing faculty.
She then invested 16 a long time as a certified surgical technician with the condition of New Jersey.
Santiago describes nursing as functional, indicating she “needed a career,” but it was not her desire work — that was fashion.
It was in New Jersey that Santiago met Jamaal Jackson, now her spouse of 10 yrs with whom she shares 7-yr-aged son, Baylon.
A former ironworker, Jackson began his individual firestop company, I.C. Firestop, that specializes in installing curtain wall firestop devices — bodily boundaries that are intended to stop the distribute of flames, fatal gases and poisonous smoke in structures.
The organization did properly, Santiago explained, and that permitted her to phase back from nursing and concentrate on fashion.
The turning level arrived when she was on maternity go away from her clinic work, she stated. When off work, she commenced serving to mates in the audio organization with styling issues.
“My spouse encouraged me to change it into a comprehensive-blown business enterprise after observing how numerous requests I was having,” Santiago explained.
In 2014, she left the medical subject and started off her personal trend line, dubbed KlosetSlayer.
“I arrived up with the title KlosetSlayer simply because people usually reported I ‘slayed’ their outfits,” Santiago discussed.
When her mother uncovered out that Santiago preferred to be in trend, she was amazed for the reason that “growing up she needed to wear her brother’s outfits.”
However, Santiago’s childhood friends knew much better.
“Marcia has been a diva all her life,” said lifelong close friend Dawn Schmidhamer of Altoona. “She was the girl who had a huge closet, she experienced all the trendy clothing. You’d want to raid her closet.”
As with any business, while, accomplishment has not come easy.
“When I started out my small business, it picked up a great deal more quickly than I thought,” Santiago stated.
1 of her very first jobs was creating dresses for Miss out on New Jersey, she said, noting that a single of her most modern customers, recent Skip Colombia, Maria Fernanda Aristizabal Urrea, appeared in a magazine sporting a KlosetSlayer fringed leather-based outfit.
Santiago mentioned her purpose is for KlosetSlayer to have items that fit absolutely everyone. Some of her lines incorporate parts for kids, adult males, furthermore-sized individuals, and those in the LGBTQ local community.
For Santiago, model is all about cloth and she will really choose the cloth right before developing a new layout.
Up coming, geared up with images, she describes in detail how she needs the piece to look both to her maker or seamstress, depending on irrespective of whether the design will be a one-of-a-type or a bulk get.
That palms-on get the job done ethic has paid out as what was predicted to be a small demonstrate for KlosetSlayer at Trend 7 days quickly received traction when her perform was featured on web-sites these as 50 Cent’s “Hip Hop Weekly” and the “NY Daily Gazette.” KlosetSlayer and its conditioning line Werkkkk It Out, which was developed by Santiago’s lifelong close friend, Renita Taylor, will even have its own billboard in Periods Square on Sept. 10.
“To see any individual come from this minimal spot that we stay in and be able to carry out what she’s completed, and honestly in these kinds of a small volume of time, it’s completely excellent,” Schmidhamer stated.
Santiago has been prepping for the show for months by procuring, heading to fittings for her 20 types, and building outfits for her friends and celebs who will be in attendance. Now, as the date looms close to, she is performing via “lots of final moment particulars.”
“I will not be sleeping,” Santiago said.
Considering the fact that her initially Style Week 7 yrs in the past, Santiago’s KlosetSlayer line has been on additional than 15 magazine covers, like kinds in Paris and Italy.
With this prosperity, she has created a level of bolstering business enterprise thoughts floated by friends she grew up with in the Altoona place.
That is how the health line of KlosetSlayer, Werkkkk It Out, came to fruition.
A health coach, Taylor proposed the line to Santiago, who “helped her acquire her aspiration and place it into actuality.”
Santiago also collaborated with Sean Financial institutions, who owns Krisp Beverages, based mostly out of Harrisburg. Banking institutions, who would provide drinks for Santiago’s photoshoots, also made use of to structure dresses. At a preceding Fashion Week, 12 items from his men’s line ended up showcased because Santiago imagined it would be wonderful.
Santiago is also doing work to assist the upcoming era of designers and versions.
Ashton Owen, whose mother will be the makeup artist for KlosetSlayer versions at Style 7 days, is a young seamstress from the Atlantic Metropolis space. Her aspiration is to be a manner designer, so Santiago is offering her a probability to exhibit her things at up coming month’s occasion while displaying her how to do the job powering the scenes.
“That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Santiago explained of helping other persons.
Inspite of her good results, Santiago isn’t with out everyday struggles.
Her spouse, who had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma for eight yrs, underwent a scientific trial that ultimately gave him myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of blood most cancers.
Jackson was not long ago admitted to the medical center for eight days and will be going through stem cell cure quickly.
His disease indicates that she is commuting daily between New York City and their household in New Jersey to be with him and their son.
“When it will come to her household, she’s there,” Schmidhamer said.
Santiago claims son Baylon is way too younger to totally fully grasp the severity of Jackson’s ailment, and that she is very grateful to her mates who have served out. Her buddies are also earning pink and white ribbons for each of her products to use to raise consciousness for myelodysplastic syndrome.
Once Manner 7 days is above, she will be getting a crack to put a lot more target on her partner and son. She also hopes to be in a position to visit her mom and dad soon, even though getting the prospect to stock up on Boyer Mallo Cups.
Santiago reported she misses Blair County, in distinct she “misses the mountains, riding 4 wheelers and aspect-by-sides.”
As the seasons shift from summer season to fall, she will be doing work to appear up with new types. She also has a lot more programs for KlosetSlayer and its exercise line, she reported.
“There is more to come from her,” Schmidhamer explained of her close friend. “This is just the beginning.”
Mirror Team Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.