Meet Graciela Gutierrez of Rayodesol

Today we’d like to introduce you to Graciela Gutierrez.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Graciela. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Since I was a little I knew I wanted to get into the creative and media industry. Whether it was through modeling, styling, or designing I knew I wanted my future to be self-made. Towards the end of high school I started doing photoshoots and thrifting mostly so I based a lot of my looks through thrifting. Thats where my passion for modeling and upcycling clothes truly blossomed. I could be myself in my work and in what I wore. I’m from Fresno, CA so the creative opportunities to build more for yourself were scarce, I knew in order to truly pursue my dream I was going to have to move. At 18, I got accepted into UCLA and took the opportunity to live in LA and pursue my creative dreams as well as academic ones.

Moving to LA for school was one of the hardest things, the transition into a dorm and city with strangers pushed me away from my creative interest for the first year. My second year started off rough financially. I was couch surfing with a good friend and I had more parking tickets than I could count. I got a job at Urban Outfitters so I could handle the financial burden I put on myself. I ended up truly blossoming at Urban because of my connections to my coworkers. A few of my coworkers were photographers so once we had a concept, we would create. I would model and style myself and they would capture it. I ended up getting a few of my pictures on the Urban Outfitters Instagram page but still nothing that would get me paid creatively.

After eight months of working at Urban, I felt I had gained enough financial and mental stability. I had been subleasing my own place for a few months but I felt stagnant. I quickly realized I had become comfortable at my job and wasn’t moving fast enough and in the direction that I wanted to. In August, I took a leap of faith and put two weeks in, in hopes to find a new opportunity. I had told most of my coworkers that my plan was to get an internship, I truly wanted it. I went home to Fresno for a couple of weeks to see family and while in my hometown came across an internship opportunity with a brand (in LA) that I have been following and inspired by for years. I applied and interviewed for it last week and was offered the position and will be given creative freedom in the positions of modeling, designing and marketing while working under a respected and wise creator. I start my new chapter and opportunity this month and cannot be more ecstatic for the experiences and growth to come.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This has been one of the hardest roads because it has been the road to my personal freedom. The hardest struggles have been mental although the physical and financial ones were just as real. I had to learn to be unapologetically myself, to love and be sure with myself. It was understanding that the only barrier between me and what I truly wanted to be, was me. It was constantly reminding myself that this is something I deserve, it’s giving yourself the reassurance because no one else is going to give it to you. We carry a lot of weight as individuals, we carry the weight of our childhood traumas, and a lot of times people will project their beliefs about their dreams in a negative way to you because they see you chasing your dreams but don’t feel competent enough to chase theirs. I had to learn how to block that out, to not take things personal, everything is relative so I couldn’t compare myself or accept anyone else’s success as my failure. Even financially had to remind myself that my situation did not define me and that the things occurring in my life were not blockages, they were happening so other doors could open.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Right now, my company is in the making. I’m working on a clothing brand based mostly from upcycling thrifted clothes. The mission is to make all of my pieces different with the exception of a few graphic/ screenprint ideas I have. My brand will be ethically made, my mission is to give back as much as I can and do it as ethically as I can. I feel there’s already too much fabric in the world, we live in a very wasteful world and fast fashion powerhouses like forever21 are just adding to the environmental harm with the vast amount of water, fabric and dyes being used. We’re at a point in time where we can reverse this, we can use clothes that have already been made. We can add to the story that a piece already comes by just reconstructing the outline, deconstructing denim from jeans and turning it into a top or a bag. It’s giving an old piece from a whole different time period a completely new and raw touch. I have a lot of visions for my brand but I definitely have a lot of work to do with it so for now, I’m going to continue to work on my craft while selling basic pieces that I’ve found in the past on my depop.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I’ve always been an energetic and creative ball. I’ve been a people’s person since I was able to talk. I loved everything that had to do with expressing myself and I figured out every possible way to show it.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/turayodesol

Image Credit:
Photos are by photographers Emma Valles and Elisa Ciappi

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