Every year with Fashion Week season, we see new budding designers debut and are reminded of just how many other talented inspirational designers are out there, not yet in the direct spotlight but looming in the shadow of their soon awakened fame. With thousands of design students pouring out into the field of Fashion every semester and a media culture that’s possibly over-glamorized the business of fashion design, succeeding and setting oneself apart in the field has become a challenge that sadly has lead many to walk away too soon. Then there are those, fueled by a passion defined to the core of who they are, an entrepreneurial mindset, and an attentiveness to craftsmanship that are able to define a space where their ideas and inspirations can open up doors of possibilities. Enter Mario Albertos Gallegos, Jr. 
Named by D Magazine as one of Dallas’ Top 5 upcoming designers and having recently debuted his SS14 line in NYC, Mario is truly an artist attuned to the history of his craft and innovative to bring new life to it. His passion started early, at the age of 6, Mario could be found hovering around his grandmother’s sewing machine helping her match threads when she had difficulty doing so. Women have been and still are Marios’ biggest inspiration, from the women that inspired his past like his grandmother, mother, and aunt to the women that he dresses today. He states that a piece of garment can affect and elicit human emotions, further describing his work as a romance between fabric, style, and construction that should bring out the goddess in the women who wears it.
What’s unique about Mario’s vision is his attention to craft and the detail of sewing and draping, a trait that remains rare in a fast changing fashion world, where the short life of trends mandates quantity and quick turnaround times. But Mario’s perspective draws on something more, when we speak of competition and setting oneself apart as a designer Mario points out that as a result of pursuing the latest trends, the majority of designs today lack quality and craftsmanship. He explains that when you invest in a car or a house, the quality and foundation of which it is built is important. He feels that clothing should mirror the same thing, where a classic piece should be able to last for years to come and withstand the tides of trends and time. True, especially when we consider the masters like Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, where boucle and tweed blazers still command a high price second and third hand, and YSL’s men’s tailored shirts and jackets have never been out of style.
Perhaps it is the Parisian Influence that triggered Mario to start up Petit Atelier in the trendy district of Deep Ellum in Dallas. Meeting his business partner at the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit followed by a trip to Paris, Mario decided to bring a piece of the old world craft and sewing to Dallas. Petit Atelier is not only Mario’s studio but also serves as a bridge for students learning the art of draping and sewing, offering classes, as well as sewing machines that may be hard to come by. It serves as a space that he has defined to help enable the next generation of designers, a place to discuss and learn from each other not too different from Stein’s Paris Salon where writers in the 1800’s would convene and mutually inspire. Perhaps what is especially admirable about Mario is his continued pursuit of excellence and his ability to grasp opportunities, from sewing in his apartment in 2009 to having a commercial space for himself and others in 2014, his passion has never subsided and it is this that has and will continue to set him apart from the masses.
To find more information on Mario and Petit Atelier, please visit his facebook page and website here:
https://www.facebook.com/marioalberto
TS
