For the second time in his young life, Gustavo Alonso is among the few and the proud.
He spent eight years serving in the U.S. Marine Corps before making a radical career shift: He became a fashion designer. And on Tuesday night, the 27-year-old from Miami showed his women’s eveningwear collection at New York Fashion Week.
Alonso’s journey from rifleman to garment guru has astonished many of his friends, but it’s safe to say that no one is more surprised by it than Alonso himself.
“I loved my job in the military,” Alonso told TODAY.com. “I didn’t know anything about fashion or about designers when I was in the military … and now this! This is every designer’s dream, to show at Fashion Week. I’m so excited, and I’m also nervous!”
But Tuesday was also a huge day for Alonso for another reason: At 11:15 a.m., he married his partner of five years, Oscar Arevalo, at New York City Hall. Because same-sex marriage is banned in their home state of Florida, the couple thought they’d make the most of their trip to New York for Fashion Week .
“When we get home, we’ll have a big dinner for all of our family and friends that were unable to come,” Alonso said. “Both of our families are very supportive of us.”
Laura T. Coffey