The Marisol Deluna Foundation Community Fashion Show returns this Sunday at San Antonio's Arneson River Theatre, with gates opening at noon and the show beginning at 2 p.m. The free event is built around a simple idea: put kids and young adults of every age and ability at the center of the show, not on the sidelines of it.
The show is free to attend, with a fashion pop-up and refreshments benefiting the foundation on the side, according to a listing from Live From the Southside, which notes that purchases at the pop-up are separate from admission. Behind it is Marisol Deluna, a New York fashion designer and Alamo Heights native who launched her lifestyle label Marisol Deluna New York in 1997 and started the Marisol Deluna Foundation in San Antonio in 2014, according to reporting by San Antonio Express-News writer René Guzman. The foundation, which operates a studio and boutique in La Villita, describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed to educate and mentor students and professionals in fashion, design and fine arts, per its own account on its website.
A Show Built Around Inclusion
The community fashion show is described by its organizers as a free, annual event focused on inclusion, open to member designers of all ages and skill levels, including those with special needs, per the Express-News account. An event listing from events.getcreativesanantonio.com adds that the show represents a variety of ages and capabilities from across San Antonio. Outfits featured in the show are made and modeled by area youth and young adults in the foundation's own programs, the Express-News reports.
Among this year's participants is Reagan Quiroga, a 10-year-old designer who owns Julianna Corazon, a couture line of streetwear, denim and dresses, and who has shown her work at New York Fashion Week and Austin Fashion Week, according to the Express-News. Quiroga has modeled her own designs and those of other children's designers in cities including New York, Austin, Dallas, Miami, Orlando and San Antonio, the paper reports.
Honoring a Sister's Legacy
The show honors Linda Luna Duffy, Deluna's late sister and a special education instructor who taught for 35 years in Alamo Heights and was recognized as Texas Teacher of the Year, the Express-News reports. The foundation's Linda Luna Duffy Creative Hope Initiative extends its fashion program specifically to people with special needs, and the foundation says on its website that the initiative provides creative education and mentoring opportunities for those with special needs, honoring her 35-year career and her 2001 Teacher of the Year distinction.
One participant is Kevin Sanders, who has mild autism and worked with Deluna on a watercolor painting printed on fabric, according to the Express-News. Kevin's mother, Judy Sanders, praised Deluna's work with him, per the Express-News account.
From the Runway to the Café
Leah Meyer, a 26-year-old entrepreneur who was born with Down syndrome, has participated in Deluna's community fashion show for several years and previously modeled in the Hand in Hand fashion show at Morgan's Wonderland in partnership with Macy's, according to the Express-News. “I love it a lot. I love modeling. I feel like I was in my element,” Meyer said. She opened the Mermaid Cafe with her parents last year, and the cafe hires employees with disabilities; a TPR report from 2025 noted the cafe had 15 employees at the time. Meyer has also opened the cafe to fellow fashion show participants on a normally closed Monday so they can make outfits and support one another, and she and her parents plan to wear pink outfits at this year's show, per the Express-News.
The foundation's reach extends beyond this year's show, too. It has helped a former student become a stylist, and Abbey Alcoser, a former foundation student now studying communications at the University of the Incarnate Word, will co-emcee this year's event, according to the Express-News. The Fashion Institute of Technology, where Deluna herself studied, educated another former foundation student who returned to San Antonio to mentor for the organization. Deluna presented silk scarves to Queen Elizabeth II, the Express-News reports. She has also done work related to the Girl Scouts and San Antonio. Deluna has no children of her own, but has said creativity is a gift meant to be shared.
Designer Roman Gonzales will create Deluna's own skirt for Sunday's show, the Express-News reports. This year's event follows a familiar pattern for the foundation: the San Antonio Report noted that the 2024 show drew more than 100 students and participants and an audience of 200, with students from 20 area schools taking part, while a 2023 show at the same venue was likewise held in honor of the Linda Luna Duffy Creative Hope Initiative, according to a listing from Community Impact.
