“Once you start working with a passion of what you love, it’s true what everybody says, you’re not working.” 

 

Irlanda grew up knowing she wanted to be a fashion designer. But it wasn’t until she got older that things started to get more serious. She went to school once for fashion design and a second time to do international business in French at SDSU. 

 

Irlanda now owns M.I.D.W. Clothing and works everyday perfecting and creating unique and meaningful designs of clothes, accessories, and face masks. Before the pandemic, Irlanda wasn’t working as much. It wasn’t until Covid-19  where her brand started growing a following and gaining more traction. Since the fabric mask was in such high demand, Irlanda adapted to those needs and started creating her own masks. Before she knew it, she was selling masks like hot potatoes. Although she found herself in great success with the fabric masks, some sales started to get more and more inconsistent. She always took a positive outlook on the negatives and describes those types of instances as “one of those demotivations that you come across.” 

 

Amidst the negatives and the many outweighing positives, Irlanda can safely say that she has learned a lot under the current situation. She learned that the pandemic doesn’t only have negative outcomes and found ways to turn this global issue into something beneficial for her business. In the future, she hopes that when gatherings are allowed, and when the pandemic is over, that she could be more hands-on. She would love going back to doing photo shoots, fashion shows, and pop up shops.