DC-based architect and interior designer Ernesto Santalla has followed a lifelong passion into a new career: fashion design. After completing a four-year degree at Marymount University, he launched his own eponymous label in January. “My fashions are very architectural,” says Santalla. “I look at shape, form and texture as they relate to the body.” This fluid, silk-faille gown of his creation is embellished with 300 handmade and hand-applied flowers; a flourish in ombré silk chiffon completes the look. Now developing a line of gender-affirming basics, he notes, “I’m not giving up architecture or interior design—I’ve just expanded the realm of what I’m working on.” Contact [email protected].

MODEL: Mikayla Monjaras; PHOTO: Richard Francisco Howard/Marymount University