![\"jose\"](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/jose-225x300.jpg\" "\\"jose\\"")
<\/a> As the youngest of 11 children, Jose Maria Martinez Ybarra watched as his siblings chose careers in law, medicine and architecture. Even then, he knew he wanted something completely different for his life.<\/p>\n\u201cI wanted to be an artist all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cI was always telling everyone that wherever I went.\u201d<\/p>\n
It took Ybarra many years to accomplish his goal, with detours into graphic design and Catholic ministries. Today, this North Park resident is a fashion designer, a teacher, a jewelry craftsman, theatrical costume designer and a historical archivist.<\/p>\n
\u201cJose Maria is so fabulously talented,\u201d said Lisa Paik, director of public relations for Fashion Careers College (FCC) in San Diego. \u201cHe just has a fashion sense that you don\u2019t see often. The artisanship behind his craft is phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in Hermosillo in Sonora, Mexico, Ybarra came to the US to earn his BA at the University of Arizona. Mindful of his family\u2019s admonishment to have a profession where he could earn a living, he majored in graphic design. His life then took a major turn when he entered a monastery in Italy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had always been asking why I was so lucky,\u201d he said of his reasons for making such a drastic decision. \u201cPeople always talk about all the poverty in Mexico, but I didn\u2019t see it. I lived in a bubble in Catholic boarding schools until I moved to the U.S. Then I wanted to make a difference. My way of changing the world was through the church.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ybarra chose a monastery in Italy because he had visited his grandmother there every summer. He had a working vocabulary of French and Italian, which helped him as he was stationed in Vatican City.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great for the most part because we really helped people,\u201d he said. \u201cI was good at following and being a team player.\u201d<\/p>\n
After 13 years, he grew weary of living well while others lived in poverty. When he could no longer deal with this and other such incongruities, he left the order. Ybarra then tried a Buddhist monastery in New Mexico, but after leading a busy life in Italy, he couldn\u2019t spend the day chanting, and left after six months.<\/p>\n
Visiting family in San Diego, he discovered the Fashion Careers College and finally found the perfect way to match his artistic gift with his need to be busy and helpful. As he already had a bachelor’s degree, he finished the college\u2019s certificate program in two years, graduating in 1994. It was obvious to his teachers that Ybarra had a significant gift.<\/p>\n
During that time, famed fashion designer Zandra Rhodes also saw that same spark in Ybarra when they worked together at the San Diego Opera, where she designed costumes for \u201cThe Pearl Fishers.\u201d She invited him back to London to assist her in opening the Fashion and Textile Museum in 2003.<\/p>\n
After Ybarra returned, he tried his hand at designing costumes for Cygnet Theatre, Lamb\u2019s Players Theater and the Old Globe Theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone from Sierra Repertory Theatre saw my work at Cygnet and asked me to design a show there,\u201d he recalled. After graduating, he traveled to Sonora to be the guest costume designer for a production of \u201cRashomon.\u201d \u201cI ended up staying there for 18 months.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reality TV show \u201cProject Runway\u201d brought him back to San Diego. A friend at FCC suggested he audition for the show, and he needed help from the college to put together a portfolio. Although he progressed easily through the audition levels, he eventually decided against being on the show late in the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a private person,\u201d he explained. \u201cI didn\u2019t understand why a camera had to follow you to the bathroom. I just didn\u2019t want to go to that last level.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, that experience led to Ybarra teaching classes at FCC, something he has quickly grown passionate about. Once again, he has found a way to give back to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never want to stop teaching,\u201d he said. \u201cI love watching the students\u2019 faces when they get it. It\u2019s the kind of satisfaction you usually only get by eating chocolate.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also continues to volunteer to help others with his gift. For instance, he recently assisted the San Diego Historical Society\u2019s Museum of San Diego History with its latest exhibit, \u201cSan Diego Style,\u201d which features 39 pieces of historical clothing from the late 19th century to 2008. He recreated historical undergarments and researched each piece\u2019s relevance to San Diego history.<\/p>\n
\u201cJose Maria brought a great sense of balance to the show with his technical knowledge,\u201d said Nicholas Vega, the museum\u2019s director of exhibitions. \u201cThis knowledge helped us fill several gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to teaching, Ybarra continues to design for theater and hopes to have his own fashion line someday. He already designs Halloween costumes for Target and Marvel Comics and sells his sparkly and highly stylized jewelry (all gold, silver and real pearls) on the Internet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes a bold woman to wear one of my pieces,\u201d said Ybarra, who began selling his work when actresses bought them after a show closed. \u201cAnd interestingly enough, I\u2019m famous for my rosaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paik agrees that Ybarra\u2019s designs are unforgettable. \u201cEverything he does is grandiose and over-the-top, but in a good way,\u201d she pointed out. \u201cA lot of his designs are based on certain eras, which he learned in designing for the theater, and that\u2019s what makes them interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a path that\u2019s taken him from Mexico to the U.S. and Italy and London, Ybarra has finally fulfilled his wish of being an artist in so many ways, it\u2019s difficult to count them all.<\/p>\n
\u201cFashion is my thing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s what I feel I\u2019m good at. But I could never do just one thing. I love doing everything that I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sidebar:<\/p>\n
Fashion Careers College will hold its 23rd annual Golden Hanger Fashion Awards Gala on Nov. 7, from 6:30-11 p.m. at the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego. Students of FCC will debut their collections on the runway, and costumes from the Timken Museum’s Art of Fashion event will also be featured. The event supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation of San Diego and Variety Children’s Lifeline Charity. For more information, call (619) 275-4700 or visit www.fashioncareerscollege.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Monk to Fashion Designer By Patricia Morris Buckley As the youngest of 11 children, Jose Maria Martinez Ybarra watched as his siblings chose careers in law, medicine and architecture. Even then, he knew he wanted something completely different for his life. \u201cI wanted to be an artist all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cI was […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":243016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"From Monk to Fashion Designer: Jose Maria Martinez Ybarra","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}