It wasn’t the first costume Nephi Garcia had designed for his then-4-year-old daughter — he’d been putting her in custom outfits since she was an infant — but the silky blue fairy godmother dress he stitched together from scraps represented a new chapter for his family.
Fashion is woven into multiple generations of Garcia’s lineage. His great-grandfather was a master tailor in the early 20th century; his grandmother picked up the mantle in the 1940s, creating couture bridal gowns; and his uncle designed elegant shoes that earned him renown across Asia. So it was natural that, as an 11-year-old growing up in the Philippines, Garcia learned to sew.
@designerdaddy_ Watch me catch tinkerbell! #hook #tinkerbell #peterpan @Second Star Events @Bethanie Garcia 10,800 LED lights by engineered couture!
♬ You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly! – From “Peter Pan”/Soundtrack Version – Bobby Driscoll & Kathryn Beaumont & Paul Collins & Tommy Luske & The Jud Conlon Chorus
Fast forward to 2014, and Garcia had been in the U.S. for a little over a decade when he and his wife, Bethanie, took their kids on a trip to Disneyland. A longtime lover of Disney films, he decided to dress up his daughter as the godmother from Cinderella, fittingly pulling the look together from leftover fabric he had on hand.
The costume was a huge hit with guests at the park, and as passerby after passerby inquired about it, he realized he was on to something.
So he opened an Instagram account, calling himself Designer Daddy, and started posting more Disney-inspired costumes he made for his daughter. Soon enough, requests for custom orders started coming in from cosplayer adults and parents of little ones.
This was all taking place at a time when the family wasn’t sure of their next move, as Garcia had recently lost his job in retail. It was then that Bethanie suggested her husband take his passion for creating costumes to the next level.
@designerdaddy_ I have always wanted to makw my own version of the Anastasia coronation gown! How did I do? #anastasia #cospaly #romanov #princess
♬ Once Upon a December – Christy Altomare
“As a dad of three then, I had no other choice but figure out a way to provide for my wife and kids. I could have had another normal job, but I give credit to my wife who told me to pursue [creating costumes], that we had nothing else to lose,” Garcia, 41, shared in an email to Nice News.
He now has over 781,000 Instagram followers and has brought an array of characters to life, with his family members often acting as models, himself included.
He creates every pattern by hand, and in addition to crafting elaborate costumes for the likes of Katy Perry and Elizabeth Banks, he also designs couture bridal gowns. (In fact, the first dress he ever made was the wedding gown Bethanie walked down the aisle in.)
Some of his most popular creations are his transformation dresses, like the one that takes Beauty and the Beast’s Belle from provincial girl to princess with a single flourish.
@designerdaddy_ Its been a while since I made one of these!
♬ Prologue (From “Beauty and the Beast”) – Moisés Nieto
And his favorite clients are still his kids. He’s now a dad to six: a foster son who just turned 18, his daughter — now 15 — and four sons ages 11,10, 5, and 3. At the time of writing, Garcia had just put the finishing touches on a prom suit for his oldest child (“It’s definitely blinged out! Just like his personality!”).
He hopes his success will serve as an example for his brood: “Being able to find my passion and use it to feed my family, I want my kids to know that dreams can provide,” he said. “Find something you’re passionate about and use that to pursue your happiness!”
@designerdaddy_ “I FInd Social Media To Be A Soul-Sucking Void Of Meaningless Affirmation.” #wednesday #wednesdayaddamscosplay
♬ Bloody mary by Lady Gaga – ♱ 𝔯𝔞𝔢
For now, the youngsters love watching their dad do what he does best, and most of them know how to use a sewing machine themselves. Garcia shared that when they request a costume, he makes sure they participate in its creation.
His advice for other fathers? “Let your kids explore what they love doing! Figure out what you love doing! Them seeing you happy with what you do, or following your dreams, will encourage them more than anything books or school can,” said Garcia. “It starts at home. And like my wife always says, ‘bring magic wherever you are!’”
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