Celebrating Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs Like Shantall Lacayo
This month we continue to celebrate International Women’s Day and to spread the cheer from the IWD 2021 campaign theme #ChooseToChallenge. As officially declared by the US congress in 1987, March is also National Women’s History Month. We’re grateful to surrounded by women of immense strength and grace, and we take some time this month to dive into the journeys of some fascinating women entrepreneurs around us who inspire us, to articulate their powerful stories. In this article, we feature Nicaraguan designer Shantall Lacayo!
An immigrant to the US, Shantall grew up in Managua deeply influenced by art and culture, went on to study fashion design at EAMODA in Argentina, to subsequently debut at the Project Runway Latin America, and to make a name for herself by specializing in Haute-Couture and Prêt-a-Porter.
The success story of Diseños Shantall Lacayo S.A. (or Shantall Lacayo Designs, S.A.), the artistic luxury handmade brand created by Shantall and her mother Lauren, is a quintessential ‘lean start-up’ success story; the studio perfectly demonstrates two key components that make entrepreneurial ventures successful: experimentation and speed.
Known for its rich artistic content and deeply rooted in Latin-American culture, the design firm knows exactly what it stands for and is constantly innovating, testing and creating tactile and visual fabrics which are inspired by the blend of plastic art, and sit in the context of both the modern and historic. Experimentation is a key part of any lean start-up – an openness to continuously iterate and adapt, based on feedback indicators and product results, is embodied in the ethos of the Shantall Lacayo Designs brand and has been instrumental to its success.
Speed to Market is Key for New Ventures
The second important factor that makes Shantall’s venture stand out is the speed of its growth; the brand’s notable awards include NYFW-FDLA 2019, “My Little Pony” collection featuring with HASBRO 2017, Miami Fashion Week 2017, The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Panamá 2012-2017, Who’s Next Paris 2014, and Capsule Show New York 2014, besides a significant number of mentions across international media. Shantall’s studio exemplifies how brands can stand out in the competitive world of fashion design, growing at an aggressive pace without losing focus on its core brand and product design ideology.
A pioneer of fashion design all over central America and an ardent promoter of Nicaraguan art globally, Shantall’s story has inspired fashion designers, artists and women entrepreneurs all around the world. We hope our feature has encouraged you to take the plunge to build your own business or to take it to the next level. Remember to constantly #ChooseToChallenge and empower yourself and the other wonderful women around you chasing their entrepreneurial dreams!
Remember to constantly #ChooseToChallenge and empower yourself and the other wonderful women around you chasing their entrepreneurial dreams!
Positive business partner relationships are vital to developing careers. Business partner relationships are important connections and resources as we conduct our jobs, plan for the future, and build our knowledge about products, changes and trends. We chose Shantall Lacayo as a female founder who shares a similar mission and embraces similar principles about maintaining integrity and transparency throughout the journey of building a company.
