Latino thinkers, artists, scientists and people whose work changes what comes next. The achievements, decisions and questions behind the familiar names—and the lives worth knowing better.
From Selena’s family table to Sleep Dealer’s troubled future, Jacob Vargas has helped give Latino life its humor, contradictions, and humanity on screen. His work deserves our attention.
The collage is an illustration by César Vargas using the photographs credited below. Individual photographic credits are separate from the article byline and illustration credit.
Arturo seated in his atelier and working during his Ralph Lauren period: photographs courtesy of Arturo Castañeda, as credited by La Revista Mujer. Individual photographers are not identified.
Erin Lim Rhodes at the 2026 Oscars: David Fisher / Shutterstock, via E! News. E! credits her outfit to Arturo Castañeda Contreras.
Who Decides War SS22 orange recycled-parachute gown: photograph credited to Who Decides War in Hypebeast’s gallery; individual photographer not named. Creative attribution: Who Decides War / Ev Bravado and Tela D’Amore. Arturo and his team’s construction contribution is described in Tela D’Amore’s Office interview.
Kamala Harris on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021: Jerry Glaser / U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Original photograph and Wikimedia Commons record. U.S. government work, public domain in the United States. Garment design: Christopher John Rogers. Overcoat pattern and construction: Arturo Castañeda and his atelier, with assistance from Daesha Cano; dress pattern: hips.studio; dress construction: Arturo Castañeda. Construction credits.
Read the articleDesign: César Vargas. Central portrait adapted from “138165_3085”, ABC/Image Group LA, via Walt Disney Television/Flickr (source: CC BY-ND 2.0). Promotional clippings: Task; Mr. Crocket (Hulu key art); A Diamond Within (Plowshares Theatre); InVade (a film by Eunice Levis; poster credits 50 East Collective LLC, All Area Crew and Ball Busters Inc.); El Tiguere (a film by Andrew J. Rodriguez; supplied by producer Yuki Maekawa-Ledbetter). Individual promotional-image photographers and poster designers were not identified in the inspected sources.
Debbie Perez is helping make stories, helping other stories find an audience and helping an audience remain connected to Puerto Rico beyond its most marketable images.
A Puerto Rican flag can travel around the world in a music video. The people who fought for what it represents deserve to travel with it. Their names, their work, their stories.
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