Tell us how your experience interning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art influenced your career?

I: "I always loved art, but clothing is something I always knew how to make. But being at the Met, I realized fashion is what history looks like — and it's a work of art. When you think of history, you also think about what people are wearing. It was then that I understood the importance of it and how important it is in our society — I wanted to be a part of it."

R: "The idea that fashion fits into history marks time. To this day, Isabel still creates designs that will live forever. Not only can you wear them forever, but aesthetically they outlive a trend."

Ruben's water color sketches of Isabel's designs, and three of the actual garments, dating back to the early '90s.