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They say if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. But they never specify what making it actually looks like, especially when you’re twenty-something, Filipina, and working to stitch a fashion dream into reality. Today, Cara Leonio isn’t just dreaming the dream. She’s living it. She gives MEGA a first-hand look into the work, the wear, and the wins of studying style in the fashion capital that never sleeps.
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Cara in the City
“I’ve always been drawn to the city,” Leonio says. Her earliest idea of it was shaped by movies—Sex and the City, The Devil Wears Prada, Uptown Girls—the unofficial gospel of every girl who grew up believing that life gets better when set against a Manhattan skyline. “The fashion in these productions made New York seem so spectacular and special.”
She now lives a bigger dream, pursuing a master’s in Fashion Management at Parsons School of Design, one of the most respected institutions in global fashion education.
And while prestige played its part, her choice of New York over, say, Paris or Milan, was as practical as it was personal. “That way, I wouldn’t have to struggle to talk to landlords or get lost and ask for directions in very broken Italian or French,” she shares.
What the Movies Missed
Like any girl moving 10,000 miles for a dream, she quickly learned that it isn’t all that glamorous. “100 percent doing everything by myself,” she laughs, reflecting on her biggest reality check since the move. “Building all my furniture and literally using my entire body to move my bed frame around were fun, but made me appreciate life back home way more.”
Ah, home—or in her case, the distance from it. Because while chasing your dreams means running towards something, doesn’t it sometimes mean running farther from home?
Thankfully, she didn’t land alone. “I have a couple of girlfriends who had moved two years prior, and were so, so lovely and helped me acclimate. They make the city feel like home.”
The Deeper Work
Between volunteer showroom shifts, her final semester at Parsons, and late nights with friends, Leonio’s life could pass for the dream, yet the deeper work behind it makes it all the richer. Her program lets her pitch to real brands and rethink fashion’s faults, supplying sustainable solutions for the industry at large.
The same thoughtfulness shows when she talks about being a young Filipina in New York, an identity she didn’t leave at the airport. “Being Filipina shapes how I see things and move through the industry,” Leonio says. “There’s so much beauty in our culture, from the craftsmanship and creativity to the way we tell stories… I plan to carry that connection to culture and storytelling into everything I do.”
“It influences how I approach work, especially when it comes to celebrating community and bringing a sense of warmth and meaning into what I do.”
Cara Leonio on how her Pinay roots ground her craft
To the Dreamers
“Go for it! I was honestly so nervous to move, and it felt like I was hit by a truck,” the fashion student recounts her first steps in the city, “But I’m so glad I did.”
What she found on the other side of the world was more than just experience. It was perspective. “I’ve met so many inspiring creatives and passionate people in the industry, and made lifelong friends along the way.” She’s also gained a clearer sense of where fashion is headed and how she wants to be part of shaping it.
“It’s not always easy, but if it’s something you really want, it’s absolutely worth it.”
Cara is no Carrie chasing columns, no Andy running on espresso, no Molly in a penthouse—but a Filipina fashion student, ready to graduate from one of the world’s most prestigious design schools, armed with sharp taste, sustainable ideas, and a vision that reaches far beyond New York.
Photos: CARA LEONIO
