Mandy Cohen
JVibe
Attention, Jewish Latinos: Jewtina is in town! No, “Jewtina” isn’t a Jewish-Latina singer; it’s a new—and unique—clothing line geared toward the Jewish-Latino community. Jewtina was founded by Adriana Lopez and her daughter, Breanna. The line includes an array of clothing and accessories for women, children and men, integrating familiar Jewish images and phrases.
“We have incorporated flags of different countries, and we will also add phrases like ‘Mexi-Jew,’ ‘Kosher-Ricans’ and more,” says 16-year-old Breanna, the company’s creative director. “But our main priority is branding the Jewtina name. Being proud of being a Latina Jew, our logo will be the main focus.”
With other Jewish fashion lines around, Jewtina is the only company that caters toward the Jewish-Latino demographic. “We thought it would be cute to have something for the Latino Jews!” Breanna says. “Last year, [JVibe] had [actress] Nathalia Ramos on the cover, and we read the article with her talking about how proud she is of her two cultures. We were already saying ‘Jewtina,’ and we thought if we had a line we could send her a shirt! Then we started thinking about the Jewtinos in Hollywood: Brett Ratner, Geraldo Rivera, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, all the telenovela actors and other Jewtinos like us, and so … Jewtina was born.”
Breanna and her mother have received many emails from other Jewish Latinos expressing their love for the new line. They’re happy that there’s finally something geared toward them. The Jewtina name and logo was created inadvertently in the Lopez household. “My mom and dad would always make up names like that,” Breanna says. “My mom calls us ‘Col-Mex-Jewbans,’ and it went from there. ‘Jewban’ is popular for the Cuban Jews, and we always said we were ‘Jewtinas.’ [We] decided to trademark it. It just stuck.”
Breanna’s brother, David, models a Jewtino design.Currently at a school for arts and enterprise in the Los Angeles area, Breanna enjoys channeling her love for fashion and being creative director of Jewtina. “I’ve been involved in every detail, from the logo concepts to designing the website to choosing vendors. I enjoy choosing the styles of shirts, colors and logos. I also enjoy modeling the shirts with a professional photographer. I’m more creative than anything, and my parents … wanted me to have something of my own. My parents … always wanted me to know that by … working hard and having faith, you can do anything.”
From Colombian and Mexican descent, Breanna is a full-fledged Latina, and she clearly embraces her roots. “My mother didn’t really know God or embrace her Jewish heritage until she was 23. I was about 4 [when I did], so I’m a proud Jewtina,” she says. “I feel Latina because of our language and customs, and I feel privileged to one day hand down both my cultures and beliefs to my children. I set the Shabbat table every Friday because my mother tells me it will bring me my bashert!”
Having not been to Israel before, Breanna and her family are planning to visit in the near future. “We already have people in Israel waiting for Jewtina,” she adds. “We not only will have customers there, but part of our proceeds will go to helping Israel provide food and support for people making aliyah.”
To view and order Jewtina products online, visit jewtina.com. And to get your hands on a free T-shirt, enter our contest.
Breanna models her signature Jewtina design.
Mandy Cohen is 18 and a member of the JVibe Teen Advisory Board. She is at university in London studying journalism and psychology. She loves fashion, traveling, learning new languages and going to the movies.
Originally published here.
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