By Nina Garin
UNION-TRIBUNE

Olga Sánchez never planned on waiting so long to launch her clothing label, FuegoRosa.

Even though the Tijuana designer with the flaming red hair has been making outfits since grade school, she's encountered a variety of bumps in the road along her professional path.

Like when only months after she graduated from Fashion Careers College in San Diego in 1993, Sánchez was diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome, a hormonal disorder caused by a benign tumor in her pituitary gland.

“I had plans to launch my own line and move to Europe, but I had to go to San Francisco to get surgery,” she said. “It was a shock to my system and my body went through so much that it took a couple years for me to get back in the swing of things.”

It wasn't easy for the lifelong artist to step away from her work during her recuperation, especially since her family is so involved in the arts.

Sánchez's grandmother was a dancer and worked in childrens theater. Her mother is an interior designer. Family members on her father's side work as seamstresses.

“I really do believe things like that get passed down,” she said.

Heredity would be one way to explain how an Sánchez was able to design and create a skirt and sweater outfit complete with big, plastic buttons and triangle accents at age 11.

It took a few years to heal from the operation, but Sánchez soon took a job designing for a now-defunct label in Tijuana that made clothes for such clients as Fashion Valley's Cachè.

Dealing with fashion behind the scenes inspired Sánchez to go back to school and learn about international business and marketing.

“My mentality became more about business than just design,” she said.

So, after finishing graduate school in Tijuana, she worked at a binational magazine called No Cover, learning about publishing and writing a fashion column.

The connections she made through the now-defunct magazine introduced Sánchez to boutique owners and fellow designers.

And though she now works as a buyer for a Mexican clothing chain, she still had the itch to put her own ideas out there.

So, FuegoRosa, a label she created in the early 1990s, relaunched last month at Fashion Week San Diego.

Sánchez showed a small collection of Mediterranean-influenced pants and dresses at that event. A few weeks later, she showcased all 22 of her pieces at Let's Go boutique in La Jolla.

The designer also showcased work at last night's Golden Hanger awards, a show put on by her alma matter, FCC. And, in 2009, Sánchez will take part in Escondido Fashion Week.

“I'm really optimistic about the future,” she said.

Though her clothes are not for sale in stores, at least not yet, she does work with clients individually, making items that range from $80 to $400.

“I really love combining someone's personality with my creativity and seeing what develops,” she said.

It may have taken 15 years to get FuegoRosa up and running, but Sánchez feels with her bigger worldview, she can go even farther than she originally imagined.