Biography

Julia Michelle Santiago is a professional costume designer with 20+ years' experience working with the film industry in Puerto Rico and abroad. Growing up as a young fashionista in San Juan, Julia Michelle was always on the lookout for the best outfit for herself not only studying magazines, but also watching films. She knew early on what she wanted to pursue professionally, as her early idols on costume design included Edith Head and Milena Canonero.

Her passion led her to the American College for the Applied Arts in Atlanta, GA and the University of Puerto Rico where she completed her studies in Fashion Merchandising and Advertising. Throughout her career, she's had the opportunity to contribute on projects as a buyer, on-set costumer, costume supervisor and as a lead costume designer or co-designer. She's particularly proud of collaborating alongside costume designers such as Emmy-winner Amy Stofsky, Emmy-nominated Kate Healy, and Academy-Award nominated, Patricia Field, from "The Devil Wears Prada" fame.

Julia Michelle has worked on TV series and reality shows to mini-series, short films and major feature films from studios of the stature of Disney, Lifetime, Hallmark, USA, MTV, Showtime and Sony. On the US/international front, she has been involved in film projects collaborating with A-list actors such as Lee Pace, Michael Cudlitz, Keanu Reeves and Andy García. Her work on the Puerto Rican film industry is highlighted by projects such as Dios los Cría 2, from Academy Award-nominated Puerto Rican director Jacobo Morales, considered one of the 25 most significant films of Latin America and Yellow, from actress/producer, Roselyn Sánchez. Julia Michelle has also consistently collaborated on the local Puerto Rican advertising business as costume designer for production houses Latitude 18, La Tara and Pajaritos Films.

Looking to always challenge herself professionally, Julia Michelle is most excited of her latest projects scheduled to launch in 2018 - the feature film "Driven", currently in post-production from British director, Nick Hamm and producers Piers Tempest and Brad Feinstein, from Fences fame. As well as the feature film, "Replicas" from American director Jeffrey Nachmanhoff and producer Jim Dodson and "Ana" from British Director and Producer Charles Mcdougal.

She is currently working on the pre-production of "The Last Story of David Allen", starring Kellan Lutz, directed by Justin Gullet and produced by Bret Saxon. Other upcoming projects include the debut film "A Blind Eye", by renowned commercial director Luis Gerard, scheduled to start shooting later this year.

Julia Michelle is a colon cancer survivor and her experience was certainly a life lesson, leading her to create the Juliastrong Colon Cancer Awareness Foundation, whose mission is to educate and create awareness on how preventable colon cancer and other malignancies are. She also serves as spokesperson for the Coalición de Cáncer Colorectal de Puerto Rico.
- IMDb mini biography by: Madelyn Rodríguez