This Latino son of an immigrant peasant woman made the costume that Kamala Harris wore at the inauguration

For Arturo Castañeda, the Rio Grande Valley seamstress who made the elegant purple suit worn by Vice President Kamala Harris on the day of the presidential inauguration, the order to make the costumes was a dream come true.

Dressing a president or, failing that, a vice president had been one of her greatest ambitions since she was young, when she learned the art of sewing from her mother,

an immigrant peasant girl who raised six children as a single mother

.

[Vice President Kamala Harris honors the courage of women]

“I started working in the fields when I was 8 years old and we started before the sun came up, around five in the morning.

When the sun was going to go to bed, so did we, ”Castañeda said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.

Getty Images

Castañeda made the pattern for the jacket and sewed it in his studio in Brooklyn, New York

, where most of his employees are Latino

.

The design was done by Christopher John Rogers, who dressed Harris along with Sergio Hudson for the presidential inauguration day.

[Kamala Harris, a source of inspiration for Afro-Latinas]

“It was done by hand… it had the workmanship.

That is why they looked for us, because we are strong in hand sewing, ”said Castañeda.

Arturo Castañeda, the tailor who made the suit that Vice President Kamala Harris wore on the opening day.

The Hispanic tailor also made the jacket and dress for the outfit Harris wore later Wednesday.

When asked about his professional success, this skilled seamstress who did not study at any fashion school, was

quick to reply that the credit goes to his mother

, who taught him how to use a sewing machine when he was still very young.

[Biden stops deportations for 100 days and raises his ambitious immigration reform]

“My mom is the best, she is the reason why I am here and without her I would not be here.

She is my hero ", assured Castañeda.

The mother of Arturo Castañeda, the seamstress who made the suit that Vice President Kamala Harris wore at the presidential inauguration.Noticias Telemundo

His mother, Alicia Contreras, lives in South Texas.

When she saw the dress her son had made for Vice President Harris on television, she just started crying.

[Biden launches his plan of "war" on the pandemic to accelerate vaccines, reopen schools and impose face masks]

"My granddaughter just gave me a pill to calm me down and I already felt better," said Mrs. Contreras

.

"I used to sew someone else's and he would get close to where I was sewing and told me that he wanted to learn like me," he

recalled.

Harris's dress impressed on social media, both for its sleek fall and for its bright purple color -

which many associated with a bonding message

.

This was a color that she chose herself, as she confessed to Noticias Telemundo Castañeda, who wanted to keep the details of the dress's design a secret.

Noticias Telemundo correspondent Edgar Muñoz contributed to this story from Texas

.