EPILOGUE:
THOUGH WE’VE GROWN TO KNOW AND LOVE HIM AS “VATO,” CARLOS HAS COME TO OUTGROW THE PERSONA THAT COMES WITH BEING HIM. THE CONCEPTION OF VATO STEMS FROM MANY DIFFERENT DEFINING MOMENTS IN HIS LIFE. HIS LATE BEST FRIEND, CHARMAINE “SPIFFY” GREEN, GAVE HIM THE NAME AS A JOKE (CARLOS IS PUERTO RICAN YET THE TERM VATO IS OF MEXICAN DIALECT), TO LATER FIND OUT THAT THE SPANISH TRANSLATION MEANS ‘HOMIE,’ SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE KNEW HIM TO BE IN THEIR LIVES. AFTER HER PASSING DUE TO SICKLE CELL, HE DECIDED TO KEEP THE NAME AS TRIBUTE TO HIS LONG TIME FRIEND. THE NAME ALLOWED HIM TO DEFINE WHO HE WAS; SOMEONE OTHER THAN WHO HE FELT FATED TO BE. DESPITE LIVING A LIFE DISCONNECTED FROM THE NORMS OF HIS FAMILY, CHILDHOOD FRIENDS, AND MEMORIES, HE WAS ABLE TO MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF AMONGST HIS ARTISTIC PEERS AS AN EVENT CURATOR, FASHION GURU, AND THE IDEALIST FOR THOSE WHO CONFIDED IN HIM CREATIVELY.
-THE LAST VATOFIED EXPERIENCE
EVENTUALLY FINDING HIMSELF HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH LOCAL MEDIA COMPANY, COPYWRITE MAGAZINE, AND MOVING TO LAS VEGAS FOR A FEW YEARS HELPED TO EXPAND HIS HORIZON. HE INNATELY FOUND THE GRIT TO BE ABLE TO CULTIVATE HIS CREATIVE COMMUNITY FROM 1500 MILES AWAY AND AFTER MOVING BACK, VATO FOUND HIMSELF TAKING ON MANY DIFFERENT ROLES IN LEADERSHIP. HE WAS PROMOTED AT COPYWRITE FROM FASHION EDITOR TO CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND OPERATIONS MANAGER, COSTUME DESIGNER FOR BLACK ARTS MKE, WARDROBE STYLIST FOR A FEW SHORT FILMS, A BOARD MEMBER OF MILWAUKEE FASHION WEEK, AND RECENTLY RELEASING HIS NEW BRAND “THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF GHETTO.”
CARLOS DECIDED TO RETURN TO HIS GIVEN NAME AS THE OUTCOME OF CONFRONTING THE SUPPRESSED EMOTIONS OF HIS PAST AND FINDING NEW LOVE FOR HIS ORIGINAL SELF. MORE THAN JUST CREATIVELY, THIS REINTRODUCTION IS A SPIRITUAL GROWTH BIRTHED BY HIS CONTINUOUS WALK WITH GOD. ‘CARLOS’ IS HIS TRUTH AND THOUGH SOME MAY ASK ‘WHY?’ HIS FAITH WILL PERMIT HIM TO CHALLENGE THAT QUESTION WITH “WHY NOT?”. HE SAYS “IN ORDER TO TRULY BE ORIGINAL WE HAVE TO STRIP DOWN THE THINGS THAT WE COVER UP ABOUT OURSELVES, SO…….DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT *[BLEEP] .”
‘VATO’ WILL ALWAYS KEEP A LONG LASTING EFFECT ON MILWAUKEE’S ART SCENE BUT CARLOS M. VERGARA JR. IS WHO HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN. CARLOS IS WHO HE WILL IDENTIFY AS WHEN BEING INTRODUCED TO BIGGER AND BETTER IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE AS WELL AS ON THE ROAD TO BECOMING ICONIC IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY.
