Sublime

She had left her home country of Italy after speaking out against former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Her agent there had sent her to one of his “Bunga Bunga” parties in 2010, and she became a witness against him when he was tried for abuse of power and having sex with a minor.

Ms. Velez first started filling up notebooks with fashion drawings around age 5, according to Ms. Church, and received her first sewing machine as a gift from a family friend at age 10. She took sewing classes at 12 (the instructor accepted only adults, initially, but Ms. Velez looked mature for her age, Ms. Church said). At 15 a local TV reporter ... See more