SAN MARCOS, Texas – Two iconic outfits, sketches and a collection of photos from Selena Quintanilla’s fashion designer are on public display at Texas State University.
The new exhibit, “The Selena Effect,” housed at the Wittliff Collections, showcases an intimate collection of personal items from Martin Gomez, the late singer’s fashion designer who worked closely with Selena to create many of her memorable looks.
“A lot of these ideas sometimes started with an idea she had, and then I would basically execute it. Or it was an idea that I had, and she would say, ‘Let’s do this,’” Gomez said.
The collection also features highly detailed items, such as the exact beads used to create Selena’s iconic stage costumes.
In an interview with KSAT 12, Gomez said Selena would often tell him, “The impossible is possible.”
“I lived it,” Gomez said. “It gets me really emotional because Selena saw me, she believed in me before anybody else did.”
The collection offers a behind-the-scenes look at the artistry that went into crafting Selena’s signature style.
“That’s why I released all this stuff, because I want people to know that she was smart and she had the vision,” Gomez said. “This vision wasn’t mine. This vision was hers.”
The exhibit, which runs through the end of 2026, emerged from a collaboration between Gomez and Hector Saldana, the music curator at Wittliff Collections.
Saldana was inspired to create the exhibit after observing continued student interest in Selena’s legacy.
“I mean, here are these young people in college, born long after the Jennifer Lopez movie about Selena,” Saldana said. “So there has to be something that goes beyond Tejano music.”
That’s what Saldana describes as “the Selena effect” — the artist’s legacy and memory still inspiring new generations.
“The effect that it has on young people is beyond,” Gomez said. “It’s very, very special.”
Related coverage on KSAT.com: