Nina Garcia

Nina Garcia, May 3, 1965 is a Colombian fashion journalist and critic who has held the post of Fashion Director at Elle and Marie Claire magazines, and is currently a judge on the Bravo/Lifetime reality television program Project Runway.

Career
Daughter of a wealthy importer, Garcia began her career in the fashion industry in the early 1980s. She studied liberal arts at the Boston University after graduating from the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Later, she attended Ecole Superieure de la Mode in Paris and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

She worked in the public relations department for Perry Ellis and its then-designer, Marc Jacobs. She then moved to Mirabella as Assistant Stylist and Market Editor, until taking a position at Elle. She became Fashion Director of Elle in 2000. Nina left the Fashion Director position in April 2008, becoming Editor-at-Large at the magazine until the end of August. She became Fashion Director at Marie Claire on September 2, 2008. Garcia currently oversees the fashion coverage for the magazine and runs the fashion department. She also covers the designer fashion markets of New York, Milan and Paris, and is relied upon as a fashion authority and has participated in numerous television interviews, most recently appearing on The View and The Today Show as a trend expert.

In May 2007 Garcia was a judge for the Miss Universe competition in Mexico City.

On September 5, 2007, Garcia's book, The Little Black Book of Style was released. The book is in its eighth printing and has recently been translated into Spanish. It has received good reviews and was recently called one of the four best fashion books. On August 26, 2008, Garcia's second book for Harper Collins, The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own was released, with 8 printings at the launch. Garcia has a third book coming out in September 2009, also with publisher Harper Collins.

On April 11, 2008, Us Weekly reported that Garcia left her post as fashion director of Elle. Garcia's contract was reportedly up for renewal. Roberta Myers, Vice President/Editor-in-Chief at the magazine, announced May 15, 2008 that they had entered a new agreement with Nina Garcia who was named Editor-at-Large through September 1, 2008. She had spent 13 years at Elle and been Fashion Director for the past eight years. She began her new position as Fashion Director of Marie Claire on September 2, 2008.

Personal life
She is married to David Conrod. She gave birth to a boy, Lucas Alexander Conrod, on March 24, 2007.