Meet El Chapo’s wife, who just modelled at Milan Fashion Week: Emma Coronel married the notorious Mexican drug lord at 18, and has only been out of prison 12 months

Sep 26 , 2024

El Chapo’s wife Emma Coronel just modelled at Milan Fashion Week. Photo: AP

Joining El Chapo’s wife Emma Coronel on the runway for LA-based designer April Black Diamond was her friend and defence lawyer Mariel Colón Miró, who recently released the song ‘La Señora’ about her

Milan Fashion Week has ended, but there was more than just chic and innovative looks making the headlines. LA-based designer April Black Diamond’s show featured an unlikely – and perhaps controversial – model.

Emma Coronel just made her Milan Fashion Week debut. Photo: @aprilblackdiamond/Instagram

Strutting down the runway at Palazzo Serbelloni in a bridal gown and tiara was drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s 35-year-old wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro.

The designer explained on her label’s Instagram page that the decision was to celebrate “resilience, rebirth, and the beauty of transformation”, and that she made the “bold decision” because she believed “everyone deserves a second chance”. Joining Coronel on the runway was Mariel Colón Miró, El Chapo’s defence lawyer in the US.

So, what else do we know about Emma Coronel?

How did Emma Coronel meet El Chapo?

A young Emma Coronel caught El Chapo’s eye when she was just 17. Photo: AFP

Emma Coronel, who was born near San Francisco and now has Mexican and US citizenship, caught the notorious drug lord’s eye at 17 at a party announcing her candidacy for the Coffee and Guava Festival beauty pageant, per ABC News. Her father, Inés Coronel Barreras, was reportedly involved with the Sinaloa Cartel, which is why El Chapo attended the festivities in the first place.

Coronel ended up winning the pageant, but her victory was allegedly rigged by her much older suitor – a rumour she has since denied, according to Nicki Swift. They married on her 18th birthday; he was 50 at the time. As reported in The Telegraph, the couple welcomed twin girls (his youngest among 19 children) Emali Guadalupe and Maria Joaquina in 2011.

She was imprisoned too