7 Latinx Designers To Watch This Season
These designers share insight into how their heritage influences their brands.
I always believe I'm lucky to have two heritages, one Iranian, one Peruvian. After the revolution in Iran, my parents moved to the Peruvian Andes where I was born. We lived in a native community with beautiful weavers around us and we were also wearing traditional clothing.…This experience has marked who I am today and how do I approach my work and aesthetics with the communities and in the fashion industry.
Knitted tops, miniskirts and fresh dresses.
More than race maybe I can say from culture, from being born in a Latin American country. I think it's very challenging to be part of a fashion world when you come from a foreign country, probably double the effort to be accepted in the industry as you don't have any background or community to support you.
To be an agent of change and to keep preserving techniques in native communities through our brand.
The idea of change, of consciousness. That we are builders of a society. and a desire to preserve its essence, while pushing boundaries to explore material and technical possibilities by combining crafts in ways such as dipping woven palm leaf in gold, or mixing traditional Wayuu pom-poms with velvet and mirrors. I think Colombia's' love for celebrations and festivities is also very much at the core of the brand's aesthetic.
Pablo León
Apparel
León was born in Michoacán, Mexico, raised in California's Central Valley. As a child, he said he was told he was named after San Pablo, or Saint Paul, but always felt a deeper connection with another Pablo - Picasso. That informs part of who he is today. León studied fashion design before dropping out and working for Los Angeles-based designer Cynthia Vincent, and then relocating to New York for an opportunity with 3.1 Phillip Lim, and later Carlos Campos New York. HIM NYC was born during this time, as León said he felt a need to express a queer and brown identity in a climate focused on its erasure.
Launched in 2017. Starting from $16 for face masks, to $800 for suiting and outerwear.
Available on the brand's e-commerce site see-him.com or via Instagram @him.nyc.
The aesthetic of the brand is feelings. Can you tell I'm a Cancer? The way I'm feeling informs the aesthetic direction, namely those that arise from nostalgia, love, family, heritage, sex, queerness. The Idea and feeling of being “illegal” in more ways than one. Him NYC characterizes the disruption of classic tailoring, ideals of masculinity and machismo, creating an aesthetic that is both romantically minimal and eclectic.
My Mexican heritage is one of the key influences for the brand and its aesthetic. As a child I despised the charro, or vaquero look, it felt oppressive. Now I take it and play with it, feminize it, “queer” it, as Fassbinder with light in Querelle, or Fabian Chairez with Emiliano Zapata and La Revolución. Why not?
The first collection took this idea with another hyper-masculine chicano figure, el cholo; upcycled denim, classic charro boots, a fetish-adjacent top made of deadstock neoprene, and of course a handkerchief or bandana, a nod to both cholo culture and gay hanky-code.
Spring 2021 is in development and will focus on Fassbinder and Chairez's idea of “queering” masculinity and hegemony of heterosexuality. Another key for spring, perseverance and resistance.
Coming to New York from Los Angeles, there was a huge shift in the people around me. In
Los Angeles, Mexicans make up the majority of the Latino representation. In New York, there was very little Mexican representation in the population, and even less within fashion. That feeling of being “alone,” coupled with Trump's defamation of Mexicans at the launch of his presidential campaign, brought out a feeling of needing to represent Mexicanismo, to wear it proudly. Latinos, along with most people of color, are often overlooked for certain positions and have limited opportunities. I can recall an instance when several interns were being considered for a position with a very well known and established house in New York. There were several talented candidates, but in the end, the position was given to the tall, handsome, less talented, white male. I saw clearly in that moment, the hurdles that were before me.
In the beginning, my goal was to feel included and a part of an industry that in its essence can be about exclusivity and the denial of entry to those it may consider an “other.” Now, my goal is to be true to myself in every aspect. Being able to continue doing that is what I consider success. On a larger scale, I believe it should be our collective goal to help create a more equitable and inclusive fashion industry and society, where we no longer have to highlight any one group of people, because we will all be living and thriving in the light.
People make me feel hopeful. It's when I see people like Congresswoman Alexandria OcasioCortez, Long Beach, Calif.'s first openly gay Latino mayor Robert Garcia, friend and mentor Carlos Campos who continues to be an inspiration for young aspiring Latinx designers, especially those of his native Honduras, and every single person protesting racial inequality, that I feel hope. If there is one good thing that has become very apparent to me through all we've been through this year, it's the resilience, power and beauty we all hold, especially when we come together. ►