Since March is National Woman’s Month, I decided that for each week of this month I will make a blog post highlighting a woman’s accomplishments from various work fields varying from Fashion to Music and everything and anything in between and further.
I decided to pick Carla Fernandez as the first woman to start this mini-blogpost series off because something that I like a lot is fashion. If you take a notice, a lot of head designers are men and are white, while there may be exceptions, overall in the mainstream, overhyped fashion brands of instagram like; Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior and more, are run by men. I think that being a woman designing in a fashion world can be harder than it looks, because like in any other field woman are held at greater heights than their male counterparts. But she lives up to it.
Not only this but she also represents the Mexican culture that I am so proudly part of. Carla is a Mexican designer. Again, another thing that is different and refreshing compared to the other mainstream designers who largely come from European countries. Carla is not only different because of these reasons. She is also different and highly successful because of what she does with her clothing, how she does it and why she does it.
Bringing Mexico to the World
According to Not Just a Label, “Carla has developed a successful enterprise where the fashion industry and the handmade crafts of Mexico become compatible. The enterprise focuses on meeting the demands of the market both in volume and innovation. Carla’s personal challenge is to meet social commitments with the communities and make the brand grow internationally.”
Many people might not see the influence of the Mexican culture on the clothes. While on some pieces it can be more clearly seen than others, it is there throughout all of her collections. It’s really in the details and I love that. When designers work and put in the extra mile by adding certain details or reinforcing certain details to make them pop, it shows that the designers care and at that point it’s not just clothes but a sort of art piece. My favorite pieces from her are the ones that have embroidered patterns on them.
While some people may think that these are just of pair of pants with embroidered patterned stitching on the sides. It’s not just that. It’s the time and effort of a local Mexican artisan that probably hand sowed those patterns, which can be traced back to various traditional Mexican attire.
Traditions that never die
Another reason that Fernandez is very popular is because she keeps the Mexican tradition alive. “It consists of paying artisans not only for the hand labour but also for intellectual property of their designs. This innovative system allows the brand to integrate as much as one thousand artisans while keeping pace with the speed of fashion.”
She hires different artisans from all over different indigenous communities throughout Mexico, especially with woman co-ops who produces handmade textiles and clothing. She believes, like quoted above, that tradition is not static and fashion is not ephemeral, therefore, she seeks out the help of the best artisans to help her evoke the best of traditional techniques for a modern audience who find no importance in the details. You can see from what part of Mexico the piece is from on her website. Each piece that you click on lists the region and state, which the garment originates from.
The Modern Classic
Another thing that has made Fernandez successful is taking a classic piece and reimagine it for the modern day person. For example this piece from her Fall/Winter 2014 collection, Here she took the fairly simple and classic Chenhalo top design and revamped it for the millennial. While it is usually made out of thin cotton, she made it out of a thick jersey material, giving it a street style flare. She also added a kangaroo pouch to the front of it, but still kept the traditional embroidery around the collar and shoulders that is usually seen with these tops. This is a perfect example of giving traditional attire a modern twist.
In this look (top picture) for her Spring/ Summer 2016 collection, Fernandez reimagines a pancho. She does this by switching the fabric from an everyday cotton to a luxurious silk. Instead of a de trop bright pattern she keeps it sleek and modern with black. She adds an extra flare with embroidery that spells out “GOLD” in Spanish and cutouts on the sides of the sleeves.
Hopefully, you have learned something new and I have helped you find out about someone in the fashion world who is making a change. In a world where some up and coming designers get their work ripped off by either big companies or other fellow artists, Carla Fernandez is trying to change that by giving the credit to the people who are helping her create these amazing and wonderful garments.
J’s Journal 