México
Mexico City, 1983
Carla Fernández is a fashion designer and cultural historian who is documenting, preserving, revitalizing and bringing to a contemporary relevance the rich textile heritage of the indigenous communities of Mexico.
Combining his passion for fashion and traditional Mexican clothing, and a deep respect for artisans and communities that produce their own textiles, he has founded an ethical and sustainable business that includes a fashion brand and a unique mobile design studio, Workshop Flora Workshop. Fernandez observes with the eyes of a designer the immense treasure that Mexico can contribute to the world sharing its traditions. In fact, he has built his career around these traditions. We are talking about the clothing that most Mexican women have used for countless generations: rebozos, entrances, quechquemitl, girdles, etc.
But that is only a starting point, because Carla not only innovates from the tradition but also from his own approach when working with artisans from all over Mexico. She has designed a unique method where ideas, tradition, and handwork are all respected and paid, giving artisans access to the highest margins of the market, something unthinkable in the generic fashion industry.
Carla Fernández creates contemporary fashion by collaborating and adapting traditional techniques and styles; Empowering communities, especially women, channeling their knowledge and skills in modern design; Reinvigorating Mexico’s indigenous textile traditions, and establishing a detailed archive as a lasting legacy for future generations; Devising an ethical production model that fully respects the intellectual property rights of indigenous individuals and communities; And demonstrating the cultural, social and economic role of textiles and design for a country and community.
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June – July 2015
