Women Who Support Latino Design

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Venezuelans Karina Rosendo and Andrea Chediak help emerging designers from across Latin America take the international leap from their fashion incubator, Stitch Lab. We speak to the creative duo about their beginnings, dreams and inspirations. If you are passionate about design, don't miss it.

Rosendo and Chediak tell us that two years ago they were at New York Fashion Week when they realized that there was no space in which new Latin American designers could exhibit their talent abroad and decided to create it themselves. "The big firms wanted to work and be inspired by the artisan cultures and the handmade work of our countries", explains Andrea Chediak.

“[We are] experiencing a boom, the Latin is totally in! Colombian talent has been triumphing on international catwalks for years […] Mexican designers are generating very daring and different proposals, while Costa Rica is positioning itself as the mecca of ecological and sustainable fashion,”says Karina Rosendo.

The most difficult part of the whole process? Choose young people to participate in your program. “To be part of Stitch Lab, obviously the first thing we evaluate is the design and aesthetics of the brand, as well as the artist's intention. Factors such as the sustainability of the materials used to make the garments, the type of clothing, and the social commitment of these brands to their workers and the community of artisans also come into play. In this first edition of Stitch Lab, we wanted to create a Tropical Extravaganza to kick off the summer in style. We were inspired by places like Cartagena and the Caribbean islands to offer the public a very fresh, youthful collection and above all very chic,”says Rosendo.

This year they have had the Colombian Goretty Medina and Maygel Coronel, another duo of designers from Uruguay and Ecuador who have created the Isla and White brand; Lisel Hiller and Valentina Aristizibal who design swimwear; the Mexican Vero Solís or Karla Garzaro, from Guatemala, among others.

In addition to supporting talent, an important part of its fashion mission is to promote a more sustainable fashion industry. "We want to demonstrate that it is possible to create a fashionable brand that takes care of the details, offers something different, represents the talent of our country and does not exploit the work [that is] behind each garment," says Chediak.