The State of Latin American Fashion
Inaugurating the first interview of The Underrated Fashion Professional Talks with Mexican multihyphenate journalist Talía Cu
What better way to kick off 2024 than by introducing you to a new section of Le Journal Curioso? Besides sharing my experience in the fashion industry, I wanted to interview other people who would tell their side of the story. This section aims to show aspects of the fashion industry that we don’t read about in the media through conversations with fashion professionals. So, without further ado, let me introduce you to The Underrated Fashion Professionals Talks.
Between Vogue México y Latinoamérica cover with Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio in December 2018 and Bad Bunny Time cover (in Spanish!) in March 2023, it has been clear that the needle is moving in Latin America. Yalitza Aparicio was the first indigenous woman to appear on a glossy cover in LATAM. The Spanish title accompanying her cover, which translated into English to ‘A Star Is Born, ' was accompanied by the same words in Mixtec - the language and indigenous ethnic group to which Aparicio belongs. It was a strong statement for Vogue México y Latinamérica to make such a choice as putting Yalitza Aparicio on the cover was a way to express how diverse Mexico is. On the other hand, Bad Bunny’s Time cover signalled culturally that Latin America is starting to have more and more influence worldwide. Now, looking at the fashion landscape, there are Latin American designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Gabriela Hearst, and Narciso Rodriguez, who paved the way for Latin American designers in the USA, but in stark contrast, there is very few information available, especially in Spanish, about the Latin American fashion industry and its designers in loco.
Unlike other Vogue editions, the Mexican one isn’t only about Mexico as reflected by its name, Vogue México y Latinoamérica. It is that approach to the fashion industry that
has decided to explore. After four years at Vogue, Talía created Draw Latin Fashion - the first online platform in Latin America to offer courses about the fashion industry in LATAM - and her newsletter , in which she interviews fashion professionals all over Latin America about the industry in their respective countries while exploring the Latin American fashion scene in-depth.During our conversation, Talía tackled many aspects that are very specific to the LATAM region and Mexico, such as the lack of fashion media, how much political, economic and social context influences the industry and many more fascinating aspects of the fashion industry in Latin America.
Hello Talía, can you please introduce yourself and what your newsletter is about?
Hello Emmanuelle, my name is Talía, and I am Mexican. I studied fashion design in Mexico and Fashion and Lifestyle journalism in London before returning to Mexico and working for Vogue Mexico and Latin America. After my time there, I became a fashion illustrator. I have been in the fashion industry for more than ten years, and [with such a broad experience] I have done many things which have given me the possibility to approach it from many perspectives.
[In 2017], I created a community for people in Latin America [called Draw Latin Fashion] who want to learn more about Latin American fashion. A few years ago, I started my newsletter [Latin Zine], which is about fashion in Latin America. In it, I share my experience within the industry in Latin America, and I interview people I find interesting, such as the designers behind the brands I love at this moment. It’s a mixture of journalistic research about the things I love about Latin America and that I want to share with the world.
You have a very eclectic background in fashion design, journalism, and illustration and have spent time at Vogue Mexico. How did all those experiences inform Latin Zine creation?
I think every little step I took in this industry led me to understand that fashion in Latin America is not a widely researched landscape. Sometimes, as a journalist, I look for a brand and can't find any information. So, we lack a lot of information, especially in Spanish. You will occasionally find more thorough articles about Latin fashion in English but not Spanish. So, I would say that every step of the way has led me to understand the perspective of designers, photographers, and editors and the landscape of the fashion industry here.
I think my passion for Latin American fashion came from my time at Vogue because it's Vogue Mexico and Latin America. Our editor was always talking about Latin American brands, and I was really intrigued because I never heard much about them. After that, my main focus shifted. It was the breaking point that made me understand where I wanted to focus. I went from wanting to know about the fashion industry in general to wanting to focus on Latin American fashion. But it is a process. As I said, little information is available, so a lot comes from interviews for first-hand knowledge, and the more people I meet with different perspectives on their countries, the wider my perspective becomes, if that makes sense.
It was interesting to hear how your time at Vogue Mexico was the catalyst for what you are doing today. Can you tell me more about your time there?
It was the same year I was studying at LCF in London. I remember hearing about all the magazines going from print to digital or launching these big digital teams. But in Latin America, things happen a little slower, so it took a while before investing in digital versions of magazines. I don’t think they understood it would be bigger than they thought. During my time at Vogue (2015), it was pretty insane to just have three people in the digital team. We worked a lot.
I understand what you said, Vogue Mexico [isn’t] just Vogue Mexico; it also [is] Vogue Latin America. So you must have had a lot of work to do. The scope differs from Vogue France, which focuses on one country, you know?
Yes, exactly. Even the people working on the print version had to do two editions: one for Mexico and another one for Latin America. It [is] a lot of work and things to research.
That's why I was intrigued by your article "Why There is No Fashion Media in Colombia.” [“¿Por qué no hay medios de moda en Colombia?”] I want you to expand on that. Is it hard to find information? Or is that a question of brands not knowing how to give information? The lack of media and journalists impacts the lack of information. It's all linked.
Yes, exactly. I think that is why it is harder to write about Latin American fashion; it requires more effort. And I do think many things are working against us. When I was working at Vogue, I always talked to this colleague who was a journalist from another media. I love that she is a political journalist turned fashion journalist. There are not many people like her who are hardcore journalists. So, when she writes about fashion, she adds context, which is interesting to me because oftentimes, the stylist also writes in magazines here in Mexico. I don't love this because I think every person has a field of expertise and needs time to research and find stories. Everything takes time.
We always discussed the lack of fashion journalism with this colleague in Mexico. So, during the pandemic, we launched a fashion journalism course. And we did it through my platform, Draw Latin Fashion. Within a few years of teaching courses for Latin American students from Venezuela, Costa Rica, etc, all the countries that I would have never imagined connecting with, it was so interesting hearing so many students say there were no fashion magazines in their countries. To my surprise, learning this made me realise we live in our own bubble. Then you realise how many countries actually don't have fashion magazines, like Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Colombia. I am still amazed that in 2023, we are lacking so much in this area. So, I really wanted to revisit that and talk to Colombian journalist Lucety Carreño. She gives all this perspective on what is happening in Colombia because that is the thing in Latin America: every country has very particular political, social and economic contexts.
She told me that since many political issues are happening in Colombia, people don't care about fashion. Yet, Colombia is one of the most fascinating countries because its government greatly supports the textile and fashion industry. Many Colombian designers are contributing to creating a view of what Latin fashion looks like for people. So it is quite fascinating that they don't have fashion media, but they have all this impact globally. We have fashion media and independent designers in Mexico, but we face many issues.
What you said about politics and social issues intertwining with fashion is interesting because this is something that is completely erased in Europe or the United States, or when it happens, it is just glossed over. In Latin America, it feels like you can’t avoid intertwining fashion and politics to be able to explain why you have such a fashion journalism landscape and why brands stay unknown outside of their own countries within Latin America.
Well, every country is different. For example, a country that I am really interested in right now is Costa Rica. I was invited to Costa Rica Fashion Week this year, and they have a very sustainable initiative. Costa Rica is a very green country, so the fashion industry reflects this aspect and aligns with sustainability principles. It is also a country which lacks basic fabrics, so the fashion industry has been based on upcycling for many years. If you look at the designers there, many of them do upcycle collections and use upcycling techniques. The industry doesn’t do this because it is trendy but because they don't really have a choice. They don't produce textiles, so it is easier for them to find second-hand fabrics and then upcycle them. So what I really admire is that the limitations that they have have built their brand in fashion, which is fascinating. But they also face issues such as exporting the fashion that they created.
A few years ago, I interviewed Pamela Hernández, the designer behind the shoe brand Cruda. She is from Costa Rica, and her shoes are all upcycled, which is really rare and difficult. She had to move to Mexico City, where she is super successful, because in Costa Rica, the market is very small, and the industry challenges are huge. Now, I am really interested in Peru, so I am researching. Every country has its specificities. You have to talk to everyone who lives there and have experienced it. And hopefully, travelling to it gives you a bigger picture of what is happening.
I also wanted to mention that sometimes US or European journalists come to Fashion Week here and write about whatever collection they see in Mexico. And I've noticed that they often label us in a way that shows they don't really understand the country's complexities.
I see what you mean. It’s like the Dior Cruise show in Mexico, which was inspired by Frida Khalo. It is as if when they talk about fashion in Mexico, it is always about her or Día de Muertos.
They paint us in a way that is just very exotic, and they don't understand the different indigenous communities that we have or anything about cultural appropriation. Mexico is a country where a lot of complex things are happening socially. Yet foreigners seeing the country from the outside perceive it as exotic.
Rightly because Latin America is made of countries with very distinct socio-political contexts, I always say to the students that if they want to be fashion journalists, they need to be well-informed because the way they write about fashion in Europe is never going to be the same because the industry and the context are not the same.
You really need to be careful and understand the complexities of each country. Even in Colombia, it is difficult because there are a lot of communities there. This year, many brands in Colombia had racism issues with their campaign. And I wonder how, in 2023, people still do not understand this, and how are our journalists not talking about these issues?
I would like to go back to what you said about Costa Rica and the designer behind Cruda who came to Mexico. So, can we see some hubs in Latin America? I guess Colombia and Mexico are. Both cities must have diverse communities with designers coming from all over Latin America.
Mexico was a big hub, but it has become even bigger, especially during the pandemic when many people from the US came to Mexico to work remotely. Mexico is gentrifying, just like New York. Neighbourhoods like La Roma and Condesa in Mexico City have drastically changed in a couple of years. Now, if you go to a restaurant in one of these neighbourhoods, they will give you menus in English. Just a couple of years ago, they were in Spanish. Now, you hear a lot of people talking in English, mainly American people.
I would say it helped local fashion because many of the little shops that were there or that started popping up were local Mexican fashion. That is how many US people started consuming this fashion. So, Mexico City is definitely a huge hub right now. Colombia is a very important country in Latin America for fashion because it has a very well-developed industry. There is also Brazil, but I will leave it until the end when I’ll know some Portuguese because it really is different from other Latin American countries.
It is fascinating to learn that the Colombian government is investing in its fashion industry, which is unusual. Do you know why?
Colombia has very important textile and fashion fairs in Bogotá, Medellín, and Cartagena. There is Colombiamoda in Medellin, Bogotá Fashion Week, etc. But the funny thing is that despite Bogotá being the capital, Medellin's fashion event is the biggest. And that is very interesting, so I would like to spend some time researching in Colombia next year. The country has a huge textile industry that helps with exportation, so I presume the Colombian government supports its fashion industry for economic reasons.
Regarding all the fashion weeks happening in Latin America, how does the ecosystem work since there is little fashion media? Is it easy to get invited? Or do you have to go through PRs or directly to the brand’s founder? You know, what is the ecosystem for that?
I wouldn’t say it is easier. For Fashion Week Mexico, you need to apply as a media or a PR. But this year, I was invited twice to Mexico Fashion Week because my platform, Draw Latin Fashion, is quite big. I got the invitation because they were including independent media for the first time in a long time in Mexico Fashion Week. For Costa Rica Fashion Week, it was more difficult. They needed to consider my ticket and my hotel. But I got the opportunity to be invited because I interviewed [Karina Díaz Vargas], Costa Rica Fashion Week director, who happened to know my platform.
However, few people from the Mexican media attended that Fashion Week. I think to be able to go, you need to know someone or try contacting people yourself. You would think travelling through Latin America is cheap, but it isn’t. We are not well connected. It is not like in Europe, where you can travel by train. Right now, I aim to get invited to other fashion weeks. But they would need to have a budget for international guests. So, I would say it's a bit tricky in Latin America.
Okay. Last question: are some Latin American designers outside of Latin America making a connection with their home countries?
Yes, for sure. Let me think of some people. So, there is this designer that I absolutely adore, Efraín Mogollón. He is Venezuelan and actually based in Venezuela. I say this because a lot of people from Venezuela go to Miami. But he has a studio in Caracas. I wrote about him in my Mexico Fashion Week recap because he came to present at Fashion Week. I would say most designers definitely showcase something from home, but at the same time, it is quite tricky to create a one-size-fits-all aesthetic. For example, Colombia became really popular because of this chic tropical trend that some designers put on the map. But many Colombians think this tropical trend doesn’t represent the country. Colombia is big, and the climate varies from region to region, so not all Colombians dress in flowery clothes. It is difficult for one designer to represent the diversity of one country.
I was asking the question because I was wondering if some designers were pushing the development of the industry in their respective countries. I don’t have a Latin American designer in mind, but there is South African designer Thebe Magugu who, for example, decided to go back to South Africa because this is where he considered everything needed to happen for his brand because he saw a disconnect between what was requested in production in the Occident and the challenges of the South African fashion industry. So, I wondered if some Latin American designers had an approach similar to Thebe Magugu.
I think it is interesting because many designers, even if they sell globally, are still based in their home countries. Oftentimes, they aim to create work for people within their own community. I didn't talk about this, but we also have Latin American designers who have now moved to the US, and many are Mexican because the border with the USA is close. But these designers’ appreciation of fashion changes once they leave Mexico, and so is what they want to say about it. They usually include folklore and colours and want to explore their roots. However, their perspective as Mexican designers is different when they stay in Mexico. So there is also that contrast between the Latino designer who lives in America and the Latin American designer designing in their home country.
Follow Talía Cu on Instagram and Youtube, and subscribe to her newsletter here.
Thank you so much for this wonderful interview! Such a pleasure talking to you Emmanuelle. It's so important that people show interest in Latin American fashion!
Thank you for this fascinating interview that gave much to think and be curious about. And wow, Efraín Mogollón’s work is beautiful!