Fashionclash#11 – All photos by Pasarella Photography! Introducing two young designers Montevideo, Uruguay. Angelo Castro and Belén Fusco came to Maastrich to slay the catwalk with their A P O R I A collection. We talked to the designers and asked the question: Fashion – Makes Sense ?? What does this means to them?
Name: Angleo Castro and Belén Fusco Age: 30 and 23 years old Hometown: Montevideo, Uruguay Menswear or Womenswear: Womenswear (nogender)
@ange.castro1 and @belenfusco
KALTBLUT: Fashion – Makes Sense ?? What does this means to you?
Latin-American Fashion is growing in a social and political Way. It has meaning, going further from the ephemeral where beauty is no longer the only thing hat matters, it shows a reality, has a message and should create ecological awareness. Locally designers can create with their own local resources, helping their industries too. It is another platform to communicate.
KALTBLUT: Hello. Welcome to KALTBLUT. Why have you decided to participate at FASHIONCLASH Festival?
As young Latino American designers, we don’t have the possibility to show our designs in a proper international way. We think we won so much experience form this, how to organize our work backstage and got to meet incredible people. We decided to take part on this because it is a unlimited platform without restrictions for designers all over the world, it allows us to showcase our designs professionally and to tell our story.
KALTBLUT: Can you tell us something about the collection you presented at the FASHIONCLASH Festival 2019? What was your inspiration?
Aporia
KALTBLUT: What kind of material did you used for the collection?
We used mostly synthetic fabrics intervened with prints that we designed specifically. This is a guilty free collection, we worked locally with professionals that gave us a hand, but we did all the textures and some of the garments ourselves too. We also used the zero waste technique, so we used every inch of our materials and fabrics.
KALTBLUT: What challenges did you face during the design process?
The money was the most important one, materials, working with professionals, etc. The Uruguayan fashion industry is facing a difficult time so its not cheap to work here. There is less workforce than we had some years ago so this means we had to work hard to gather the money to develop the project and also to participate in the contest, with plane tickets and everything envolved.
To have to move the collection from one continent to another was tricky, when designing we had to think about our limmitations such as weight, how to actually get it in our luggage, etc.
thanks to Fabricio Carrizales (auyantitude) for being a great collaborator.
KALTBLUT: How would you describe your self and your work?
The team is persevering, we complement each other very well being the first time we worked together, we were in love with the process, trusting each other’s skills to make it possible.
As for our work and the result, we are happy with how it tourned out and the love that many people gave to it. And, believing in cyclic fashion, we are excited about the future that awaits the collection and its transformation.
KALTBLUT: What would you say that is the biggest influence to your design process?
It began as a way of manifesting what is happening in Venezuela today, but by incorporating Uruguay into the project this thought evolved throughout Latin America.
The reality is that our continent is going through a very difficult political and social moment, making it inevitably our greatest influence. And being able to use fashion as a platform to communicate it and make it visible opened our eyes.
KALTBLUT: If you had not become a fashion designer, what would you do instead?
Actually, we are not only designers today, we do not make a living from being fashion designers, but to support our projects we have other jobs that are not related to the world of fashion. The industry in Uruguay, which is where we both currently live, has many limitations and a very high cost to establish oneself as such.
KALTBLUT: Who’s your dream client?
Someone who really gets the value of our work, from the first thread to the last ironing. But above all, the one who buys consciously.
KALTBLUT: What was the first item you have ever designed? And who was the lucky one to get it?
Angelo: In my case it was a design from my graduation collection, and the lucky woman was a Uruguayan singer who saw the garment and fell in love with it.
Belen: The first garment I sold was a dress designed for one of my friends for her father’s wedding. It was a black dress with embellishments and roses applied by hand.
KALTBLUT: What can we expect from you in near future?
We will continue to develop our personal projects, designing consciously. Always trying to contribute in the industry.
Pasarella Photography, www.pasarella.eu
Instagram: @pasarella @pasarellaphoto
www.fashionclash.nl
