Arts & Entertainment

Mexican designer’s henequen fiber garments buck fast-fashion trend

Guadalajara, Mexico, Jan 17 (EFE).- Mexican fashion designer Lydia Lavín on Tuesday presented her spring-summer collection “La finca” with garments made with the natural fiber of the pre-Hispanic henequen plant and decorated with Mayan embroidery in a show that opened the Intermoda fair in Guadalajara.

The garments spotlight the beauty of the crafts of the southeast of the country and the importance of enduring designs and haute couture in a world of fast fashion, the designer told EFE.

“Right now the issue of globalization that is declining in the sense of fast fashion, [is an] important factor – people want to know who made their garment, what history it has, who they are helping and that you are not polluting, and we are tuned into that,” she said in an interview.

The jackets, accessories and shoes in the collection were made with henequen, an agave plant considered “Mexican green gold,” the fiber of which was used in pre-Hispanic Mayan communities and remained an element that gave identity to the state of Yucatán, where it is used in garments and traditional hammocks.

To do this, they collaborated with a farm that has produced and exported henequen since the 19th century to revive the work of this plant from its sowing to its transformation into threads and ropes.

Lavín worked with 160 artisans from the Yucatecan town of Maní who made the embroideries that embellish blouses, skirts, dresses, bathing suits, shawls and jackets with ancestral techniques combined with more modern elements such as gold thread, beads and sequins.

“It is telling a little about Mexico, inviting people to visit Yucatán, but also to buy the Mexican product behind which there are many artisan hands that make this work possible,” said the designer.

Lavín, who has revived embroidery from other Mexican regions, designed the garments inspired by the daily life of workers on the henequen haciendas in the 19th and 20th centuries and the garments they wore to carry out their work.

The collection highlights raw colors by combining them with blues, blacks, greens and reds in fresh pieces with necklines and collars that leave the shoulders exposed.

From Jan. 17-20, the 78th edition of Intermoda brings together 600 exhibitors and 21,000 buyers in the fashion industry from 18 countries. The program includes fashion shows by Mexican and international designers as well as conferences. EFE

mg/tw

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