Yesterday I had the opportunity to interview Paola Palazón Seguel and Daniel Herranz, founders of Colectivo Diseño Mexicano. They are both great persons who care about the Mexican fashion industry, and have massive knowledge on the matter. I have always been curious about Colectivo Diseño Mexicano and wanted to know more about it.
Colectivo’s main goal is to promote the work of designers and Mexican creatives through different formats. Giving the consumers an approach with national products who normally buy fast fashion and be an incentive on circular economy, that way the money stays in Mexico and it generates jobs for other Mexicans.
How was Colectivo Diseño Mexicano born? In 2013 Paola Palazón and Daniel Herranz meet each other at Timeout Mexico. They had the idea of doing something in relation with fashion outside of Timeout. They saw that the offers were bazares (markets) and they wanted to do something that was not seen before, but different.
They understood that there was a bareer of communication about local brands, and they wanted to promote and give exposure to local designers. The other bareer they saw, was that people had the misconception that national design was sold at exorbitant prices.
During 2016 Paola and Daniel launched a Pop Up Store by the name “Diseño D”, including designers like Marika Vera, and prices up to 70% off. Featuring 30 known brands and others they liked. Designers who had been on big fashion platforms, and owned stores, they also motivated new coming projects. The event was a hit , “There was even person who sole everything and gave a part payment of a car” said Paola.
By 2017 there was another edition now by the name of Colectivo Diseño Mexicano, same designers but now CIHUAH by Vanessa Guckel was included.
How did Colectivo came part of MBFWMX? Paola and Daniel chatted with Cory Crespo and they talked to him about their project. They didn’t think about a pop up store, they wanted to give exposure to local small brands. As a result Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Mexico made Colectivo’s runway show , with a participation of collective of brands with 10 looks each presenting mini collections.
In June they organized another edition of Colectivo Diseño Mexicano, this time in Blackberry Auditorium, with the double of brands and including Mexican designer Anuar Layon. “There where lines of people waiting to get in.” Paola said.
About Hecha en México book…
The book wasn’t planed, before that Paola and Daniel were talking about making a documentary or an exposition for Colectivo, but the book was discussed during a casual conversation. Planeta Editorial wanted a Fashion Book, and somehow their previous project didn’t materialized. It all flowed, and they took off with Hecha en México. They started sketching, it took months on developing, including photographic production, research and documentation. 20 years of fashion in Mexico from 1999 to 2019, some things on the research didn’t appear online. From the beginning of internet, blogs ,e-mail. We had to check dates, live sources, interviews. They even reviewed Beatriz Calles personal archives.
What we’ll find in Hecha en México book? It is easy to read, it is a different book. The information is not dense, the language is friendly and you don’t need to know about fashion to understand it. The book is pretty, the quality of the photo, the essence. You will learn about the collective industry, brands, projects, labels, garments. A fewer times you will learn about who takes the pictures, who are the faces of fashion in Mexico, standards of beauty, how the production of a runway in Mexico has changed, make-up, and a directory. In the book you will find about audiovisual production. Heriberto worked with Planeta Editorial who designed Colectivo’s logotype. He is a graphic designer for fashion magazines and fashion projects. At the end of each chapter you will find a young journalist closure note.
