LA MODA LATINOAMERICA: FROM CASTA PAINTINGS TO COLONIAL STEREOTYPES Mailye Matos Lopez

LA MODA LATINOAMERICANA: FROM CASTA PAINTINGS TO COLONIAL STEREOTYPES

BY MAILYE MATOS LÔPEZ

When we think of Latin American fashion, what comes to mind may be the product of the following: the inheritance of the Latin American castiza imaginary, the Hollywood stereotype of Carmen Miranda, and the image of the hypersexualized Latina woman.

The production of Latin American fashion is inseparable from colonial expansion since all the constructs mentioned above are the product of the assimilation processes brought by colonization and, consequently, cultural imperialism. It is essential to go back to the past and understand the dynamics of colonialism that dominated the Latin American and Caribbean regions, initially from artistic representations and eventually through the mass media.

According to Chris Kortright, colonization destroys the cultural values and ways of life of the colonized; “their languages, dress, and techniques are defined and constructed through the ideology and values of the colonialist.”

When writing about the images and myths of the colonized, Kortright adds: “To justify the colonization of a people, images need to be created so that the subjugation makes sense. These images become the identity of the colonized.” [1]

So is the case with Casta paintings.

During the 18th century, the references used in Casta painting - an artistic phenomenon developed in Spain’s colonies - were based on European imaginaries, scenes, or customs to represent Indigenous characters or other races. These representations are the product of the Spanish colonizers’

concerns for order and race in a social reality in which the Black-White and European-Indigenous dichotomies no longer fit. [2]

The paintings represent the product of the mixture between couples of different races, accompanied by labels that helped reinforce colorism in Latin American societies and forge the Latin American castiza.

Most of the castes never arose. Many of the paintings responded to classifications that exotically projected the indigenous people and were far from social reality, which only contributed to reinforcing the colonized myths as defined by Kortright.

The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy defines castiza as of good origin and caste. [3] This concept was ingrained in much of Latin American society and is present in phrases of widespread use such as “mejorar la raza” (improving the race) as well as within the production of fashion by Latin American fashion designers, international brands, and the mainstream global media depiction of the region’s fashion and styles.

As Mariselle Meléndez notes in her essay “Visualizing Difference: The Rhetoric of Clothing in Colonial Spanish America,” during colonial rule, clothing was an indicator of social status, race, and power. [4] It still is.

The late Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera appear as the Caribbean’s most successful designers. The international recognition of these designers relies on the concept of the castiza as defined by the Royal Spanish Academy dictionary, based on their design practice. A concept, which can be closely associated with the classism produced by colonial structures.

Herrera herself depicts the idea of the castiza, coming from a privileged background and having access to the world of fashion at an early age, something her modest contemporaries could not access. Her designs, as well as de la Renta’s, often seem to be a by-product of the fashion produced originally in Europe and adopted historically by the upper classes in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Other designers of the region also follow this path. Colombian designer Johanna Ortiz and Puerto Rican designer Harry Robles relied on the romanticization of neocolonial aesthetics by designing dresses aimed at the upper classes portraying an idyllic Caribbean lifestyle.

But they are not alone in this practice. The world of fashion picks and tosses elements of Spanish, Italian, and Latin American culture now and then from standardized perspectives since our cultures share common characteristics such as cultural practices and aesthetics inherited from colonialism and its dynamics.

When these forms of fashion disseminate through the glossy pages of an editorial spread, the mainstream media stereotypes rise.

One of Vogue Italia’s widely circulated editorials on the internet shows supermodel Linda Evangelista, photographed by Steven Meisel, portraying the “Cuban lifestyle.” The photos, published in February 1989, show the Canadian supermodel in hypersexualized poses and highly glamorous outfits that resemble a 90s era Carmen Miranda; large hoop earrings, short pants and skirts, blouses, and looking sweaty under the tropical sun.

One of the pictures presents Linda Evangelista’s male counterpart squeezing her face while pressing her body against a wall that reads Cuba. This depiction appears as a

glamourization of machismo and violence against women, a problem many Latin American and Caribbean countries are continually fighting.

Conscious or not, the fashion industry’s interpretation of the Caribbean and Latin American experience perpetuates colonial constructs, preventing new narratives around these communities’ real experience and the cultural richness they offer.