Creatura Vol. 3 (AAU Project) by Luis Careaga

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can be aesthetics. why it is so complicatedâ&#x20AC;?

#SQUAD OBSCURA PRIMAVERA Creative Director / Editor / Art Director Luis Careaga Photographer Aja Villacres Stylist Farah Morsy Model Laura Ziba Caraway Technical Support Agustina Perez WALL OF GRIME Image Sources WGSN.com Theones2watch.com

Contact Luis Careaga: Careagatextiles@gmail.com @Careagatextiles

textile designer: luis careaga

OBSCURA PRIMAVERA editorial

WALL OF GRIME editorial

interview: laura ziba caraway

school of fashion announces textile design as a specialized degree

Luciana balderrama: Mexicoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new fashion promise

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TEXTILE DESIGNER

A BRIEF INSIGHT TO THE STORY OF AN ASPIRING DESIGNER He first became familiar with sketching and painting because of the intensive courses he took at the age of 12, discovering his greatest dream was to someday become an artist. In 2012, he became a freelance oil painter to promote his artwork in the small city he was born called Los Mochis in northwest Mexico. Some of his paintings were purchased by chief executives within the government and once received an article on by a local magazine. He officially became bilingual after earning his English proficiency certificate from the University of Victoria in 2014 to finally be able to pursue his dream of becoming an acknowledged textile designer in the US. Careaga has achieved to understand the main principals of design because of the wide variety of fashion oriented classes he has gone through. Moreover, he was recognized as an excelling student

as soon as one of his fashion design projects got to be picked as by his former instructors to be reviewed by the fashion department director Simon Ungless who previously colaborated with Alexander McQueen in his previous collections. He proved to be an innovative fashion illustration student because of his experimental style involving multiple drawing media. Furthermore, his illustrations were critically acclaimed by former fashion illustration professors and his artwork has been borrowed to show entry students how to excel expectations. Careaga is aspiring to be a textile designer and he’s currently aiming for his Bachelor’s degree at the Academy of Art University, California.

“IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING RISKY, DO IT. NEVER REGRET IT”

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LAURA ZIBA CARAWAY COSTUME DESIGNER + MODEL Caraway is an aspiring costume design senior at Academy of Art university in San Francisco, California. She has collaborated numerous times with fellow students from the acting department to construct their costumes. With the help of her sewing machine she has created from Sherlock Holmes tuxedos to full 19th Century ball gowns a la Marie Antoinette. Caraway has also been granted with a scholarship by no other than Elisa Stephens, executive director at Academy of Art University because of her dedication and devotion to the arts. Moreover, she has been part of countless photoshoots serving as a model, which proves that the costume designer is not only a proficient sewist, but an alluring beauty. Who are some of you fashion icons? Probably David Bowie. I know that he’s a singer, but he was one of the first male celebrities who began wearing make up and high heels in front of a crowd. He stood up against gender role stereotypes like, “Why can’t men wear make-up?” or “Why am I told that I can’t feel masculine if I wear heels”. That being said I think that he was one of the few icons that promoted femininity in a predominantly macho-oriented society. Plus, I always fell for the Glam Rock music genre. He’s my hero, not only mine, but also one for the Trans community who I’m pretty sure sings his songs along with the line “We could be heroes”.

“Sometimes I don’t have enough time to change my outfit because of my part-time job and so I go out on the streets wearing my corset”

What’s the most important item in your closet? Explain why? My corset! As strange as it may sounds I always wear a corset with lace motifs because they remind me of Marie Antoinette. I always wanted to be like her, but a gothic version of her. She was the “It-girl” of the 19th Century, a fashion icon, and a symbol of beauty. Plus, she was part of the royalty! It can’t get cooler than that! So when being a teenager I always imagined myself as a rebel princess who was able to do whatever she wanted. Also, I’m a costume designer and a model for the drawing for fashion class at AAU, which means that I often have to pose in extravagant garments for students to draw me and my corset is my absolute favorite item that I like to wear because it creates the illusion that I’m slimmer. Sometimes I don’t have enough time to change my outfit because of my part-time job and so I go out on the streets wearing my corset. Anyways, so it’s my favorite fashion item because it portrays my flamboyant personality and it also carries my childhood dream of becoming a gothic princess.

Does your hometown influence your style? It actually kind of does! Fort Collins (Colorado) is such a small city where nothing really seems to happen; everything seems routinary, monotonous, and mediocre. So I guess it was that normality the incentive that made me want to rebel against the system. Our principal would always say, “wear skirts below the knee. Have your hair slicked back into a ponytail, wear black shoes only”. I used to find all of these rules almost oppressive and so I started to dye my hair green, wear boots and short skirts because I was tired of looking like the others, I felt like I was not being an independent being, but just one more or the bunch, so that was the spark that led the fire burn. Now as an adult, I don’t find all of those rules as tyrannical as I once did, yet I was only a teenager. We all do mistakes! Okay? What colors are you drawn to?

Black has always been my ultimate favorite color! I always wear black because of its versatility; it combines with everything regardless if you’re into minimal, urban or gothic clothing. I would call my fashion style gothic and, of course, black is a predominant color in my wardrobe. It has always

been a way to express myself, especially when I was a teenager. I wanted to be rebellious, different and fearless since I often felt misunderstood by my parents and classmates back in high school. Therefore, wearing black was like the voice that would speak for myself when I just stood in silence.

“i wanted to be rebellious, different, fearless, never one of the bunch; that’s for losers” Where do you see yourself in 5 years? As a costume design student, my biggest dream is to design the wardrobe for Broadway musicals, but since this is real life and sometimes I forget to get myself down to Earth, I’d like to see myself working with the costume design team for independent movies or musicals. It would be interesting to see how my costumes come to live through actors and are enjoyed in front of an audience. I believe that our imagination is the only way to escape reality and so I would like to make these fantastical creatures that I only see in my head come to life. 35

school of fashion announces textile design as a specialized degree by School of Fashion

ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY: SCHOOL OF FASHION Responding to the growing market need for textile, surface and graphic print designers, the School of Fashion at Academy of Art University has created the associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees in the specialized field of textile design, which were recently certified by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). These research-based programs focus on comprehensive design development to empower the next generation of designers. The development of textiles has held an important role in fashion history and continues to play an integral role in today’s fashion industry. This is due to the mutually inclusive nature of textile and fashion design that is imperative in the creation of wearable art as well as highly functional garments and objects. Such cohesion requires designers to understand the historical and cultural role of textiles in a global context and gain knowledge of the various types and techniques in order to experiment and manipulate to create the textiles of tomorrow. The Executive Director of the School of Fashion, Simon Ungless, a textile designer himself, moved from London in 1996 to create the first lab and courses for textile design. Thanks to the efforts of Rhona

MacKenzie, assistant director – textiles, and the team working in the labs, textile design has grown into an in-demand degree. “Before textile design became a degree, students took applied textile design classes and graduated with a fashion degree specialized in textile design. Now there are students from different departments as well as those who want to pursue textile design as a fulltime career,” said MacKenzie. It has helped many young professionals to discover their true calling within the industry. A fascinating field of study and work, it requires a certain creative discipline.

“You have to be always observing, wherever you are and whatever”

“You need to be awake, attuned to natural changes in colors and patterns. As the textile and surface design industry continues to grow, there is a corresponding demand for talented and welltrained designers. The textile design degree in the School of Fashion at Academy of Art University will be a cornerstone for students who want to be successful designers with a creative mind and essential skillset,” added Jennifer Jeon, full-time textile design instructor at the School of Fashion.

A number of textile design students and alumni have already received industry accolades. Most recently, Carly Dean and Sumit Gill (M.F.A. textile design) were named winners of the Joy & Mario Design Competition by the environmentally-conscious footwear brand. Each year, Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) selects promising designers from all over the world as the CFDA+ Design Graduates. Academy of Art University students are frequently honored among the who’s who of future industry leaders. In 2016, textile design was represented by Ghazaleh Khalifeh, Elizabeth Siedow, Namrata Bhandari, Jadi Haynes and Amy Yip. These students took home five out of 10 textile awards worldwide: a phenom-

“In the future, I would like that our students win all of the top prizes” enal result! Khalifeh’s collection was also presented at Milan Design Week during the annual ARTS THREAD and DESIGNERSBLOCK exhibition. Program alumni have secured design positions at top international companies, including Anthropologie, Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, St. John Knits, Vera Wang and Chrysler. “We are seeing a more diversely motivated crowd in the class: people who want to design all kinds of surfaces, not only clothing, but also paper, interiors, solutions for the automotive industry, and so on. We would like for this trend to grow.” The program is designed to equip students with the latest technical skills and foster their creative vision in a sustainable systematic way: 60 units for A.A. degree, 132 for B.F.A. degree and 63 for M.F.A. degree in textile design.

LUCIANA BALDERRAMA:

MEXICOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEW FASHION PROMISE

tHE BEGINNING... Luciana Balderrama is an already established designer in Mexico who emerged from the same hometown I was born in called Los Mochis. She began studying fashion design in Rome. Then, continued her studies in LA at the Art Institute. After graduating, the US never provided her working Visa and so she opened her first store in Los Mochis. Her designs became an instant success within the city and soon, chief female executive within the government started wearing her garments. In 2015, she earned an award as the new emerging fashion designer by Marie Claire magazine and has been featured in other prestigious magazines such as Vogue Mexico and Meow magazine. Her designs have caught the eye of the international community and recently got invited to showcase her designs in Paris.

“IF THAT MAKES THEM HAPPY, THEN IT MAKES ME EVEN HAPPIER” Luciana Balderrama designs for women who want to feel modern and fierce. Feminine and contemporary. She want women to feel sexy and unstoppable with what they’re wearing. Although fashion can have many different approaches depending on the designer, Balderrama’s main goal is to let women express themselves through her brand, “if that makes them happy, then it makes me even happier.” After taking fashion design classes in Rome, then earning her fashion design degree in LA, the Mexican designer made lots of great connections. Some of them recommended welltrained people within the field to work with and even some of her former classmates offered her their help. “I think the main reason why they were willing to help me is because they always 42

believed in my work. Regardless of how close we were, while they looked at my garments on the runway they always looked mesmerized and astonished. In that way I gained their trust and proved to them that I was being serious about this. So they knew I wasn’t just there to earn the paper and quit it; they knew I was being serious.” After opening her first store, her closest friends were the ones who started promoting the brand, not on TV or on the radio, but just by putting the word out that’s how the designer began making bespoke dresses (clothing made to fit to private clients). “Their friends told their friends and the business grew to what it is today.”

her career in the US, yet at this point, do she wish things would’ve been different? “I certainly gained a lot of experience with Robert Rodriguez whose such an amazing designer and I’ll always be extremely thankful to him for all of the things he taught me. He’s such an amazing designer! But I’m also really proud that my own ideas are now being acknowledged in the fashion industry without working in a first world country. I want people to see that Mexico is a country with great potential that has lots of opportunities. I definitely see a bright future for fashion in Mexico and can’t wait to meet future emerging designers from it. It’s like ‘Are you Mexican? Oh, I’m Mexican too! Yay! and we becom almost instantly friends.”

still if i failed, it would’ve been because i didn’t try” However, things didn’t turn out easy for Balderrama. After graduating, her working Visa was never provided forcing her to leave the US and began her path from scratch in Mexico. Still, it was her motivation what led her to restart from the very beginning in a small city where fashion was not relevant. I always believed that Mexico is a nation with great potential waiting for its moment to wake up. It’s a country whose richness is hidden. Even though Mexico is a place where the fashion industry is still developing, I didn’t want to give up on my dream and tell myself, ‘I couldn’t make it. Still, if I failed, it would’ve been because I didn’t try.” Giving up was never an option for Ms. Balderrama. Her determination led her to began contacting different people, friends mostly, who helped her find sewists, embroiders and textile printers. She finally gathered a team and her family supported her financially to later on open her first store in Los Mochis, Mexico. Balderrama’s working Visa was never provided and eventually couldn’t continue

tHE Future... “One of the things I always wanted to do is to collaborate with a major brand such as Louis Vuitton or Balenciaga for a collection. I think the result would be something really interesting to see since I’ve never collaborated with fellow designers. I would like to see the infusion of my ideas combined with someone else’s. Yet my major goal to be able to say, ‘I made it’ is to finally showcase my collection at the Paris and Milan Fashion Week! Just to step forth on the runway must be amazing, but displaying your work in there must be the most honoring experience ever! Whenever that happens, then I’ll say ‘I finally made it.’”

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CREATURA IS A MAGAZINE ABOUT WHATEVER. WE PUT IT OUT WHENEVER.

NAME: LUIS LOPEZ CLASS: FSH 168 02 SEMESTER: SPRING 2017