The Measure of Beauty: Manuel Tiscareño Meteoric Rise

from SOCIALIFE MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2021

Edinburg Candidates Forum

By Dr. Kimberly Selber // Photography by Cliff Ranson and Jesus Villanueva

The Measure of Beauty: Ma n u e l Tis ca r e N o 's et eo r i cM R i s e

Wall-to-wall beauty, elegance, and grace describe the Tiscareño Bridal Studio on North 10th Street in McAllen. Not unlike its founder and creative director, Manuel Tiscareño.

Tiscareño grew up immersed in a family bridal gown business with shops in Mexico and the U.S. But that is not the path he’d planned for his life.

“It’s actually funny because I was kind of running away from the family business,” Tiscareño quipped. “I studied art history at UT Pan American. I wanted to be in academia. I thought I would be a professor because I really enjoyed philosophy and art history.

“And then one day I was at one of our stores in Mexico, and the quality of the dresses weren’t really what I envisioned that they could be. That’s when I started developing a few samples just for fun. I never had any idea that I would create an entire brand out of it.”

Even though Tiscareño came from a family trade, setting up his own brand five years ago was a new experience.

“I thought, I don’t know anything about how to start a business,” he recalled. But I know how to design a dress. So, I started searching Google and found a video on how to start a fashion line on a shoestring budget by Mercedes Gonzalez. She laid it out step by step. No fluff.”

Humbly, the 31-year-old designer with the megawatt smile said, “So I guess design discovered me along the way.”

The world of couture fashion has certainly discovered Tiscareño, too. One of his first shows was with Vogue in Mexico City in 2018. Afterward, KS magazine wrote that, “Tiscareño is the new star in the bridal firmament.”

“I freaked out. I was embarrassed by it a little bit,” he said. “I thought, that’s not true. But then I thought … why not me?”

Tiscareño’s ascent shows no sign of slowing. The young designer has showrooms in McAllen and Mexico City with plans in the works to expand to other major U.S. cities in the future. His latest collection is preparing for the national bridal market in Chicago and New York Fashion Week 2022.

When asked where his inspiration comes from, Tiscareño lights up.

“I am kind of obsessed with the idea of beauty and the idea of experiencing beauty,” he explained. “I want to share that with the world. I really think, as a society, we should shift the way we view esthetic beauty and focus on the experience, not the object.”

To create beautiful gowns, Tiscareño firmly places emphasis on teamwork.

“Working with embroidery studios in India, pattern makers in Mexico City, fabrics from Turkey and Asia, we are curating things from all over the world to create our dresses,” he noted. “It’s not just one perspective; it’s a lot of perspectives.”

One dress, he recalls, took about six months to make and had approximately 50 people personally working on it, in different parts of the world.

“I want my clients to know they are getting a piece of art,” Tiscareño stressed. “I want to give my brides the space to feel valuable and

important. Your wedding day is one of the few days in your life that you can live the fantasy; I want to bring that about through my custom gowns.”

Tiscareño’s background in art history shines through in his campaigns. familiar with the story that is being referenced, there’s something cultural that people just feel and get right off the bat,” Tiscareño reflected. His latest campaign reference is to Sir John Everett Millais’ 1851 painting of Shakespeare’s Ophelia, a beautifully surreal work. Tiscareño is a dreamer, so where does he want to be in 10 years?

“I want to be more than this,” he commented. “I want to be a lifestyle brand. I want to help people expand. And even if it’s a limited way of just trying on a dress and loving the way they feel, I’ll take it.”