My Day 2 and Colombiamoda’s official Day 1, Tuesday was a very long but very exciting experience.
It’s not every day you get to see how a world class fashion show and convention is orchestrated and executed. Not to say I took a glimpse backstage or anything, but the entire operation from the point of view of a spectator was seamless.
The day began with the herding of the press into our cool Inexmoda/Colombiamoda mini-buses to get us to the venue – Plaza Mayor – in time to go through the rigorous security checks and get seated comfortably for the inauguration of the trade show. Present was the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, who spoke about the tremendous growth the country has seen not just holistically but especially with regard to their position as the fashion hub of Latin America. The fashion industry of Colombia accounts for some 15.7% of employment in the country and there has been a 20% reduction in imports since 2013, an indication that far more preference and support was being shown to the national product. Those are statistics we in Trinidad & Tobago can only dream of seeing one day. If I’ve learned anything from this experience so far…it’s that Trinidad & Tobago has a long way to go before it can reasonably claim to have anything even resembling a fashion industry.
When I worked in government, we used to host a few developmental forums, and invited representatives from places like Singapore to conduct workshops and lectures on how to move from third world status to first world status. While Colombia may not be, on paper, a first world country (yet), I would not be surprised in the least if we would find more relevant and poignant solutions to our current crime scourge and societal issues by looking to countries like Colombia.
Anyway, enough politicking, on to the fashion! And fashion there was! This entire complex is basically a fashion mecca – so large I haven’t even been able to see more than 30% of it’m sure. I hope to rectify that in the time I have left here. Yesterday was mostly a day of runways or “pasarelas”.
First up was the Non-Stop Runway, featuring four designers – Andrés Pajón, Bastardo, Mariangélica Guerra and Purpuratta. Andrés Pajón was my favourite in the lineup, due in part to his bright, colourful designs, heavy embellishment and distinctly feminine aesthetic. It also helped tremendously that he sent his models down the runway to Busy Signal’s Tic Toc 🙂
I also really enjoyed the intricacy of Mariangélica’s collection. Her largely neutral colour palette allowed the details of the interwoven fabric to shine through. Loved the pops of teal throughout as well.
The next show I hit up was presented by fashion magazine Fucsia – Ashes by designer Vanessa Gomez. It was a collection inspired by rock and roll bohemian and it showed. I loved the incorporation of fragmented knitwear throughout the loose, flowing fabrics. There’s no way you can wear this collection and not feel like a rockstar. Loved the styling as well.
La Alcaldía de Medellín…or the Mayor’s Office to us English-speakers, presented three designers, all of whom went above and beyond my expectations – Natalia Londoño, Love Citizens and Andrea Landa.
Natalia Londoño was soft structure with amazing prints. I´ve noticed, throughout all the collections, a subtle but very consistent attention to and respect for detail. Natalia’s was no different.
The super cool Love Citizens were next. While they were principally beach wear, their outerwear and separatess stunned, particularly the white mesh & neoprene (I think) skirt and jacket pictured below.
Last for this segment was Andrea Landa. She blew me away…so much detail – both the hand crafted macramé and the slashed leather were stunning, juxtaposed with the relaxed fit of her garments. Easily one of my favourites for the week so far.
Next on the agenda was a super fun show – the Ipanema x Paradizia presentation. The suits were bright, colourful and detailed…pretty much everything we seem to want from suits nowadays. It’s only kind of amusing how little we purchase swim wear now for actual swimming.
Last but not least was one of the few brands I knew about prior to arriving in Colombia. Custo Barcelona, in partnership with Haceb, produced a beautiful collection. It was cacaphony of colours, prints and textures. It’s amazing how one does not even question the combinations presented…it just makes perfect sense once you see it in motion.
And so concludes the first official day of Colombiamoda! Hope you enjoy the clothing as much as I did 🙂 Time for bed…10+ hours of fashion looks a lot better on paper than it actually is in real life – exhausting.
Let me know which are your favourite looks in the comment below! h
4 responses to “Ceola does Colombiamoda // Day 2”
Hi Ceola..Totally off topic, but I asked on twitter as well. I’m looking for an old blog post you made about a year or two back.. Did you have a blog before this one? On another site maybe? Can’t seem to find it here 🙁
Totes embarrassing but I really can’t remember the name of that blog. I think I transferred all my posts from that one to this though. Which post are you looking for exactly? I’ll try to find it.
Hi, I’ve been following your blog for awhile and have both the new and old sites saved in my favourites:
http://alafolie-ci.blogspot.com/
Hope it helps if it wasn’t found already!
By the way, this was a great post, love the pics and the blue and tan with plunging neckline in the Mariangélica is fab.
Oh there ya go! Thanks Leanne!