Internationally recognized fashion designer and social entrepreneur Carla Fernández was fascinated by the geometric themes and rich material found in traditional Mexican culture. Carla saw how difficult it is for Mexican communities to maintain their cultural heritages in this increasingly consumer world, and decided to bring a new meaning to luxury fashion by using these communities’ centuries-old techniques to develop avant-garde, contemporary clothing. Each of her projects utilize ancient techniques like hand looming, dyeing in mud, or wool felting using artists’ feet to preserve and document the rich textile heritage of Mexico. Her comprehensive approach to maintaining indigenous heritage helps young artists and craftspeople continue their centuries old family traditions and creates a fair partnership for them and their contributors. In 2013, Carla was on of 11 worldwide recipients of the Prince Claus Award from Amsterdam. The Award recognizes artists whose cultural actions have had a positive impact on the development of their societies. Her brand has been featured in publications such as Elle, Vogue, I-D, New York Times Magazine and many more!
Carla will be instructing the class: “4.s33 | The Reverse Engineering of Warefare: an opera for the ends of times” in conjunction with Pedro Reyes
