Atlas of Fashion Designers

341

Julia y Renata

Julia y Renata

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 e fashion universe is built upon common foundations that seek to impose order on the

chaos of infl uences, trends and collections. For this reason, one of the most common ways

of talking about non-American and non-European designers is by making reference to

the combination of the indigenous and the cosmopolitan. Local identity alongside global

identity. Within this play of dichotomies, what is native appears to be wed to tradition,

while what is foreign suggests innovation. Nevertheless, this description falls short when it

comes to Julia y Renata, because if anything sets these two Mexican designers apart, it’s the

courage to reinvent Mexican identity beyond all clichés.

Sisters, Julia y Renata live and work in Guadalajara, where they both studied at the Center

for Fashion Design.  ey launched their fi rst line in 1993, and since then have not stopped

producing and selling their creations in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Los Angeles and New

York.

Julia y Renata are courageous designers, daring to defi ne themselves as Mexicans in a

previously compartmentalized universe.  eir work has earned them various prizes and

acknowledgments with powerful, innovative designs that clearly suggest a willingness to

explore beyond the frontiers of convention.  ey have been selected by Harper’s Bazaar

as being among the most outstanding designers in Mexico, and Deep has named them

among the thirty-three best and most brilliant Mexicans.  is is because Julia y Renata turn

conventional taste—along with its atrophied expectations—on its head, doing justice to

those who hope that fashion can be genuinely innovative through the variety of creations

produced across the globe.

Photography by Esqueda

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Julia y Renata

Julia y Renata are the most avant-garde

designers in Mexican fashion, always

off ering experimental creations that

explore in depth all the possibilities of

design. On both pages, designs from

their Spring/Summer 2007 collection.

Photography by Mark Powell

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Julia y Renata

Photography by Mark Powell

344

Julia y Renata

- What inspires you?

Days, situations and people.

- What is your dream as a designer?

To never run out of ideas.

- What has been the most important achievement of your career?

Working together.

- How important are trends?

For us, they serve as a reference for what’s happening in the world, but they don’t determine the character of our

collections.

- Fashion has always refl ected a certain era. What does fashion refl ect in the 21st century?

A free, heterogeneous, open culture.

- What book would you recommend to every fashion designer?

Any book with inspiring images, ones you can see with your eyes or create with your imagination. We prefer

recommending recipes and an album, though.

Julia y Renata

López Cotilla 2061-3 Arcos Vallarta

Guadalajara

Mexico

[e-mail]

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Julia y Renata

Sketch courtesy of Julia y Renata