DESIGNERS FUCKING SHIT UP
Fashion in the media is often looked at as a competition of “who wore it best.” Style icons are praised for putting pieces together in a way that is seamless and bold, usually by wearing name brands and playing into trends. When you step away from the mainstream fashion world though, there is a community of designers fucking shit up with apparel and accessories that are often political in nature. Using the power of social media as a cyber runway, these people of color-ran brands are catering to a market that is culturally, politically, and fashionably connected. These brands are using fashion to transgress social norms by producing apparel and accessories that are rooted in a story of empowerment by and for people frequently pushed to the margins of the fashion industry.
One of the brands taking part in this transformation is Patty Delgado’s Hijadetumadre. Hija de tu madre is a Spanish expression commonly used to convey utter shock at something you have done, which usually is not good. The irony of the expression is that it literally translates to your mother’s daughter, so every time a momma yells this at her kid(s) she is ultimately yelling about herself (laughs in Spanish). Through her line, Patty hopes to convey the complexities of being Latinx, which isn’t an “one-size-fits-all” descriptor as it is often portrayed. Patty achieves this by featuring her brand modeled by people that disrupt body, gender, ethnic, and sexual norms. We’re talking plus-size babes, gender-queer gems, and the Afro-Latinx queens who are very much a part of the Latinx diaspora. The people she features in her campaigns are real-life people impacting their communities.
With over 55k followers on Instagram, Hija de tu Madre has made waves with their signature Virgencita denim jacket. This piece is the embodiment of the brand’s purpose: the depiction of cultural intersections. To Delgado, the denim represents American aesthetics, while La Virgen de Guadalupe represents Mexican culture.
Photo 1: Virgencita Jacket as shown on https://hijadetumadre.com/ (Model: @vanessaromo; Photo: @aaronsolo)
Designing with unapologetic muxeres in mind, Delgado’s designs are colorful and hard to miss. One of her new pieces, the Bruja earrings, play into owning being called a bruja. This term is used as an insult against womxn. These modern-day Brujas, witches, reclaim indigenous practices (such as herbalism) which were sidelined and shunned through colonization. The baddie who wears the Bruja earrings is ultimately saying, “I’m a bruja. What’s good?!?” (insert Nikki Minaj face at Miley Cyrus), owning that ancestry and making good of a “bad” name.
Photo 2: from Instagram; also shown is the Bandera Jacket; Model: @parischolland; Photo: @aaronsolo
What is also evident in Hija de tu Madre is Patty’s activism. Releasing with the Bruja earrings are Fuck Trump earrings. They are bold, political and unapologetic. Along with making a statement, part of the proceeds from the sale of this pair will go to immigrant rights organizations, as Trump’s administration has explicitly attacked immigrant groups.
Photo 3: from Instagram; Model: gorditaapplebum; Photo: @aaronsolo
Hija de tu Madre makes evident that fashion isn’t just about aesthetics. Rather, it serves to tell stories and make a statements beyond patterns and trends.
Both the Bruja and Fuck Trump earrings dropped on Sunday, February 4, 2018 at 8pm PST.
[+] HIJA DE TU MADRE
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