30 DEPARTURES STYLE A
30 DEPARTURES STYLE A STITCH IN TIME The Gam shawl and Nero chiripá trousers from Calmo’s Trama Vertical Collection LATIN LOVE These Latin American labels are drawing on ancient know-how to sustainably spawn next-gen looks. CALMO A Parsons grad, Uruguayan designer Alice Otegui works closely with local artisans – 90 per cent of whom are women – employing ancient methods and sustainably sourced Merino wool, silks and linens to bring to life elegant capsule collections inspired by her love of nature and abstract art. calmoslow.com
ALL IMAGES COURTESY THE COMPANIES AND DESIGNERS CARALARGA One man’s trash is another’s treasure, says the Mexican label, which uses discarded scrap fabric – alongside hyperlocal materials like sansevieriaplant fibre and recycled bull horn – to create strikingly simple, yet statement-making textured jewellery, handmade in an old textile factory in Querétaro. caralarga.com.mx RECREO SAN MIGUEL Initially inspired by the layered garments typical of the region, the brand’s cult-favourite pieces – designed in Brooklyn and handmade by a women’s collective in San Miguel de Allende – are artful reimaginings of the poncho, wrap or serape for the cosmopolitan crowd, which also take design cues from the American Southwest, pre-revolution Havana and beyond. recreosanmiguel.com Clockwise from left: a Sensi Studio artisan crafts a Panama hat, the traditional way: the Citron Bella blouse, Italian cashmere Tess vest and Tobacco lambskin-leather trousers by Recreo San Miguel; Caralarga’s handplaited Crin Moctezuma collar in 100% raw cotton SENSI STUDIO Equally at home on the beach as they would be on Via Montenapoleone, Milan-trained Ecuadorian designer Stephany Sensi’s colourful range of toppers gives the country’s traditional straw hat – made, according to tradition, with 100 per cent toquilla straw – a metropolitan makeover while remaining true to time-honoured production methods. sensistudio.com VOZ Spanish for “voice”, the NYCbased marque is passionate about empowering Chile’s indigenous Mapuche weavers, who not only handcraft but also design the brand’s sumptuous womenswear collections – made with local materials like baby alpaca, wool and Pima cotton – in collaboration with international designers. madebyvoz.com BUILT TO SPEC This trio of eyewear purveyors meticulously crafts made-to-last pieces that look great, too. Each pair of Matsuda glasses (matsuda.com) is the result of a painstaking process that takes up to two years and 250 steps to complete. The 53-year-old, Sabae, Japanese brand counts as an industry pioneer thanks to its high-concept designs, inspired by everything from Gothic architecture to the Jazz Age. Meanwhile, in London, EB Meyrowitz (ebmeyrowitz. co.uk) has been in the eyewear game for nearly 150 years, working with only the finest materials, including buffalo horn, tortoiseshell and 18k gold, to craft handsome spectacles made to last a lifetime. Upon discovering a box of 50-year-old Italian sunglasses in his grandfather’s abandoned optical shop in Eritrea, so impressed was Italian entrepreneur Luca Gnecchi Ruscone by their graceful design that he tracked down the original manufacturers and began making them again. LGR glasses (lgrworld.com) are handmade by three artisanal families in Italy, who use fast-disappearing techniques to craft each piece. Asmara Explorer (left) and Turkana sunglasses by LGR DEPARTURES 31
