What's the right balance for the world in the XXI century?

I've been thinking as of late the difference between a few items, and my future as a fashion designer: who do I want to become? what do I want to resemble? what's going to be my "signature"? etc. And thought, "well, i want to be able to protect the environment" and stumbled the next question "synthetic or organic?" which led me to my next thought and debate with myself...

I want something synthetic to protect the animals from harm, but last I heard, synthetic fabrics are unhealthy for our environment, it causes health problems and increases medical bills, so then, should I choose organic? and organic meaning natural threads from insects, plants even animals and stumbled once again, it is harm to nature. 

Did you know that there's a new research that states that Plants feel pain?  So what about the vegetarians that where so eager to protect animals from harm? Now they're gonna have to stop eating plants and vegetables?

"...vegetables are picked and often eaten while still alive. Animal rights activists are often in the news, but has anyone ever protested for vegetable rights?" -From the Guardian News

It got me thinking a long time and I think the world is out of balance, I think there's too much of everything, so much that people feel the need to choose one thing in order to save another, or people wanting so much of one thing that they forget that they are doing harm to others! It's crazy. Does anyone understand where I'm coming from?

Respect for nature in general has been lost, whether your a animal activist, organic activist or a whatever activist. The quality of being thankful for what we have is lost because there's too much of everything. We are all extreme now.

Now, I love animals very much and I, Me, wouldn't have the heart to kill one, but it doesn't make me a vegetarian. However, I have educated myself with more information of how we get our food: meats, fruits, vegetables, fish., and I've learned to respect it more, to thank the animal or fruit or vegetable to provide for my well being and made a promise to nature to try to restore anything I can. 

Our family has also taken action into buying organic chickens to have fresh eggs everyday because the carton eggs that say that are free range chickens, aren't really free range, and the organic eggs are not so organic, so in can we trust? so we took a small matter into our own hands, and we decide what to feed our chickens and how much space to give them. Here's a picture of them, and I assure you, they easy to maintain and are very happy :) and we thank them everyday when they lay eggs.

And since we have the chickens we have been more determined to have a healthier life style because we have the space for it and we want to take advantage of that, and if we can share our way of thinking, then even better.

We've been growing our own vegetables too, what ever we can because of our type of environment and such, but I and my family feel much better now that we can give back and restore bits of nature.

But it still takes me back to weather artificial and synthetic helps to reduce consumption of the living?

My next question is this, How can we restore balance among the human race and nature? and, What can we expect out of it?

Fashion Project SAPICA

Well, we all know that the Fashion Week has started and we are all yuppi and crazy about it; new fashion designs by the fashion gods, people dressed to their best, fashion photographers scouting and taking every pictures they can of all those fashionistas, etc.

Well, here in México we are getting ready too. Yes, that's right, we have Fashion Week too :D it's great. Now, getting down to the point, SAPICA (an industry that makes shoe wear in Leon, Guanajuato) has invited a group of newly designers to participate with them, meaning; making a whole fashion collection to go along with the shoes they've designed as well. It's a great opportunity.

Twenty-four graduates where selected from the school Jannette Klein Universidad de la moda (Fashion University) and made sketches for menswear and women's wear for the SAPICA project. Only eight designers where selected to participate in this project because of their designs, their thought of the market that they're selling to and the concept of the collection all unified.

Our mentor for this project is the mexican fashion  designer, Francisco Saldaña from Malafacha brand.

Here are the 8 designers that are participating with a small question and answer:

Alba Gabriela Martínez Ordaz

Q: How old are you and where were you born?

A: 22 y/o Mexico City

Q: What motivated you to be a Fashion Designer?

A: Since i was a young girl, I've always been interested in art's and craft's, and started doing imitation jewelry, painting figures carved out of wood, oil painting, and scrap booking; I was always interested in drawing and to be honest, I don't remember why I started having an interest in Fashion Design, I can only remember that when I was around 6 y/o I said to my mom "I know what I want to be when I grow up: A Fashion Designer" and never changed my mind ever since.

Since then, I started collecting things related to Fashion Design like, books on how to make paper dresses, magazines, books about designers and accessories to customize my clothes.

I was always interested in art and everything that's beautiful. I like reading a little bit of everything, mainly novels about fantasy's, I'm introvert but friendly, I'd rather go to a book store or a museum than going out to a nightclub, and I spend most of my time working on personal projects. 

I don't like fashion, I LOVE IT! And I think I could never study anything else that weren't related to Fashion Design. I think creativity has no limits to keep on learning.

Carlos Manzano

Q: How old are you and where were you born?

A: 24 y/o Mexico City

Q: What motivated you to be a Fashion Designer?

A: Since I was little I was always anxious about clothes, as time went by I decided to study Fashion Design to know the process of making a garment, what where the bases to create fashion and make it commercial, especially High Fashion (Haute Couture), they used to call a lot my attention mainly because of their sizes, layers and how they used fabrics to be able to make new things.

Corina Rivera

Q: How old are you and where were you born?

A: 22 y/o Mexico City

Q: What motivated you to be a Fashion Designer?

A: Since I was a little girl, I always wanted to dedicate myself to something that had to do with clothing, because my family has always worked in the textil industry and dressing since four generations. Even though, I'm the first in my family that has a degree in Fashion Design. 

Johali Salas

Q: How old are you and where were you born?
A: 28 y/o was born in Santa Monica, California but moved to Mexico City when I was just a girl.

Q: What motivated you to be a Fashion Designer?
A: Since I can remember, I was always uneasy with Fashion, when I was 12 y/o my father gifted me my first sewing machine  and years later I took up a class for basic pattern making and I knew right then and there that that's what I wanted.

Now I am working for a mexican company and every day I am learning something new in this great industry.

Lia Abigail Carranco Garcia

Q: How old are you and where were you born?

A: 21 y/o born in Veracruz, Mexico (always lived in Mexico City)

Q: What motivated you to be a Fashion Designer?

A: I can't remember specifically why I had decided to study Fashion Design, but I think it had to with wanting to express my individuality and I've always had the need to create. I was felt more sensible, emotional  and potential through this career than any other.

Mariana Valdés de la Torre

Q: How old are you and where were you born?

A: 23 y/o Mexico City

Q: What motivated you to be a Fashion Designer?

A: I never doubted in studying Fashion Design, it was my passion since I was little, wanting to transform everything I can get my hands on, and create and show all my ideas on every garment I created. What motivated me to be a Fashion Designer was the idea of being able to find imperfect beauty all around me, and that way being able to dress and interpret this costume party that we live in.

My objective in life is to make my life into a great piece of art.

Mónica Bellazetin Calderón

Q: How old are you and where were you born?
A: 23 y/o Mexico City

Q: What motivated you to be a Fashion Designer?
A: Since I was a little girl I was interested in art's and crafts, and I always had access to that in the school I attended to, where I was awoken creatively and so I educated myself with techniques that have worked for me since then. Thanks to that, the curiosity of creating was always within me.

On the other hand, my grandmother used to sew and make evening dresses since the 60's and I liked it, even the process of how to make it.

I remember watching and listening for the very first time of Giorgio Armani and GIanni Versace, biographies told by Tim Banks on television; that was my incentive to study and be a Fashion Designer forever.

aaaaand me :)

Megan Munguía Amabile


23 y/o Mexico City
I was first interested in arts and crafts, my mom would always be doing something to entertain us and encouraged us to be ourselves. That being said, I started my ability's in calligraphy, I was so eager to learn how to write (still love writing in pen a paper... yes), then drawing was my next big thing, always observing new things to draw and always traying to draw it as much like it as possible and eventually succeeding well by 7th grade!

My mom was also a Fashion Designer (at FIT) got her degree and then started Textiles, but didn't finish that career. I remember when I was 3 or 4 y/o hearing the sewing machine at 10 or 11 or 12 o'clock at night, my mom sewing curtains, or a new table cloth or making something new for either me or my brother and sister, and so, that sound sort of became a comfort sound, even though I was sleeping already, every time I heard it, I would walk downstairs and sleep on a chair next to my mom. I loved being with my mom when she was up to something creative. 

And as the years went by, I finally decided that I wanted to be a Fashion Designer, because the way my mom taught me, clothes are fun to use and to match or miss match everything, it all shows in our personality's and she was totally O.k with that so it gave me the confidence to create what ever I wanted... though the school didn't approve much, most of the time I was scolded, saying that my garments where to flamboyant and it's sort put a limit on me sometimes, not being able to express myself fully. But, I listened to the teachers and obeyed, so, what could I do? Eventually I joined costume design at school because I could keep up my grades and do the costumes at the same time, I was very happy.

My other interest's included painting murals, water color painting, oil painting, acrylic painting, pencil drawing, writing poetry, reading all types of books, comics, and recently a comic-con fan (yes, I dress up and all), love listening to goooooood music anywhere from classical to electronic, as long as it's good.

And that's about it :) 


The SAPICA runway show will take place in Leon, Guanajuato, the 29th of August @9:00 PM

Feel free to look up SAPICA @:

www.sapica.com.mx

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SAPICAMexico

Twitter: @SAPICAmexico and @MTxDmexico

Instagram: sapicamexico

Blog: www.sapicablog.com

Youtube: sapicamx

And for some instagram pics and twitter progress, keep up with me:

Instagram: hquinnsey

Twitter: @megankh

or using hashtags #8diseñadoresjk #prospectamoda #FashionAvenueSapica and #mexicoesmoda

... Hysteria

I've recently watched the movie Hysteria and at first thought (because of the trailer) that it would be an ironic movie for a time like late 1800 and early 1900... but the introduction of the movie said "based on a real events... really" and that last word "really" stated that it wasn't joke because as the movie goes on you forget that it was based on real events. So on so forth, the movie is about Hysteria, WOMEN diagnosed with Hysteria, and it was thought that they had it because they where physically frustrated AND mentally, because of the chores at their house, or kids and even their spouses (that was the main cause of course).

But it was till then when they found out that physical stimulation was a very good thing; healthy.

This was a revolution for women, not only because of the encounter of sexual pleasure, real orgasms, it was important because they started to look for new things in their live's; some started working, some started looking forward to have new political ideas, writing books, interest in psychology, doors where opening up thanks to that break through where men where no longer ignorant that a women needs to have sexual pleasure as much as men do.

You must understand that during those times, it was forbidden  even considered a sin that a woman had a mind of her own, to even think that she would work for her own ambition and independence... it was a revolution to be unchained sexually in those times.

Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville was the first to patent the first vibrator for women's pleasure at home in 1890 and obviously it was the greatest invention ever... we all still see vibrators around and there is no way and no how  to get rid of them, obviously they work for getting rid of stress, headaches, molar pains, what ever pain just about.

So, if you're a feminist or just interested in social culture, watch it, you get a laugh about it and you get to see how society used to work back then, it's an interesting movie and worth watching.

Internship.

I started my internship June 4th till August 1st, more or less, at Vera Wang, Manhattan, NYC. I've been a fan of Vera Wang ever since my aunt gave me a folder with all her designs (I was about 15 years old), including a biography and a black and white picture of Vera, her self. That being said, it's been about 8 years since I've been "dreaming" of her designs. They're not like others. I mean, some are cool and all, and not precisely a known designer, but Vera makes ALL her designs desirable and all of them are made with the same fabrics. Tones vary, they go from white, ivory, vanilla, lavender (lavender is a gorgeous color!) to black or red. All dresses have at least 5 layers.

So... I thought I'd be getting coffee. Obviously I was so wrong. I did patterns, I checked if the packages that came in where all safe and sound, and with no defects (embroidery generally), if there was, we sent it back for another one. I also did inventory's, I checked receipts/invoice's. Picked up and dropped off lots of stuff and sewed labels on sashes.

It was truly an amazing experience. I got to hang out mostly with the pattern maker, so I learned a lot from her (she was awesome!); the way they made patterns was different than how we do it in Mexico, well... at least at school. You know, it's so damn hard at school, but when I was doing my intern, I thought it was the easiest thing in the world, the only hard part was waking up at 6, to get an express train at 7 (more or less) and be there at least by 8:30 to walk my way to work.

I hope I get another experience like this.

The trip.

What trip do I mean? A trip out of the continent? A trip from one state to another? A trip to the other side of the world? A trip on a boat? Airplane? Car?...

This trip is about how I jumped from my "social personality" to "myself".

It's interesting that I've written as a title "The trip" and I will tell you why; It's never as easy as it seams when you want to change something from yourself, and I mean really change something, when you mean it and it's a goal.
It's indeed a trip, when you change one thing from yourself, like changing a nasty habit like making fun of people for the things they say or do, then changing to the thought that maybe they are "ignorant" (per say) because they don't want to admit a reality they are living within themselves and there for, when we start thinking that way, putting our selves in someone else's shoes, changes our perception of our everyday routine.

I used to be a sarcastic, bitter, young girl, for what, to feel angrier of myself? I never knew it was making me angrier each time I was mean to someone and ignorant of their own situation. The minute I stopped, my world was changing already, my perception changed.

Now, I'm not saying to have compassion for every single person, I mean, it can be sad, but sometimes, when someone lingers too long in a "sad" situation, it's because they are fully comfortable in that spot, if they weren't, they would change, it's as simple as that.

So, the trip is this.
TRIP, fall, and realize what IS working for you and what ISN'T. Change. If nature changes all the time, then that means that we too, should change.

Beware one thing, when you change, other people change too, for the better or for the worse, but they change. Don't linger in the past, let the past be your trampoline to make you better person.

Today... well rather, tonight, I've realized that writing heals me in every way, it always makes me realize what I'm feeling or thinking. I thank for the writing, because it always helps me.

Thank you readers, for taking the time and place to finish reading what I have to say.
Goodnight.