By Anita Zuñiga
According to a report by paiscircular.cl in Chile there is a pronounced presence of designer brands, which has been increasing significantly, thanks to the existence of medium-sized firms, generally associated with designers who undertake with proposals characterized by an offer linked to trends and / or specific niches, with a showcase at International Fashion Weeks, the most recent, for example, took place in February 2023, when "Chile arranged for 6 national brands to show their products at the eiDesign Pop Up Store, one of the main fashion weeks in the world, "landing of Chilean brands that were at Milano Fashion Week with the aim of positioning themselves internationally in Europe" , says Felipe Repetto, commercial director of the ProChile office in Italy.
Designer Fashion and Personal Identity
While designer fashion is the creation of a designer based on his or her own inspiration and style, that is, the idea of clothing that moves away from the conventional, and that reproduces a unique piece, often made "to order . "
In countries like France, this area is leading the way, thanks to the creation of a research center aimed at teaching the language of creation, which is vital when a designer directs either a brand or a fashion house. This was materialized in the Savoy Faire Chair of the French Fashion Institute (IFM), whose objective is to understand designer fashion through the construction of personal identity, with contents such as creation, direct links with local artisans, an embroidery school, that is, achieving the union of high and low technology, handmade, mixing it with 3D printing technology. A master's degree founded with the objective of welcoming students, to prepare them and encourage them to understand the set of trades and the values of the material culture of local artisans versus fashion design students.
In this scenario, reflection on the subject of designer design seems to be focusing on promoting an increase in artisanal production, with women representing the overwhelming majority of garment workers and artisans.
On the other hand, it is worth noting that UNESCO lists a series of specific threats to the preservation of tradition, both through globalization and mass production, emphasizing the need to avoid the production of garments at high cost, prioritizing and valuing the investment of time in artisanal labor in the design and manufacture of clothing, and avoiding the proliferation of fast fashion.
This is taking into account the need to spark an interest among future generations studying fashion in learning the skills necessary for global craftsmanship, in order to protect and ensure the longevity, retention, and relevance of this art form in designer clothing design.
Thinking about reflection, in the book “Morir Un Poco” by fashion historian Pía Montalva, who expresses that “clothing speaks of autobiography, because it doesn’t walk alone in the street, it goes with a body: both form a whole that moves through public space, and each person uses it differently, depending on how they appropriate it. There are codes of behavior, perceptions of the world, imaginaries . ”
Sizing versus Identity in Chile
On the other hand, and according to the Women's Clothing Sizing Report - August 2021, Sernac - the lack of clothing sizing is generating a need to promote changes in this area, that is, it would be inciting consumers to look at the designer fashion industry with different eyes, especially when buying clothing, favoring custom-made clothing, with "personalized" confections, which could increase the figures for the local fashion market from the Economic Diagnostic Survey of Designer Fashion in Chile, which indicates that the local designer design industry represents less than 0.5% of the total turnover of this niche in the country.
Indeed, this meager percentage indicates that the local fashion industry's contribution to the national GDP is insignificant in economic terms (even considering general clothing and local designer design as a whole).
In fact, according to UNESCO, the global designer or artisanal fashion market is valued at approximately $34 billion, and 65% of this activity takes place in developing economies.
But what's the trend in designer fashion in Chile? In general, and according to vistetelocal , independent brands of timeless, genderless clothing and garments created from upcycled textiles are dominating today. They represent designer fashion with central themes linked to sustainable production and experimentation with new raw materials, with a wide range of designer designs in women's and men's apparel, jewelry, costume jewelry, and accessories featuring local stories capable of making a global impact.
From this proposition, the trend in Chilean designer fashion makes it clear that linking design and craftsmanship should be the tool for reflection when creating and thinking about future fashion, taking designer design as a reference when promoting capsule collections or innovative fashion lines that encourage the recovery of traditional craft techniques in collection designs, highlighting the need to foster a systemic change in the way fashion is taught in the academic world.
