Lorenza Bas, costume designer: “With fashion, we can create art.”

By Francisca Vargas Ramos

After a year and a half of research, work, and preparation, Lorenza Bas launched her latest collection: Jamais Vu . An art exhibition that became a unique visual and sensorial experience for each viewer.

For the designer, the coherence between concepts, materials, and forms is fundamental to her artistic process. She points out that this collection involved a long work process that would not have been possible without Amalia Muñoz (art director) and Paula Ceroni (art curator), and that it is this same equation that allows Jamais Vu's garments to be considered works of art.

Three concepts brought this exhibition to life: dreams, delusions, and omens. They materialized through tailoring, recycled fabrics, and cashmere, and colors like white, rosewood, purple, gray, and more were chosen to bring Jamais Vu to life, a concept from French psychology that refers to experiencing something familiar in a new and unfamiliar way . “I want our viewers to feel like they are seeing and understanding a fashion collection for the first time,” the designer notes. 

In our marketplace, we wanted to talk to Lorenza about her upcoming projects, her vision for the apparel industry, and her fervent desire to conceive fashion and art as a single concept. Here's what she told us...

We live in an age where mass-produced clothing has taken center stage. As a designer, do you think we need to rethink production and consumption methods?

Yes, absolutely. Today, society is mired in this excessive consumption of clothing that it clearly doesn't need. I believe that a brand, to call itself sustainable, must be sustainable in every way, from packaging to sustainable yarn. I'm not a sustainable brand, but I believe I contribute to sustainability because I don't make clothes for the sake of making them. I make three or four garments, and the fifth is pre-ordered, so I make them if someone wants them; I'm not going to make them just to sell them off.

This was also a bit of a manifesto for this collection, as it speaks to the lack of authenticity in the fashion industry today. We're subjected to TikTok, where you see a t-shirt and everyone wants it. It could be a Shein t-shirt that they tell you was made by a kid and paid half a dollar, and they don't care.

Do you think the work of designers is adequately valued in Chile, or is there still a long way to go?

I feel like Chile has a culture without culture. It's super bland; we don't have that "I'm Chilean and I love my artists" thing (...). There's a very American culture where people prefer to have a lot to feel like they have capability rather than quality, rather than tradition or local products. It's not like in Argentina or Peru, where things are so highly valued; they'll never ask for a discount.

I haven't been in the market that long, so my prices aren't that high. Sometimes people ask me for a discount, and I wonder how much they think a custom-made dress costs, or how much they think my work costs. That's why all the designers who are starting to grow unfortunately move abroad because there isn't a market here that will pay for it or value it, and if there is, it's super limited, super small, super niche, so it's difficult. I also think it's improving a little bit every day, but there's still a small market. For example, if we think of something traditional in Peruvian design, we immediately think of alpaca. If we think of Argentina, we think of leather, boots. Something Colombian, floral dresses, bikinis. But if we think of something from Chile, we're left wondering... We're copies of something, but nothing is authentic. Chilean fashion lacks an identity .

Your Jamais Vu collection is available at Vístete Local, but what's next for your brand? Can you give us a sneak peek?

I want all my collections to be related to art. I'm planning to create a summer collection with an artist, and we'll have fabrics with her work sublimated . For another collection, I'd like to continue linking it to art exhibitions, artists, and conceptual elements, always infusing it with that thread because I feel like this journey has made the most sense to me and what I've enjoyed the most. This has been the collection I'm most proud of, so I want to continue blending it with art.

How do you see Lorenza Bas in three years? What would be the next step in your career?

I'd like to start selling abroad, because of the market. I've sold in other countries, and the experience has been different. There's more demand, and they pay for it. Plus, Chile is so small that it would be great to represent it. It would be a dream for me to start selling abroad. I'd also like to attend a fashion week and have my concept stores around the world.

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