The panel organized by IMG focused on the emerging voices of Latinx designers in the fashion industry and how the corporate world can support them.
‘New York Fashion Week: The Shows’ presented by Afterpay are back for another year!
The Talks: ‘Cultivating the Future for Latinx Creators’ took place early Saturday afternoon at the home of NYFW—Spring Studios in Manhattan. The event, in collaboration with UPS, was additionally broadcasted virtually at NYFW.com.
Karla Martínez de Salas, head of editorial content at Vogue Mexico and Latin America, moderated the panel. The panelists included designers Angelo Baque, Thermal Taveras, and Daniel Buezo along with Senior Manager of Digital Commerce & Experience at UPS Carlos Cuerto.
Issues discussed on the panel arranged from the struggles of breaking into spaces that lack diversity, producing work during the pandemic, and aiding young Latinx talent to keep creating.
Baque spent over a decade as Brand Director at Supreme, where he led the brand to become a trailblazer in streetwear. Baque now leads his own studio where he works on independent projects. Now, on his own, he works with up-and-coming youth designers at major fashion schools in the U.S. Baque expressed that when he first started in the industry, opportunities for Latinx creators were scarce. There were designers such as Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta, but there always seemed to be no Latinx creators in streetwear, and racism in the industry.
Both Buezo and Taveras are up-and-coming major designers. Taveras is the co-founder of the brand WhenSmokeClears. The streetwear brand has been seen on mainstream rappers such as Jack Harlow and Lil Baby. Buezo is the co-founder of the brand Kids of Immigrants.
Although both are just getting started, they additionally spoke about how obligated they feel to help smaller, younger designers. They both acknowledged the honor of sitting beside Baque on the panel as well, with Buezo admitting that he’d seen Baque on another panel just a year ago.
Baque’s AwakeNY brand along with UPS organized La Bodega Baque pop-up in Soho. The weekend-long pop-up showcased Latinx designers and their small businesses as well as a 4-piece capsule collection, Unidos Para Siempre. The event is part of a longstanding initiative UPS has created to amplify Latinx voices in the fashion world.
NYFW: The Shows is produced by IMG Focus and will take place Sept. 9 through Sept. 14, live at Spring Studios.
