Anciela

I’m the other, the immigrant, the underdog, the minority, the Latina, the feisty one, the activist, the feminist, the vegetarian, the cyclist. I’m the creator behind Anciela, a maker at heart with a deep love and respect for human hand[craft], community and the planet.

My first introduction to dressmaking was when I was nine years old and my mother took me to a seamstress who made my first communion dress. I picked the fabric and explained to the lady the dress I wanted, I had my measurements taken and without really knowing it I had designed my first dress. It was an amazing feeling to try it on when it was finished. This experience really touched me, it gave me a whole understanding of how clothes were made.
With every garment I make I try to transmit that feeling of joy that I felt as a child. I have very happy memories from Colombia, even though the country was going through a horrible civil war (one of the reasons why we moved to Chile in the 2000s) I remember the joy of the people I grew up with beyond the tragedies, and I choose to acknowledge the positive change that the country has gone through only in a few decades. That’s the Colombian spirit that I want to show through what I do.

Working for Viktor & Rolf was an amazing experience, it taught me the endless possibilities of fashion, the magic of couture and the power of garments to tell a story. Working for emerging brands in London was a great way to get a unique look at the challenges of running a small business where I was involved at every stage of the development process. I learnt a lot about local manufacturing in London and met lovely people.

That’s very true, I think I’m more confident in my vision and I follow my instincts a lot more now. I think at the beginning I was really self-conscious about how the brand would be perceived and how commercial it needed to be. I was holding myself back creatively and following the wrong advice from people I came across at the beginning. Also finding the right people to work with, that can understand your vision and help you bring the message across through the campaign and videos has been really important in shaping the brand’s identity.

There were many difficulties, fashion is really hard. The main challenge was to start from scratch as an outsider and minority and with very little money. Even though I had been working in London for some years, I didn’t study here so it’s virtually impossible to get any kind of support. I still had to work for other designers in order to support my brand. Luckily I could do a lot of it myself, suddenly you’re not only a creative director but you’re the whole team, so the amount of work is endless. It does take a toll on you physically and mentally.

I love London, I think it’s a city which is constantly changing and evolving. It’s a place that not only promotes talent but diversity. It’s very competitive though, it keeps you on your toes and constantly challenging yourself because there is a certain effervescence in fashion that keeps questioning the creative process and the standards are very high.
Anciela was well received, but it took a while to break through the noise and reach out to the right people in the industry. A lot of the support is usually given to recent graduates from famous London fashion schools, so when you come out of nowhere it’s really hard to get someone to even look at your work. Luckily the industry is addressing this issue of inclusivity so I’m hopeful that fixed patterns are being disrupted and questioned, especially after the BLM movement last year.

I think Colombia has a long tradition of craft and local production which has historically allow for local design. At the moment, there are many emerging brands that are creating more exciting fashion than the traditional more established ones. I believe Colombian fashion could be bigger abroad, however, there is always that difficult balance of having something that feels true to you as a designer but that can also have an international appeal. But without falling into the “exoticised aesthetic” of South American fashion, that is sometimes perceived in Europe.

The aim has always been to explore the amalgamation of two different cultures, and the contrast between concepts through folklore, art and society with an omnipresent love for our planet. This is the premise of my creative process. Behind every garment there is a story that is very personal to me, however, the intentions behind every collection are very relatable and honest, and I think that resonates with the people who follow the brand or buy the clothes. Anciela has become this creative platform that showcases not only fashion but also other Latinx creatives in London. These collaborative experiences across disciplines have been an accidental magical process along with a sense of community and inclusivity. It makes me truly excited about what the brand can become.

The idea behind this collection [Nueve] came about during the second wave of Covid when we went into a third lockdown in the UK, things weren’t looking very promising. I decided to take a different approach to design within this context by taking the concept of death and how fashion could be a tool to mourn the loss of loved ones. I looked into the work of Doris Salcedo and Marisol Escobar. As well as researching funeral traditions in Colombia and remembered my own grandad’s funeral from a child’s perspective. The idea of death but as a celebration of life was the starting point. I was inspired by the floral arrangements and historic garments that used to be custom made for the dead.
The making of this collection all from home by myself felt really ritualistic, every embellishment individually burnt, shaped and sewn around this coffin-like structure. For the video, we took inspiration from all the rituals which take place during nine days of mourning, and we developed the piece as a symbolic homage to the dead and people who didn’t have a funeral or decent burial during the pandemic. A big part of it was the music, for me it was essential to collaborate with Latin singers that interpret the songs I grew up listening to. Elements such as the altar, the crying women, the drinks and the games were important symbols as well. This was actually a shorter version of a documentary we made for Fashion Revolution that features interviews of the people who took part in it as well.

Not for me, some designers make fashion as escapism, I make fashion as catharsis, as a way to process and deal with reality. I see it as a tool to engage and tell stories that can spark some kind of emotion and start a conversation. I think fashion should reflect the times we live in, even if it seems like is very detached I think one way or another we are all influenced by our surroundings. Radical changes in society have paved the way for big fashion trends throughout history.

It was my first ever fashion week last year. It was very exciting to have my work showcased to a global audience. I was really happy about how the collection was perceived, it was encouraging. It also gave me the chance to connect with other emerging brands around the world. Last April we presented Nueve with them too.

I love what Sánchez-Kane is doing, she’s tapping into this Neo-Latin identity in Mexico which I find very inspiring and I fully relate to. In South America, I follow the work of Annaiss Yucra, which is also disrupting the stereotypes of Peruvian fashion.

I’m currently working on my Spring Summer collection for London Fashion Week, as part of the Discovery Lab program in collaboration with Tony & Guy. It will be part of the digital schedule premiering on the 20th of September. I have just showcased some of my previous work at Berlin Fashion Week last week in collaboration with Fashion Revolution too.