One spring afternoon, we met Cris at the Costa Brava. More than a formal interview with stuffy and smug questions, I suggested that his note for Nashion It be a relaxed and relaxed conversation. With a beer in hand and with Madonna (one of her favorite singers) in the background, Cris Miranda told her vision of local fashion, the differences between her generation and that of her more experienced colleagues, and her role as a teacher and trainer of new generations of designers at their short 27 years. A few days ago, he had finished his participation in the Redress Design Award, so it was also a topic of conversation.
Cristián Miranda presented his first catwalk at the hands of VisteLaCalle and from there he did not stop. They are 5 years of moving in sustainable fashion and "understanding fashion as a vehicle of change for the environment and society ." In this five-year period, Cris has managed to stand out and her brand has earned a place within the increasingly competitive local fashion industry.
-Do you consider yourself part of the new generation of Chilean fashion?
I don't know if I consider myself new, because I've been working on this for a few years now, but I do think I share the idea of a fashion industry that younger people want to build: an industry that grows from collaboration, not being stingy with the rest; build, because we have nothing.
-What other features does this new generation have?
First, we are all aware that the environment can take no more, so we are incorporating an edge of environmental or social sustainability into our work. What characterizes this generation is, centrally, collaboration, generating networks and spaces for fashion and sharing it with the rest. We do not have an established industry, we do not even have a creative industry, we are creating from the precariousness of what was left after the dictatorship and we are all aware of that.
-What characteristics did the generations of older designers have that no longer go with the younger ones?
I feel that before, the designer was widely understood as a kind of deity, who, due to his creativity, could do and undo as he pleased. There was a lot of competition, a lot of pulling down colleagues and 'don't take away my opportunity because there aren't any more'. There was also this wanting to imitate what was happening in Europe, what was happening in the United States. In the last ten years, I would say, the switch has been turned towards collaboration, to looking at your fellow designer as a person who is in the same context as you, trying to carry out a project with the same difficulties as you. That you can't find good fabrics, that it's hard to find seamstresses, etc. Understanding that context has made current generations looking to collaborate and make friends within the industry to create collaborative instances of design.
-Would you agree with me that precariousness is something that is repeated in the old and also new generations?
Definitely. I believe that precariousness is something that defines the textile industry in Chile.
-How is it to deal with that? Isn't it tiring?
It is exhausting. I am grateful every time a new design project appears and I think about how incredible something is taking place despite all the adversities that exist in this country, from the economic, social, cultural and market context. It is very difficult to make a design project economically sustainable. In my opinion, that is what makes you a consecrated designer or not: how capable you are of making a living from your project. I still can't make a living from my design project, but from other things that I do to be able to carry out my brand, which is born from the depths of my heart.
-How has your experience been as a fashion academic?
Thanks to Karina Vukovic who was my teacher in 2014 at UNAB. I have always been very busquilla and very mateo, I try to learn and I became very attached to my teachers. At the University, they gave me an assistantship for Karina's chair, then I went through other classes, until they gave me my own field, which is an elective called "Japanese Aesthetics."
-What do you teach, what do you want to pass on to your students?
I generate instances of knowledge that are interesting to them. I'm not going to give you the lecture in the sense that Japanese aesthetics is this, this and this. No, the idea is to help them find their own identity through the appreciation of Japanese pop culture, from a personal and migrant perspective of what I had to live while I was there. The idea is to understand the appreciation of Japanese culture and not fall into appropriation, which we have seen so many times.
-Does your interest in Japanese culture come from before you lived there?
From a very young age, I loved anime, music, the Japanese language and it was always there as a gravitating energy in my work and I decided at one point to go find out what was happening there, live it firsthand and get to know the industry Creative in Japan.
-What tools, in addition to the aesthetic, did you manage to rescue for your work from your stay in Japan?
I think being aware of myself, of my creative capacity and of developing projects and seeking to do things in a culture diametrically opposed to ours, with a language that I did not understand at first. Testing myself like that was a way for me to realize that after that I could do whatever I wanted, it helped me gain confidence.
On top of that, it helped me to be a creative entrepreneur, more than just creative. At some point I managed to work in design there and learned a little about the fashion business. Before I went to Japan I always refused that, an independent designer told me and I didn't pay attention to those things.
-Would you agree with me again that this is another issue that is shared by old and new generations: the little business vision of designers?
Definitely. As we are all creating from precariousness, it is very understandable that we become punk media with the subject and that we rant against capitalism, but in order to live from creativity you have to know how to be an entrepreneur, look at the market and act accordingly. You have to be more cold with the subject, be cautious economically and know that the product has to be sold finally.
-And are your products selling?
Yes, little, but because I produce little. My brand project was to generate unique pieces, on a very small scale, but we have to go towards a future that is scalable and reproducible.
-How to make a business like upcylcing scalable, which essentially bets on unique pieces and small-scale business models?
You have to be very intelligent with the way you do your upcycling and understand sustainable fashion not only from the path of reusing fabrics, but also using fabrics in a way that does not generate waste. I am super focused on zero waste, which is creating without generating waste and that is easier to scale.
-How did your participation in the Redress Design Award 2022 come about? I understand that it is one of the most important recognitions of sustainable fashion, right?
A couple of years ago I tried to participate and I was not classified. Then I went to live in Japan, and what I learned there I applied to the selection process this year. I took all the kimonos that I brought from Japan, disassembled them and reused them without generating waste. I took it, they liked it, I was among the semifinalists and then I went to the final. I had a lot of Master Classes with industry experts, people with positions in very relevant companies, from whom I learned a lot about marketing, public relations and how to sell a project. I was also able to create a network of international contacts that can be very useful to me.
-Do you think that training in fashion business continues to be a shortcoming of the academy in Chile?
It is a shortcoming that is being addressed. It is also a shortcoming that can be resolved through the interest of the student, in how he empowers himself with his own life project and is able to stand up and defend his idea in front of his buyers.
-Do independent designers have something to learn from fast fashion?
I think that retail is realizing that the model is not infinite, that the model they propose is going to end. They're all greenwashing in a circular fashion. A symbiosis must be generated between retail and independent fashion, where the former manages circular fashion and author designers in a real way. You have to look for instances of encounter.
-What's next for Cris Miranda?
New catwalks are coming, new products. For the first time, I am going to generate stock of garments. Grow. I am focused on turning my creative project into a creative company, which allows me to generate more work for other designers, for other seamstresses. I would like to invite everyone who wants to be part of this life project that I have, to come to me.
