It may seem like a truism title, redundant. The truth is that it highlights something that, obviously, we sometimes forget: young people are the motor of fashion, they are agents of change, early adopters who are not afraid to push the limits of trends with their casual and authentic personal styles. . Young people inspire and make fashion and, in Chile, they have more and more tools, vision and spaces.
The end of 2022 was a time to condense into final presentations all the work of a year for two fashion schools, of which we had already told you: the Fashion and Management mention of the Design Faculty of the Development University, and the closing of the academic year of the Fotodesign fashion and advertising photography school. Both educational redoubts are remarkable and are training generations of fashion designers and photographers who will take over from current generations.
Catwalk D 2022.
Several years ago, I was invited by the Faculty of Design of the Universidad del Desarrollo to be a jury member for an initiative that they had devised together with a well-known and used Belgian bag brand. The idea was that future graphic designers would intervene in some of the brand's models and create accessories that would fit the aesthetic language of the brand. On that occasion I was surprised by the results; the graphic design students, an eminently 2D discipline, had managed to decode the aesthetics of the brand very well, which was one of their assignments, while also developing technically impeccable work. I regretted that the school did not have a fashion design division that could contribute to the creation of professionals of that quality for the local industry.
Fortunately, the mention of fashion is already a reality, and despite the fact that its first generation has not yet graduated, it can already be guessed that the fashion designers of the UDD will be the ones that will make people talk in a couple of years, the ones that will refresh the proposals from the Chilean fashion context, and why not... local designers whose aesthetics will cross our borders.
Pasarela D is the name of its annual parade, which shows the work of students from various courses, a corollary of a whole year's work, which exposes them to the dynamics they will face after leaving their alma mater.
One of the first notable issues of the instance, is that the future designers worked under common themes, but fitting into them their own particular aesthetics, while responding to a global, team aesthetic. While other schools and instances opt for competition, the UDD preferred to make them work under the premise that young people understand fashion today: an eminently collaborative phenomenon, where the old quarrels to show themselves more than the rest are already a trend of the past.
The common thread of the entire catwalk, where all the proposals of the students who are taking a workshop at the UDD paraded, was the theme “Urban Dressing”. Under this premise, different subthemes were presented that resulted in clothing with a moderately experimental vocation. The work of the students took the expression “university project” to the next level. The accompaniment of the academics in charge of this new generation of costume designers is palpable. Known as Gabriela Olivares and Gabriel Zamora, and new names from the academy such as Luis Pino, they were in charge of guiding the work and tasks of the students who experimented with silhouettes, textile sublimation and equally intricate and interesting designs.
The most commercial proposals came from two retail brands, with which the students worked to create commissioned collections. A remarkable collaboration, if we consider that local designers have always shunned responsibility in retail for having a meager fashion industry. The new generations must understand that they learn from retail and are accompanied in opportunities for improvement, take advantage of synergies and create connections that last over time; the mention of fashion and management of the UDD understands it that way.
The students of this Faculty rest in good hands, their teachers and guides try to instill in them a comprehensive and multidisciplinary training. I prefer the words of welcome given by Natalia Yañez, Director of the mention, which seems to me to sum up the spirit of this school very well: “….it allows us to say with conviction that innovation is possible, that transformation is possible from a highly polluting and irresponsible industry to a sustainable industry that is at the service of the needs of our contemporary society”.
Photodesign Exhibition.
Also several years ago, I was invited to be the Director of this photography school that was born in Argentina and that today has offices in Colombia, Spain and Chile. I was 28 or 29 years old, I had been a professor of Fashion Theory for a couple of years, and the partners of the school called me to take over the direction. It was a huge and tiring challenge for someone who was already in charge of a business, but at that age you want to conquer the world, so I accepted with great enthusiasm. It was a start from scratch in many areas: the school had moved to its current location in Barrio Italia and administratively there was a lot to tidy up. My objective was only one and very ambitious: for the best fashion photographers in Chile to come out of Fotodesign.
I reformed the curricular plan, established real links between the school and local fashion photography, created a system of scholarships for talent, a summer school and made a change of teachers keeping in mind that they had to be teachers who were strongly linked to the fashion photography industry. Today I can say with great pride, and thanks to the work of those who came after me and all of us who built this beautiful school by hand, that the objective of training the best fashion photographers in Chile at Fotodesign is more than fulfilled. Fotodesign trains photographers whose aesthetics are renewing the local panorama.
Every year, this school makes an exhibition with the final exams and the best work of the students that are trained in its classrooms. This year was not the exeption. While it is true, almost all the final works had remarkable aesthetics, it is inevitable to choose favorites among favorites. Beyond the degree ceremony, the dance and the good music that was lived in Santa Isabel 0664, I did a little research on the students whose work most caught my attention and I dare to say that, I work through and deepening their aesthetic language , they will be fashion photographers who will be talking in a couple of years.
Camila Sandoval ( @____kamili )
There is something quiet in Camila Sandoval's aesthetics that makes a lot of noise. It's as if your photos, apparently silent and still, are about to implode. Camila's approach to fashion is through the trivial image, the everyday scene that has a dose of information that makes it tremendously attractive and enigmatic.
Kiara Ferrer ( @kiara.ferrer )
Kiara also appeals to simplicity. It is as if this generation bombarded by images, contaminated by intricate aesthetic codes, wanted to go back to basics; to look for beauty in images and simple compositions. Kiara shows beauty without fuss, she gives us pictures that are both simple and complex.
Andres Sandoval ( @andresssandovv )
Andrés' portfolio has more typical elements of fashion photography, but his vision shows a concern for achieving a certain intimacy with those who observe his work. The models acquire prominence under Andrés's lens, as if the clothes passed into a complementary background, where the human figure and the person are the protagonists of his compositions.
Long live the young, long live the new visions. Long live the schools that create agents of change and long live the local talents.
