Artisanal. (Projects).
With intentional design that honors both craftsmanship and labor, these curated bodies of work are garments produced where I develop the entire garment myself, including the textile by hand or software.
The “Wet Back” Jacket
The first garment I ever developed with my handwoven cloth, the “Wet Back” jacket is workwear inspired by immigrant labor in agricultural industries. When visiting cafes, I began to notice the many portraits of foreign (immigrant) agricultural workers documented picking coffee beans. This blatant imagery fascinated me. What are the identities of these people who helped produce this cup of coffee? The jackets woven structure is a twill and the garment features a terrycloth winged collar and detachable terrycloth towels fastened by antique brass hardware. Finally the jacket features a center back drawstring opening and my hair inspired by the shaving of hair for the Mexican Bracero Program agricultural workers of the 1940’s. Hand patterned and self constructed.
“ESR” Jacket
Made with a textile handwoven on an 8 - harness floor loom, this jacket is composed of mohair, wool, and a cotton acrylic blend. It features my signature “bullet hole” motif at the back yoke and my hometown’s gang graffiti (ESR) dye sublimated onto the label. The woven structure is plain weave. Handwoven, hand patterned and self constructed.
Fingerprint Jacket
We as a society don’t have an opportunity to understand the social engagement of where and how modern garments are made. There is a detrimental disconnect from consumer and garment workers despite many unknown hands touching and making our garments before our purchase. With fascination in identity and contact, the Fingerprint Jacket was crafted and utilizes fabric I designed with my finger print scanned and woven into the cloth. Using Pointcarre software, the textile used for my jacket was woven on an industrial jacquard loom. The jacket features my signature “bullet hole” motif at the back yoke and an oversized notch at the collar. My finger print is also dye sublimated and sewn onto the label. Hand patterned and self constructed.
The Will of a Father
Constructed using silk organza, this pair of jeans is the same waist size and cut as my fathers denim labor jeans used for work. This piece is encrusted with cement at the hem and features a poem embroidered on the leg. The poem is composed of many sayings my father would say while performing the most labor intensive “handyman” jobs. Hand patterned and self constructed.
Bracero Chem Coat
Designed on PointCarre using an industrial Jacquard loom, the Bracero Chem Coat is produced with a textile subtly featuring 1940’s Bracero agricultural workers being sprayed by chemicals. Various parts of the coat are constructed with a shrouded layer of silk organza and dye sublimated 1940’s newspaper onto the lining. The coat has one zipper patch pocket and a silk organza pocket with metal D - ring. Hand patterned and self constructed.
