Attending a fashion week that is not part of the “classic” circuit of fashion weeks is always an interesting experience, because everything is very different from what we are used to, and very often, things happen differently from what we would expect. In Miami’s case, I was expecting bold colors, breathtaking locations and lots of celebrities: what actually surprised me most was the total absence of streetstyle photographers, because Miami’s fashion shows are all hosted in the same large tensile structure, and they all take place after 6pm.
The calendar included designers from all over the place, not just from Florida, and the most striking for me were the young brands whose designers came from Central and South America. Shantall Lacayo is one of them, she came to Miami Fashion Week from Nicaragua, thanks to her government’s help: the Nicaraguan government is trying to help young designers gain more recognition abroad and especially in the US. Her collection is very colorful and seductive, it hints at the 1970s, with retro prints and lots of interesting details, like the hand-painted Converse shoes that gave a final touch to her men and women’s looks, which the designer painted personally.
Yirko Sivirich, from Lima, was another brand that attracted my attention. His collection was all inspired by the sea: men walked the runway with surfboards, while girls wore bikini and one-piece swimsuits in peculiar cuts that made them absolutely suit...