BY MARIA GALLUCCI
The News
Oct. 22, 2009
While Mexico might be better known for exporting its more illicit goods, a Mexico City culture consortium is hoping to push the country's more stylish industries to the outside world - fashion, cinema and design.
This week in Tokyo, six fashion labels, two filmmakers and an interior design team have been presenting their latest and freshest proposals to Japanese audiences. The "DFTokio" event, coordinated by Mexico City's Pasagüero culture hub, also coincides with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded contact between Mexico and Japan.
Pasagüero director Ricardo Pandal said the idea to bring the contemporary Mexican artists to Tokyo was inspired by a recent talk regarding alternative subcultures in the world's megalopolises.
And while Japan's capital city has already hosted more traditional Mexican art like exhibits on Frida Khalo or pre-Hispanic artifacts, Pandal said he thought it was long overdue to bring a more modern perspective to the Mexican presence in Tokyo.
"Mexico's alternative, urban culture is very alive in Japan, I just think that now we're looking for the right ways to channel it," Pandal told The News last week before his flight to Japan.
"I don't see why Mexico can't be just like Brazil," he said, referring to Brazil's recent prominence in the global fashion, film and contemporary art scenes.
The project's purpose is to select a few aspects, personalities and professionals from Mexico's cutting edge, with the goal to create an event that will show the current trends in contemporary Mexican culture, according to Pasagüero. Creating this dynamic allows Mexican artists to communicate a renovated perspective of the country to the outside world, developing cultural promotion and investment and attracting more international tourists.
The event kicked off in Tokyo last weekend on Oct. 17 with Mexican director Alejandro González Iñarritu, of "Babel" and "Amores Perros" fame, presiding over the judges' panel at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Designers participated from Tuesday to Thursday in Japan Fashion Week, and couturiers included Alejandra Quesada, Carla Fernández, Trista and T.E.M.O.R.E.S., a label by 22-year-old Carlos Temores. Jewelry designers include Gabriela Artigas and Anndra Neen, a jewelry label by Phoebe and Annette Stephens.
Although not on the runways, the six young design labels presented in a separate showroom styled by the Dfcasa interior design team, offered Japanese buyers, collectors and the general public a chance to admire or purchase the Mexican fashion. The line-up was also coordinated in part by the Mexican style magazine 192.
Pandal said that while Quesada and Anndra Neen have already entered the Japanese market, the event is an opportunity for everyone to strengthen their ties in the Asian style scene while representing their Mexican roots abroad.
Fernández's designs, for instance, reinterpret the colors, patterns and movement of traditional mariachi garb but with twenty-first century cuts and fits. Quesada offers flirty dresses and sheer blouses with floral prints and warm colors, indicative of a warmer climate influence.
The women of Anndra Neen, who are Mexican but live in Los Angeles, have received considerable U.S. press from publications like Vogue magazine and The New York Times. Their handmade pieces are certainly not subtle accents - with chunky, shiny pieces hanging from thick gold cords and thick metal cuffs with edgy details, they steal the whole show.
"These designers are definitely youthful, alternative and very cutting edge," Pandal said of all the stylists.
Pasagüero will celebrate the close of Tokyo Fashion Week and the film festival with an after-party on Thursday, with high-energy music by Mexican deejay Sicario and the Japanese group The Triple Nipple.
The final three days of DFTokio will return to its cinematic beginnings. A special three-day retrospective film presentation by Mexico City-born director Carlos Reygadas, whose films include "Japan," "Battle in Heaven" and "Silent Light."
While the actual film festival will not include any new projects from Mexico, the retrospective signifies a first for the Latin American country in Japan's capital city, Pandal said.
Pandal added that he hoped the Tokyo presentations could kick off a newfound relationship between Mexico and Asia over the next five years. Similar events might take place next year in cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong, he said.
"We hope that our presence in Asia doesn't just stop with this. We want to have a continual presence at fairs, festivals and cultural events," he said.
The Pasagüero director noted the value such events have for Mexico's once-booming tourism industry, and he added that for this reason the Mexico City's Tourism Secretariat helped partially fund DFTokio.
"They understood the benefit of promoting the city to young cultures around the world, who aren't as afraid to come visit as others," he said.
For more info on DFTokio, visit http://mexcofest.com
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