“My fashion adapts perfectly to everyone”

Manuela Rasjido He returned to Buenos Aires and, as usually happens every time he moves away from his beloved Santa María de Catamarca, he made the news again.

He presented his new collection of “Art to use” in Arthaus, in downtown Buenos Aires, with the musical intervention of the percussion group Tambor Fantasma. His models were art personalities, such as Karina El Azem, Boy Olmi, Katja Alemann, the musician Luycas Fagin and the dancer Mariana Belloto, among others.

Each one showed the models worked in wool fleece to which this time the designer added cotton velvet in geometric designs and with large-scale multicolored flowers.

“Years ago we wanted to do something and it was my idea that those who showed the clothes were not models but normal people, like us, of different ages and sizes,” Rasjido told Viva the interview just started. “My fashion adapts perfectly to everyone and it is not governed by the seasons.”

Pioneer in mix fashion with art since its beginnings in the industry, 30 years ago, it recognizes that today the boundaries between the two have finally been blurred.

“In Argentina it cost a lot,” he explains. “What happens is that for design to be art, it has to have a twist. I always wanted to bring the emotion of my tapestries and my paintings to garments that I also thought were wearable. Fortunately, after the pandemic, there is a return to the artisanal, there is more awareness in the world, this is something very recent. “I have been making art to use for a long time.”

Manuela Rasjido is 71 years old. After studying Literature in Tucumán, she realized that combining art and fashion was her thing. “I was always interested in working on the topic of textures and I had to learn the spinning and loom techniques. My grandmother Manuela knew a lot about that. Sometimes I think I didn’t take advantage of her as much as she would have wanted (she died when I was 18), but she left me with something. Then I investigated more. In Peru and Bolivia the theme of vicuña weaving is impressive. I wanted to do the same, but with sheep woolwhich is something more harmonious and sustainable, a new word for some, but one that one has been practicing for many years,” comments the winner of several awards such as the Konex and the National Endowment for the Arts.

“With the wool base there are thousands of possibilities to weave and generate the fabric. To me, wool is what a canvas is to the painter. And although I know that they are traditions that will surely be lost, luckily I had this time where I had to learn in order to train the women who work with me. Some have already retired, others are resisting (laughs) and that gives me enormous joy.”

When talking about inspiration, Rasjido cites the Art Housethe current born in Berlin, Germany, in the ’20s and ’30s. Then he adds everything he knew traveling the world, touring biennials. “At the beginning of my career, I was inspired by the landscapes of Santa María de Catamarca, I geometricized them. “That’s where I have my center,” she says excitedly.

When creating, recognize that there are different triggers. “There is a connection with the ancient wari culture, Andean, whose inhabitants had something of the orientals, something that resembles them. I was always attracted to the oriental, that’s why I created kimomo wari,” says Manuela Rasjido, who assures that working with communities is always valid as long as it is done seriously.

“There are people who do it that way and there are those who went to work with the communities because it is fashionable. That is not right. You can’t get people excited and then leave them there, orphaned and confused. In 48 years that I have worked, I have gone through every economic crisis you can imagine and I was able to sustain my brand with a lot of effort. With my weavers we are a big family”he says happily.

When she was studying at college, Manuela Rasjido started designing clothes for herself and it didn’t take long for her fellow students to start placing orders.

“I remember as a girl receiving Gath & Chaves catalogs at home, which showed clothing for adults and also doll clothes, which I loved. I remember it as something so playful, magical. Just like I remember the barracks cover I dreamed of made by my grandmother.”

Is a Rasjido design where fashion mixes with art very expensive? “It should, but it’s not, I think it’s a bit outdated,” she answers right away. “Right now I see prices that are crazy in many clothing stores. What I do takes more time, more elaboration, it starts in the fleece. I can’t estimate how long it takes with a coat. There is a season for shearing, another for weaving, and so on. It takes a long time, it is not something industrial,” he concludes regarding the subject.

To get their models, just write to their Instagram account or visit their showroom in Buenos Aires. “My thing is a lot of word of mouth. Fairs and biennials also bring customers closer together. Those who follow me have a special sensitivity, they value the design even if they don’t know the story behind it, they appreciate the garment. “I have clients who are artists, designers, architects…”

Like many names in Argentine fashion, Rasjido also transcended borders: he traveled through countries in America, Africa and Europe, where he made more than a hundred parades and exhibitions.

“In the beginning I think I did a lot abroad and I was recognized a lot for that, but now I feel very valued in my country with my designs and in the art world as well, through my tapestries. The Museum of Fine Arts gave me the top prize in 2023the distinction for my career, and now a garment of mine is part of the museum’s heritage,” she says proudly.

If the topic is international designers, Rasjido doesn’t hesitate: he loves oriental ones like Yohji Yamamoto o Rei Kawakubo: “Those who transmit emotion, I like those designers, those who make those clothes that when you see them, you can’t stop looking at them because they are fashion, art, life,” he explains. “I would have liked to do a capsule collection with a Japanese designer. Regarding the international circuit, there are many designers who do fantastic things like Balenciaga, who is young, disruptive, they mix fabulous fabrics with new techniques.”

Rasjido’s future will remain in its place in the world, Saint Mary of Catamarca. “My dream is to build a textile fashion museum in my valley, I would love something in the middle of the mountains that has to do with fashion,” she concludes.