Fashion in Mexico is resilient: Anuar Layon

Mexico-the Mexican designer and creative director, Anuar Layon, began the year with new proposals, sales points and collaborations. In the last edition of Intermoda, the creative also offered a lecture where he talked about the business opportunities found in the country and the trends that are changing the fashion industry and marking what it will look like in the future.

With a positive message, Layon describes Mexican fashion as resilient. The new coronavirus pandemic has tested the industry, but it has also demonstrated its ability to rise. The designer emphasizes that there is still no way to predict what the industry will look like after this health crisis passes, but what it does say is that industry and consumers are demanding different practices and skills that are giving signals about what can be expected. First, he stressed that innovation and design are key to business coping with the crisis. In this regard, he stressed the importance of digital tools for self-promotion, especially in small brands and independent designers. He also mentioned that brand storytelling will be an indispensable tool for approaching consumers, since what they are looking for is not just products, but experiences, and these are created through the history surrounding the brand.

As a tribute to this, he recently released a small collection of the name Resilience last drop. The name comes from his experience of having launched a product in the midst of the pandemic. These T-shirts have a chart that tells a story of reflection about this complicated time, so it incorporates the concept of storytelling that is basic for him to connect with his audience. The T-shirts they used already had them for a project that stopped because of the contingency, so they gave them new life in this collection. Overall, Layon says that during 2020 they based their production on materials they already had, in addition to making use of textile waste, surplus fabrics and unused garments.

In line with industry resilience, Layon stressed that there are more opportunities for creative people in the country if they turn to what he calls "the periphery of the system." He highlights that there are design opportunities beyond creating your own brand or opening your store. Among the options, it points to the merchandising industry that is growing more and more because it has increased people's sense of belonging and being able to be part of the experiences they live. He even tells that his worldwide brand, "Mexico is the shit", began as a merchandising product. In addition to this opportunity, the designer invites creative people to turn around to see other industries such as the pet industry that is growing in the design of clothing especially for dogs, or the retail industry that is moving away from plastics and needs support in design issues for tote bag bags, among others.

Another of the great opportunities he sees is that of collaborations. "the industry has had to diversify," he said at his Intermode conference. The designer comments that it is no longer a question of making isolated products but of joining forces to make work convergence between independent creatives and big brands. Examples of this are the multiple collaborations he has made through the different brands he leads with firms such as Nike, the Simpsons, XX Lager or the INE, to name a few.

Digital growth and new proposals

Although Anuar Layon already had an online presence through multi-brand platforms such as Kichink, in January he finally launched his own online store (anuarlayon.com). The store premiered it with the first installment of its last collection of the name Ethereum.

Ethereum presented it at the fashion Space of Intermoda and is a project that combines two of its philosophies: digitization and sustainable fashion. The designer tells that he spent six months developing textiles and, above all, experimenting with the fabric. After this experience he created this 100 percent sustainable collection made with a textile that is 50 percent recycled PET and 50 cotton recovered. In addition, he made use of recovered fabrics to give them life in these pieces with techniques such as patchwork. He describes the collection as "very related to connectivity and the future of decentralized currency. Ethereum as a collection is a wink for those who have heard of bitcoins and digital platforms that lead the currency to be electronic and decentralized. " This collection, therefore, pays tribute to this type of currency and talks about the future of fashion in the virtual world, seeing that at one time fashion can also be acquired through this type of currency. As part of the purchasing experience, when one of the items in this collection is purchased, the buyer receives information on this subject.

This year Layon also announced its most recent collaboration with the Mexican sports clothing brand Movva. The firm is mainly dedicated to the creation of products for cycling and triathlon and sought to make an alliance with the brand of Mexico is the shit to translate that message into their sports garments. The designer says that with this collaboration the message he sought to convey with this phrase is clearer than ever.

Photos: Facebook Anuar Layon