It’s that time of yeah again in St. Louis, it’s time for St. Louis Fashion week but this year it’s in the style of shark tank! That’s right, this year we are having a competition and designers not only have to showcase their line but they also have to do a mini presentation. A $10,000 grand prize will be awarded at this can’t-miss event, which features interactive fashion presentations, innovative designs inspired by Caleres shoes, video presentations and live pitches from the finalists.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Ralph Cordova of Rafael Adón about his line that he will be showing at the competiton, check out the interview below.
How did you know that you wanted to become a designer?
When I look back at all the times I’ve made things, I can trace its history early on in my childhood. My earliest memory is collecting mud with neighbor kids from a drainage ditch across the street from my childhood house in order to make clay dinnerware. The desire to work with others to make something new runs deep.
I’m an academic and formally trained as an educator. I taught 3rd grade for 14 years in Santa Barbara, CA, where I also completed my Ph.D. in Education at University of California, Santa Barbara. Design, fashion and manufacturing is rather new to me in the scheme of things—but lucky for me I’m a quick study. Whether it’s 25 years in educational settings or long creative hours in my design studio in the evenings and weekends, the process of collaborating, discovering, designing and making are essential elements for me as a designer.
I began making bags 3.5 years ago when on pursuit for a book bag. Unsatisfied with the ready to wear options, that yearning that drove me to fetch mud as a kid got the best of me. In the summer of 2013, I made my first canvas bag, using my Jenome sewing machine, which quickly became obsolete when I began working with leather. My husband jokingly describes that first sewing machine as my “gateway drug” that made way to a series of bigger and more powerful sewing machines. Now I work with a beast, my muscular Consew 287RB!
The pathway I’ve taken has led me to now, where my design studio specializes in bespoke bag services using our human-centric process we call Story & Stitch.
How is this line that you will be showing at fashion week different from any of the other’s that you created?The Cordwainers is the line my collaborative partner, Margaret Doan, and I have named this line for Fashion Week. It is inspired by St. Louis’ rich shoe-making cultural history and squarely addresses the shoe-themed design-challenge set forth by Caleres. We have created 3 icon bags: The Wright Mini, The Wright Bucket, and, The Write Stuff all inspired by Caleres’ “Wright Boot” in the George Brown Bilt brand.
What inspired this line?
Having taken our direction from Caleres’ George Brown Bilt brand, we were thrilled to have been assigned the “Wright Boot”. The boot design’s juxtaposition of leather and wool, industrial stitching and eyelets created a doorway for us to play with its industrial and utilitarian design that normally lives its life very close to the ground protecting our feet. We wanted its lines, textures and stoic readiness to take center stage for all to see in form of a bag—a physical metaphor, a faithful companion for carrying the articles of our everyday life.
What are some key elements and trends that we can see repeated in any of your lines?
Big, utilitarian, details and timeless are words that come to mind. I love large bags and so do my clients. Even my small-framed clients love them, and I’ll make scaled-down versions for them. When I look at the consistency of my designs I see repeated patterns of bucket and tote silhouettes, mostly in gender non-conforming manifestations, that are meant to be worn everyday, do their job with aplomb and definitely get double and triple looks.
What’s the next step in your journey as a designer?
Because I’m a creature of collaborating is the main reason I applied for the Caleres Fashion Fund Competition in order to learn with and from other designers in the growing fashion ecosystem of St. Louis. Although we’d love to win the grand prize in order to systematize our Story & Stitch process and broaden its accessibility to a burgeoning market seeking bespoke services, the real win for us having had this opportunity to collaborate with creative, smart and passionate people.
Don’t miss out on this highly anticipated STLFW event! Enter to win 2 tickets to Caleres FEC by commenting below what is the one thing you would want to design if you were a designer. Best of luck!
Want to purchase tickets? Click HERE
As always, thank you for reading, Como siempre, gracias por leer.
As an interior designer now, but who started my career in fashion as a Ralph Lauren Specislist I would say men’s wear simply because I love clothes but feel men’s fashion is often void of distinct details that truly make them standout out! Like interior design it’s all in the details of the finishing touches that make a room!
I have no designing talent so I am not sure.
Shoes