Monday, August 2, 2010

Fashion Week Panama: Bridges and Beyond


For Fashion Week Panama,  Nixia challenged herself to find creative inspiration in Panama Canal bridge imagery believing these special features of Panama deserved celebration.  She was inspired not only by what the bridges offered aesthetically, but by how they might function symbolically as Panama introduces its art and fashion to the world. To begin, the below photographs reveal how Nixia  borrowed elements of bridge structure and incorporated them into Varela LaMar designs for her FWP collection. 

The elegant collar style of the below pieces mimic bridge suspension cables.  The  provocative visual similarity is augmented by the fact that the unique collar features serve the same  purpose as  the bridge cables, offering support and ensuring proper alignment of the apparel. 

Other creations showcased in the Varela LaMar Fashion Week Panama collection focused on the networks of support beams beneath the bridges.  Nixia incorporated net fabrics into these ready to wear evening pieces, either to adorn or as the essential material of the clothing.




Nixia's other thematic interest in bridges is their metaphorical  significance both for Panama and herself.  Nixia insists the wealth of Panama's culture--in dress, in food, in tradition--must be shared internationally.  She believes as an artist, she bears a personal responsibility to reach other countries.  In the days after event, the news of  Nixia Varela LaMar's Fashion Week Panama collection was covered in Argentina and Italy.  And today, she continued bridging Panama to other nations as her recent collection was covered in Spain and Chile.
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