“Looking to the future” is a preeminent necessity that is often invoked in the aesthetic sense what fashion represents. But to truly look to the future, is it not essential to decipher the clues that the past has offered us? As progressive as our feelings may be, we must admit that today would be a void without yesterday and in this order of ideas, tomorrow would be a continuous line in space.
I was recently put to the challenge of making a capsule collection for Hello Kitty. Like me, she was born in 1974 which means that we both celebrate our 45 years in 2019. I realized that we share the year and the way our names are written, but I also found other similarities between Kitty's universe and mine. Kitty was born by Sanrio's hand in Japan, but with a background story where she is portrayed as an English girl. I was born in the heart of a Portuguese family, but in the temperate climate of South America. This made me remember and live memories of my childhood.
I remember playing more outside than in the house. Even in an urban context I was always surrounded by a lot of nature, maybe it is the natural result of belonging to an analogue generation, but also because I lived in a desirable climate.
Particularly, I remember a curious plant that when touched closed its leaves, to me it was a Sleeping Beauty, but today I know that the most common denomination is Mimosa Pudica. Associated with this plant there is a legend of Filipino origin, the story of an extremely shy girl named Mary. The legend tells of a tragic village invasion, forcing Mary's parents to hide her in the forest, passing the turmoil the parents seek for the girl but in her place, they only found a plant of small leaves and beautiful pink flowers that when touched closed all its leaves in a fast movement. They assumed the idea that such a timid plant could only be their Maria.
I let my clothes speak for me, daring on the garments letting it express what I couldn't with words and initiative. I had my shy side and my daring side without words, so this plant and this story tells me a lot.
Looking back on my teenage years and thinking about my reality as being a woman