CARMEN ARTIGAS - FASHION DESIGN, ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, & REBIRTH

Mexican-born Sustainable Designer Carmen Artigas and I recently met at a free textiles workshop, where she jokes that I seemed "possessed and working as if I was getting paid by the hour" (I was on a mission to sew a coat and hardly spoke with her). This past Sunday I had a chance to sit down and talk with her one-on-one about her life and work so far, and what a lovely surprise I got:

"Carmen received a grant to study fashion in Milan and, against all odds, was hired right after graduation by the hottest designer working at the time, Romeo Gigli." Here, she tells me, she had a chance to work alongside one of the most respected fashion designers in the world: Alexander McQueen. They were both only 19 at the time and still fresh fish in the fashion world. Carmen mentions that McQueen ("Lee," as she knew him) was always extremely sweet and down to earth.

Carmen continued moving to bigger and better things, later landing a much-coveted job with Donna Karan, where she worked as Assistant Designer for the Season's Collections. After that, she went on to do everything from curating the only Shoe Museum in Latin America; to designing costumes for movies, commercials, & dance; to finally showing her own line in the great city of New York.

Then came her 4-month trip to India... which changed her world. Here Carmen experienced the totally different sustainable lifestyle and realized she could never go back to the fashion world she knew. From that moment on, she chose the way of Sustainable Design and has since launched her latest collection: Viva La Vida, products made by prisoners in Mexico who have found positive outlets for their energies. Carmen also teaches an Ethical Fashion course at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Ole!

*IMAGES: (First 6) Carmen Artigas designs; (Last) Carmen Artigas & Alexander McQueen at Romeo Gigli studio, 1990.
**I do not claim any ownership of the above images.