Win An Arquelia Blouse From Casilda Mut

Claire Coello’s designs for Casilda Mut are grounded in indigenous traditions, and that enables them to soar. This Mexican fashion house creates simple, feminine clothes that follow what Coello calls ‘primitive’ lines, which showcase the fabrics and traditional embroideries she loves. She is drawn to textiles with a thick, substantial feel natural fibres like imported linens and cottons that lend themselves to an enticingly minimalist silhouette.

For summer 2019 she’s selected a black, cream, white and navy palette, all of which feature the weave of the textile as a design element. She complements this cloth with intricate, handembroidered motifs in vibrant colours.

Although Coello honed her technical skills at the Lanspiac Fashion Institute in Guadalajara, coming home to Chiapas gave her designs meaning. She engages women artisans of the highlands of Chiapas to realise her vision, promoting both their creative and social development. As she puts it, the women ‘narrate through seams and stitches,’ telling ‘stories of empowerment’ through their work.

The relationship between maker, silhouette, textile and embroidery feels organic: a navy blue cross-over top with artfully frayed edges forms a flattering canvas for white ‘flat stitches’, a technique that takes some 14 hours to complete. There is also a version in cream, with dark embroidery, its 90-degree angles echoing the precise edges of the cross-over style, softened by the long side ties.

Selvedge readers have the chance to win one of three Arquelia blouses, worth £120. To enter, please click here. 

Extract from the Latin issue, article by Kate Cavendish.

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