The textile artisan Ángel Cabrera, native of Teseguite, combines teaching with the creation of unique sustainable fashion pieces, both in its fabrics, mainly silk, but also linen, wool or velvet; as in its pigments, extracted, among other sources, from cochineal, plants or seeds.
Cabrera welcomes Ekonomus to his studio in Costa Teguise to learn how each scarf, fan or hat becomes a unique piece, thanks to the fact that they are painted freehand, as if they were watercolors, and that the colors, fixed with steam, are never exactly the same.
- Many of your colors come from natural elements such as cochineal, how do you get them?
I buy the cochineal from Lanzarote from La Milana and from it I get the whole range of reds and purples, from pink to dark purple. Pink is achieved by lightening with citric acid. With lemon or lime, which is the one that lightens the most because it has more citric acid. And if you add iron oxide, you get the color gray.
- What about other colors?
I use plants from here such as onion, which I have in my garden and with which I get the golden color, there is also another type of golden that comes from the achiote seeds, a plant from the American tropics. From the shavings of campeche wood, which comes from Central America, blue comes out. Green is obtained with chlorophyll.
- How do you get the designs to be fixed to the silk?
After painting by hand on the fabric, I roll it in paper and fix the color with steam.
- In addition to silk, do you use other fabrics?
I am mainly specialized in silk. I also use velvet, which is made of silk and viscose. Some linen and wool too.
- How many copies are made of each design?
My productions are very limited. I am making small collections in lines of work. Since I don't print, but paint freehand, each piece is different.
- As a result of the sustainable fashion conferences in the Canary Islands last October, you have obtained sustainable company certification. What are the implications?
We have a series of audits on waste management, purchasing management... in which they evaluate that all our processes are sustainable.
- What inspires you for the development of your designs?
In Lanzarote and its colors. And above all, our heritage. For example, this Lanzarote fashion weekend I have presented a line with heritage motifs of the island such as its houses, its plants... I also present hats and peasant hats from here.
Last time I had a line of scarves based on rock engravings from Lanzarote and the Canary Islands.
- Who are your main clients?
I have many clients from Lanzarote, from when I had a business in the Villa de Teguise. Now that I have the store in the Hotel Salinas I have more foreign clients, especially Germans, English and from Central European countries such as the Czech Republic or Poland.
- Can you make a living from fashion?
I am a clear example that you can't. (Laughter). We are on our way, I would love to. It all depends, it depends on the promotion, on the acceptance of the product, it is a world that is always changing. Small artisans have it difficult, it is not like ordering 100 scarves with the same motif.
- Would you encourage young people from Lanzarote who want to dedicate themselves to fashion to try despite the difficulties?
I think that in everything, there is always room for many. You have to find your market niche and your aesthetic. If you don't jump into the pool you will never know if you can swim. I also recommend having a lifeline at hand, just in case, but you always have to jump into the pool, life is to be lived.
