Fashion designer Alejandra Coco (Lanzarote, 2004) is one of the many promising talents emerging from a quarry in the Canary Islands that has nothing to envy from the rest of the country. Currently, Coco is exhibiting two of her designs inspired by Lanzarote and the legacy of César Manrique in Intersecciones, an exhibition that collects different reinterpreted regional costumes, which can be visited at the Museo del Traje in Madrid until June 29.
One of the designs is inspired by the identity of Lanzarote, the peasant tradition and the art of César Manrique, while the second is also inspired by the artist's aesthetics, but this time as a tribute to the island of Gran Canaria.
From a very young age, the young woman was passionate about painting the magazines of top models that she was given in the supermarket, a passion that led her to take a summer fashion design course at a university, something that fascinated her and for which she decided to study the Arts Baccalaureate despite the comments from her environment that advised her not to take it because "it had no way out." However, she decided to take a risk, take it and then go to Madrid to study what she liked the most at a fashion school.
How did the idea of participating in the Intersecciones exhibition come about?
This year is the museum's anniversary, so they made a special edition to commemorate the regional costumes of Spain, they proposed the project and in that open call, my university presented itself. Several students wanted to present ourselves and there they told us that we could choose the region we wanted and obviously I chose the Canary Islands. After that, they made a selection and out of 20 schools, six of us were chosen once the project was finished and they made the exhibition.
What is the design process of these two reinterpreted regional costumes like?
The first thing I did was decide how I was going to design the collection and I thought that, as there were going to be eleven looks, it could be one per island. I started looking for the traditional costumes of all the islands to use them as a reference and, looking at them, I made a color palette of each one and selected those that I liked the most and put them in common with the colors of my favorite paintings by César Manrique.
Then I investigated to find out the three most typical elements of the costumes of each island. For example, from Gran Canaria the petticoat was very typical and in the man's the sash and, as a result of this, I decided to reinterpret how in a contemporary design I could introduce those elements and give them another aspect. I wanted each figurine from each island to represent a very representative element of each island, such as, for example, the one from Lanzarote were the Novios del Mojón and the devil of Timanfaya.
Currently, the fusion of the traditional with the most current is booming...
I think it's a very good idea and I think it's the key within this world because nowadays it's very difficult for an idea to come out of nowhere, everything is invented, so each idea is going to come out of a base that already exists but, from there, it's the vision that you give it. I had never reinterpreted a typical Canarian costume and it seemed like a very good action because they are very classic but I wanted to show that you can get something contemporary and wearable even if it has the most traditional elements of the island.
In the case of the Lanzarote design that has some bermudas, if you look at the whole thing it's something I could wear and the same goes for the shirt.
What inspires you when creating other designs?
Each collection is a world. In this one in particular my reference was the Canary Islands but in another one that I made I was inspired by music, jazz and African-American history, in the end they are topics that interest me as a person and I try to transfer them to the artistic world.
Have you used any material from Lanzarote or the rest of the islands?
I haven't used it yet but it is true that I would like to work with the cochineal from Lanzarote because, in addition, I recently had a subject of natural dyes and we talked about it. The process is complicated and takes a long time and, in fact, this summer I wanted to dedicate myself to experimenting with this type of techniques and see what other Canarian fabrics and elements I can incorporate into the garments.
What line do you want to follow in your career as a designer?
Right now, at the point in my career where I am, I would tell you that I am very open to everything. It is true that I am noticing more and more that I have a style and an aesthetic that are quite predetermined, but I am open to experimenting with different designs, stampings and shapes because in the end I think that if you close yourself off, it is a way of closing yourself off to learning.
In fact, when I finish my degree, apart from doing a more specific master's degree, I would like to be able to work in many different companies and be able to see the working world because it seems very important to me before creating your own brand. Even if I don't like a project, I will learn something from it to add to my own aesthetic.
What do you aspire to in the future?
My dream is to be able to live from fashion and the world of design, especially to be able to express all the art in the collections and to be able to touch all the fields of design such as entertainment, film or theater. I would also like to have my own brand and participate in a haute couture fashion show.
Do you think it is difficult to live from fashion in a territory like the Canary Islands?
I think it is very complicated, especially because the world of fashion is very difficult in itself. It is an industry that is now beginning to see that it is a profession because we all care more about fashion than we think but we do not take into account the people who are behind the clothes we wear. In the Canary Islands it is very little visible and the scope it has is much smaller than in the rest of Spain.
For me, the difference of going outside the islands are the contacts because in the case of Madrid you meet many people who move within this world. From the first year of my degree, what I did was write to 40 emerging brands to help them in anything. Of all of them, only three answered me and two of them told me no. The only one that accepted me was a designer with whom I had a very good relationship until today and I have helped him in shootings and I was working at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Madrid with him. This is what makes the difference with the Canary Islands.
