The Clandestina clothing brand, the first independent fashion house that opened in Cuba, will show the United States the Caribbean spirit of its creations with a temporary store that opens this Tuesday in New York, where it will also hold workshops, panels and art presentations, and another one in Washington DC.
“We are delighted to show for the first time what it is like to be a contemporary Cuban brand that speaks to a global audience,” one of its founders, Idania Del Río, said in a statement, highlighting the “enormous talent” there is on the island, especially that of young people “who see the world in a different way.”
“Proud to be the first independent fashion brand that emerges from the Caribbean country,” Clandestina will offer its products and also creative events in a “pop-up” (ephemeral) store located in a multidisciplinary space in Brooklyn aimed at addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In that sense, the group that makes up the firm explains in the note that it believes in a more sustainable fashion industry, and that all materials they obtain in second-hand markets are recovered, recycled and reused.
On its website, the firm announces its first temporary incursion into the United States and encourages going to the store in New York, which will remain open for 20 days, to buy and enjoy different activities, including taking clothes to be personalized by the artists.
The brand’s T-shirts and bags show humor, scruples and “resolving” as a way of life, and their mottos have “a very strong connection with the Cuban spirit”: “Nothing is Perfect”, “Resist and Overcome” and “The Drama is Over” are popular phrases along with “Actually, I’m in Havana.”
“As a fashion brand of a socialist country we understand that fashion is not a necessity, it is an expression,” said Leire Fernández, also founder of Clandestina.
“We believe that companies can become sustainable because that is what people in Cuba have been doing for many years, almost without resources. And the result is a live culture, full of creative people,” she added.
The firm, which operates worldwide since 2017 and sells in its store in Havana, in foreign retail stores and online, presented last November its collection Country in Construction at the National Museum of Fine Arts in the island’s capital, in collaboration with Google Cuba.
“Clandestina” will offer its creations in The Canvas by Querencia Studio, in Brooklyn (New York) until June 24, and will have a temporary “pop-up” in Washington DC from June 17 to 19 in the Dacha Beer Garden.
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