Carolina Sepulveda Colombiamoda 2012

Once again, this year’s edition of Colombiamoda was an astounding success showcasing top Latin American designers and young promising talents packed in four restless days. The vibrant mood of the tropical runways brought new flavors and out of the ordinary surprises to all those present for the one of the most exciting events in the region.

It is needless to say Carolina Sepulveda has apprehended our hearts and minds with her Bahareque S/S 2013 collection on the 26^th of July on the runway sponsored by Finesse (Alpina). After all, the young designer’s name has already reached distant corners of the world after her last collection at Colombiamoda 2011 and her prior victories in the “Fucsia Contest” and “Atelier” before her career ever took course.

For the spring, Sepulveda mused upon the inherent link between man and his desire to survive; thus the collection was inspired by the ancient construction techniques of indigenous tribes, or “bahareque”. More specifically, the concept emphasized was the relationship between clothes and the different parts of the human body. In her own words, she describes the “intervention” of  garments upon the body as a symmetry to the relationship one has to housing: where the vertebral spine has an affiliation with the column in ones house, or where the neck and chest can be symbolized as rooftops and so on.

For this exceedingly artistic concept, Sepulveda persisted with delicately light textiles and soft colors reminiscent of neutral and earthy tones. At times, it seems as though the dresses were fashioned out a fabric conceived underneath a magical mud pool, leaving behind the signs of its baking and cracking.  Her natural and unruffled style took on shapes which were loose, crackled, folded, wrinkled, pleated and even organically asymmetric in an effort to recreate the look and feel of a rural structure. An extraordinary feat where humility has triumphed over pretentiousness. The textures supplemented the overall look with raw, natural, simple materials ranging from jute, chiffon, cottons and wools. The very simple and organic silhouettes continuously characterize the fundamental concept , giving the overall collection a natural and primitive identity that is truly unique in the very sense of the word.