Designing every garment to enhance the dignity of the woman who wears it Tags: Women I took my degree in industrial design in the area of textiles and fashion, in the Center for Industrial Design (Uruguay). Perhaps my career path was mapped out for me since my childhood, through my mother’s influence – she always loved re-making clothes, among other reasons, to save money on clothing for me and my ten brothers and sisters. I may have inherited my artistic streak from her. I am currently development manager in a men’s and women’s clothing factory. Most of our products are exported to Mexico, the US, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. As well as that, I and a friend of mine have our own fashion collection, which was one of the participants in the Summer 2001 Fashion Week in Uruguay. After that we were invited to a fashion show at the Rally Museum in Punta del Este. The collection we presented there, entitled “The Evening”, took its inspiration from the beginnings of the city of Punta del Este as a spa in 1925. The collection was warmly received by fashion writers. Prevailing fashion trends today come to us from Europe. We try to take them on board and add to them certain values which we see as fundamental: elegance, harmony, and the effort to design every garment to enhance the dignity of the woman who wears it. The world of fashion is an interesting but difficult one to work in. Some designers try to produce eye-catching clothes that attract attention by being provocative. Something which I am very clear on is that fashion is about dressing, not about undressing – that is a sort of leitmotif in all my work. When I was taking my first steps as a designer I was advised to maintain clear, firm criteria and to have a healthy “superiority complex”, because it is only too easy to become a slave to the modes of the day. I have been greatly helped by some words written by Saint Josemaria Escriva: “It’s especially necessary now to intensify apostolate in the field of fashion, so as to take the ‘good fragrance of Christ’ to that sphere too, since it is a great way of influencing society. What we desire is to find God in the fashion sector, which is often so paganized. We want to find God in the sphere of human life and human behaviour, and try to turn fashion into an opportunity for apostolate, something that speaks of God and leads to God.” When I am designing clothes I am not just aiming for people to look fashionable, but also for them to combine modesty with elegance, with little touches and accessories. Each garment is thought out down to the tiniest details. I work with a group of very professional dressmakers who live in different districts of Montevideo. They generally work at home, and that enables me to get to know their families too. I encourage and stimulate them to work as well as they can, in God’s sight. I remember an idea of Saint Josemaria which made a deep impact on me: he said that fashion firms can be instruments for effective apostolate. And I realize that at one and the same time, I can be working in God’s sight, in his presence, and I can be successful, because there are so many women who appreciate the sort of styles we are promoting, and feel good wearing them. http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/designing-every-garment-to-enhance-the-dignity-of-the-woman-who-wears-it-