CALI, Colombia – At a top fashion event in the coastal city of Buenaventura this year, a pair of towering models walked down the boardwalk, one wearing a small red dress with a split top. inspired by open seashells and the other in a blue-and-gold robe befitting a modern queen.
The models were in black and fabrics imported from Africa – unusual for a major fashion show in Colombia. But what sets them apart most is the designer himself: Esteban Sinisterra Pazone The 23-year-old university student with no formal training in design is at the heart of the Afro-Colombian fashion boom.
“Decolonization of people,” he says, is the purpose of his work, along with showing the world an overview of “the luxury of identity.”
Mr. Sinisterra is the person behind ‘s wardrobe Francia Márquezan environmental activist and lawyer who on Sunday will become Colombia’s first Black vice president.
In a country where race and class often determine one’s status, Márquez, 40, has made a remarkable leap from deep poverty to the presidential palace, emerging as the voice of the masses. million poor, black and indigenous Colombians.
In just a few months, she not only pushed racism and classism to the center of the national dialogue, she also revolutionized the country’s political aesthetic, rejecting the shirts. and star-studded clothing for a distinct Colombian-Colombian look that she calls a formality. of rebellion.
Natural hair. Bold image. The dresses accentuated her curves.
But Ms Márquez and Mr Sinisterra are just the most obvious ambassadors of an Afro-Colombian aesthetic boom that advocates say is part of a larger movement demanding more respect for millions. Black Colombian.
In a country where 40 percent households living on less than $100 a month – a rate that has increased during the pandemic – Afro-Colombian people are one of the poorest groups, with areas they dominate, including The Pacific coast, some of the areas most neglected by generations of politicians.
Officially, black Colombians make up from 6 to 9 percent population. But many say it’s too low a number that leads to a lack of recognition.
“The colonists tried to wipe out the Negroes,” said Lia Samantha Lozano41 years old, who started out equipping his hip-hop and reggae bands, Voodoo Souljahsin African fabrics over a decade ago, positioning her as a pioneer in the movement.
In 2014, she became the first black woman to show at Colombiamoda, the country’s largest fashion event.
Today, politically oriented Afro-descendant brands are ubiquitous on the internet and in stores across Cali, a major center of Afro-Colombian culture, with black celebrities, models, Politicians and activists increasingly use clothing as a political tool. And the Petronio Álvarez Festival, an annual celebration of Afro-Colombian culture that draws hundreds of thousands of people to Cali, has emerged as the movement’s fashion week.
Lozano is currently selling a bright, hip-hop-inspired line at a large shopping center in the capital, Bogotá.
“A big part of the plan was to make us feel ashamed of who we are, about the color of our skin, about our culture, about our features,” she continued. “Wearing this everyday, not as ‘fashion’, not to dress for a special occasion, but as a way of life, as something you want to communicate with every day – yes, that’s politics. And, yes, it is a symbol of protest.”
Among the signatures of the movement are brightly patterned fabrics known as waxes, which are hugely popular in West, East and Central Africa and famous for telling stories and send messages through their images and designs. (Prints can celebrate everything from popular culture to religion and politics, featuring lipstick tubes, the faces of religious figures, or portraits of politicians and celebrities. )
The Afro-Colombian aesthetic often refers to nature – Mr. Sinisterra wears a dress with wing-like sleeves inspired by Colombia’s famous butterflies – and can incorporate exquisite beaded jewelry and bags weaving by artists from the many indigenous communities of Colombia.
Leaders of the movement include not only Ms. Márquez, but also Emilia Eneyda Valencia Murraín, 62, a mentor of Mr. Sinisterra who started Weaving Hope in 2004, a multi-day celebration of Black hair in Cali.
Colombia’s inception spanned years, many might say centuries, in the making, based on activism in Latin America, Africa, and the United States; hip-hop’s baggy street style and sparkling spiritual vibes Afrofuturism; women who go to the Colombian market; mermaid silhouettes of Senegal and Nigeria; and even the influence of Michelle Obama, who famous used clothes to make political statements.
The aesthetic is also expansive and versatile, including everyday clothing – like tunics from the brand Baobab by Consuelo Cruz Arboleda – and exhibits like Mr. Sinisterra’s Royal Imperialism, a tight, ruffled strapless dress whose grandeur he says embodies the modern-day cultural empire descended from Europe. Africa has built in the Colombian Pacific.
“We are changing the image that we have power,” says Edna Liliana Valencia36 years old, a famous Afro-Colombian journalist, poet and activist.
Mr. Sinisterra is one of the newest stars of the movement. Born into a poor family in the small town of Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé, near the Pacific Ocean, his family was raped by armed men when he was five years old, among the millions of Colombians who were victims of the conflict. the country’s decades-long internal affairs.
In the nearby town of Guapi, and later in the port city of Buenaventura, Mr. Sinisterra learned to sew from his aunt and grandmother, whom he called the “neighborhood designers”.
“Esteban Africans,” he says of his clothing line, “started with a need to bring money home.”
Mr. Sinisterra wanted to study fashion, but his father thought it was only for girls, so he entered university as a social work student.
But he’s already made a name for himself by designing increasingly complex pieces for a growing list of clients, finding inspiration online, and selling his work on Instagram and Facebook. Then, in 2019, Ms. Márquez called. She was introduced to him by a mutual friend and needed a set of clothes.
Mr. Sinisterra is studying for the seventh of eight semesters at the university. When he’s not in class, he sews the vice president’s outfit in a windowless room in his small apartment in Cali. His boyfriend, Andrés Mena, 27, is a former nurse who switched careers to become general manager of Esteban African.
Among the brand’s best known items are two pairs of earrings. One has a map of Colombia, engraved with its 32 organs. A second orb that looks like two golden spheres is reminiscent of the mining pans that Márquez used as a child miner in the Cauca mountains, near the Pacific Coast, long before She became a household name in the family.
Márquez used to sleep on the ground next to her siblings. She then worked as a maid to raise her children, went to law school and eventually won a prize known as the environmental Nobel.
In an interview, she called Mr. Sinisterra’s work an important part of her political identity. “He’s showing young people that they can succeed, using their talents, they can move on,” she said.
Mr. Sinisterra has never been to Africa. A visit is his dream, along with studying fashion in Paris and “building a school where children in the Pacific can have alternatives,” he said, “and parents Their children, unlike me, wouldn’t think that sewing and cutting and making clothes is just for girls.”
Today, he said, his father takes pride in his work.
Recently, he has been plagued by media and client inquiries, and he manages his newfound popularity by working around the clock.
One day in July, barefoot and sweaty, he laid a pair of fabrics on the floor, cut them freely, then sewed them together with a new Jinthex sewing machine that he had bought with a salary that was now improving. benevolent. He was making another dress for Miss Márquez.
On Election Day in June, he dressed her in kente, a Ghanaian print whose interwoven lines evoke woven baskets, to symbolize the collection of votes.
The dress has ruffles in the front, representing the rivers in Márquez’s hometown, and the coat on her shoulders, all white, symbolizes peace, he said. in this country torn by political views.”
He sewed three outfits for his inauguration. “Whatever she chooses is fine with me,” he said.
As he ironed the newly sewn fabric, he said he was both excited and nervous about Márquez’s rise to power.
In the last few months, he has felt part of her political project, and she has made huge promises to change the country after decades of injustice.
“The responsibility will increase,” he said.
“It’s my responsibility, Francia’s responsibility, to support this process so that people – our people – don’t feel betrayed.”
