 Good evening. Welcome to El Museo del Barrio. I am Jorge Daniel of Venesiano, director of the museum. And I love being in this theater. I hope you do too and have a look at the wonderful murals that are along its walls. I think they were completed in 1922. Some of the great children's story book tales are depicted on them. And I especially love the occasion that brings us together today. Cooper Hewitt in a bold way on our screen and together with El Museo. You should know that El Museo del Barrio is the first American Latino museum in the nation and it is now 45 years running. This is our 45th anniversary. Thank you. In that time the museum has presented groundbreaking exhibitions and scholarship in Latin American and American Latino art. And we are now poised for a transformation and I think tonight's event helps us make that point clearly. We want to celebrate Latino genius in its various manifestations. We have been of course presenting the fine arts, the visual arts, but we also have been involved in other forms of what I call Latino genius, especially fashion. I think most people know about our galas. They are among the most fashionable events in New York City. And so we've had a relationship to fashion for quite a number of years now and I think it's time that we start bringing fashion into the galleries as worthy of an art exhibition project. And so that I'm hoping this event brings at least the discussion on our stage and that in the near future we will also see works of fashion in our galleries as well. So I'm thankful to the Cooper Hewitt. I'm thankful to the Smithsonian Latino Center for helping us to bring this panel together today. If you support, if you agree with the direction, I think this new direction for El Museo, I encourage you to join us to become part of our familia, become a member. Among the new manifestations that we're going to pursue include not only fashion but architecture, industrial design, performing arts, the literary arts, the moving image, as I said, the various manifestations of art and culture of American Latinos. I want now to introduce the director of the Cooper Hewitt, Caroline Baumann, who will continue the introductions. And I have to say I always love seeing Caroline because she wears some of the most exquisitely designed outfits among directors, museum directors in New York City. And Caroline has had the responsibility, the important responsibility of overseeing the Cooper Hewitt's redevelopment and what would you call it? A total transformation of their space, I saw it when it was bare and I can't wait to see the new installations that will open in December. Do you have a date? December 12th. I will be there. So please join me in welcoming Caroline Baumann. Thank you, Daniel. How wonderful to see all of you tonight in this beautiful theater and every seat nearly packed. I am thrilled to welcome you all and I'm even more thrilled to be at El Barrio tonight because one of our aims with the renovation is to really energize Northern Museum Mile. So this is one of many events that I hope you'll enjoy once we reopen in just 59 days. Thanks to a grant from the Latino Initiative's pool administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, we're able to come together tonight and bring you a series of free public programs that highlight the achievements of contemporary Latino designers. Since 1969, El Museo has been committed to celebrating and promoting the full range of Latino cultures through its collections, exhibitions, and terrific programs. Tonight's program is an extension of that mission and Cooper Hewitt's to inspire, educate, and empower people through design. Design is all around us and we want to help you experience it in fresh and moving ways. On December 12th, the doors of the new Cooper Hewitt will open to you and you'll be encouraged to actively participate in your visit and engage with the collection like never before. Through educational programs, online initiatives, and events such as this one, our goal is to reach new audiences and make design accessible to all. In 1995, we created a Latino Hispanic archive in response to the growing need for information about the diversity of those working in American design. The archive facilitates research across a wide range of design fields and includes stars like Benjamin Noriega Ortiz and Eddie Dominguez. Daniel, pardon my accent on those. Latinos have made invaluable contributions to the landscape of American design and by presenting conversations with leading Latino designers, the Designo series will showcase their ingenuity and innovation and illuminate how their work is a critical part of American culture. The series will continue early next year, so be sure to visit our website for those exact dates and locations. And what better way to kick things off than by introducing you to three Latino designers who have all won Cooper Hewitt's National Design Award for fashion design. You're in for a really engaging discussion of their lives and work and for all the students in the audience, whether you pursue a career in design or not, I can assure you that you'll be inspired tonight by what these fashion luminaries have to say. And now it's my great pleasure to introduce our moderator for the evening, Natalie Morales. This Today show news anchor has been named one of the 15 Latinas we love by Latina Magazine as well as one of the top Hispanics to watch and top trans setters by Hispanic Magazine. Please join me in welcoming Natalie to the stage. Thank you, Caroline. Good evening, everyone. What an honor. What a pleasure to be here, my first time here at the Museo del Barrio. I absolutely love this place. Great to have all of you here today. We're excited because we've got some pretty incredible guests and I imagine you're all going to be as excited as I am because I love fashion, I love design, and I love the inspiration that I get from these three designers. I'm thrilled to be able to sit down with Maria Cornejo, Francisco Costa, and Narciso Rodriguez to talk about their work and their lives as designers. And hopefully at the end of the conversation we want you to join in as well and ask some questions. So this is a free forum and we want you to make the most out of the opportunity. I know a lot of you are young designers and with inspirations to perhaps become the next Francisco, the next Maria, or the next Narciso. So we want to give you that opportunity to pick their brains a little bit. So let me introduce our guests. Maria Cornejo's work has been described as spare, modern, architectural, minimal, feminine, and unpretentious. Her collection is named Zero as an expression of a pure vision. Zero is a number that neither adds nor subtracts. It is rather a point of departure. Love that. Francisco Costa assumed the role of women's creative director of Calvin Klein collection after working directly with Mr. Calvin Klein and debuted his first collection for the house back in 2003. He's known for his iconic and minimal yet sophisticated designs. I am wearing one of them tonight. I don't look like that though. And finally, Narciso Rodriguez has redefined American style over the last two decades, playing a singular role in global fashion through his structured and elegantly minimal designs. Rodriguez incorporates a simple, sophisticated sensibility. He makes modern classic clothing that functions both practically and aesthetically. And let me tell you, he knows a woman's body like no one else. So we're so lucky to have these three incredible designers with us here tonight. So without further ado, please join me in welcoming Maria Cornejo Francisco Costa and Narciso Rodriguez. All right, this is exciting. Let's talk about the fashion world first. And you all have broken through. And as Latinos, Brazilians, you've done something that is very difficult to do. And that is to create brands that have lasting appeal. Narciso, what do you think was your inspiration first to go into design? And how do you think you make your mark? Wow, that's a big question. How did I get into design? I don't know. I don't think there was another choice for me. I was very committed to creating something. I needed to make a box, a building, a garment, something. I needed to work with my hands. And I don't think there was another choice. And I've been very fortunate because I grew up in an environment where I saw people embroider and sew and create things and cut hair and use their hands. Is that me doing that? Sorry. And then I was very lucky, again, when I got to go to Parsons and meet people like Donna Karen, who I got to work with, Calvin Klein, who I got to work with, and then start my own business. Maria, what inspires you? Oh, my God, what inspires me? Color, architecture, art, everything about fashion. I don't really... Fashion is inspiring. I look at everything else for inspiration. So you take lines in architecture or design that you see in life? Yeah, and I like construction. I like geeking out on the way things are made or how they constructed or how fabric behaves and how you can put a spin on something or find new ways of cutting. I always made things since I was a child. My grandmother used to knit me outfits and my aunts used to make me outfits. And my mother, I was in the 60s, so we had always matching outfits, mother and daughter. And I remember the first thing I did was to start knitting on my grandfather's construction nails, which are about this big. So I have a door, I made her dress, and I was always making things. But it was more about, like Narciso said, about making things. And just the older I've got, I've really developed a way of cutting, and I find that interesting. That's what keeps me going is the evolution, is the learning, because I feel like every season you're sort of learning again. And that's what keeps me in doing what I'm doing in the company and doing fashion, because it's evolving and learning, actually. Francisco, it's one thing to be inspired and to know that you have the ability to create, but how do you know you're going to be successful at it? What was that moment, for example, where you knew I have what it takes and I'm going to make it and big in this business? I don't think you ever think of that. I don't think you're successful at all. Ways to go in that sense. You're not very conscious. When you're creating, when you're really going for a job, it just happens. I think the work speaks for itself in many ways, but it's a trajectory that one takes. I remember my first job was a billblast dresses, and then a company got sold and Oscar de la Renta had become part of the company. I got a promotion within the company to my next job, and the next job was also another promotion into the next job, so it was kind of like that. I had one portfolio ever, and everything else was word of mouth, so it was a very unique situation. It's about establishing your network. Precisely, but also the work itself is what represents you, what takes you to the next step. You've seen the design world change so much. Can everyone be a designer? What do you all think? I think we live in a very democratic world. I think the internet and the way we communicate has opened up, has given a lot of freedom to every one of us to explore. We could actually design a building if you'd like to, but there's a specific talent about creating a specific garment that I think it's innate. It's not just styling. I think a lot of people that we see out there, the claim themselves as being designers, what have you, are really stylists or great marketing people or great people that have great visibility and are supported by a major upper two or somehow, good support. I take great pride on understanding cut in loving fabric and still today, I pick up the color of the thread. I just make my own decisions and how that should look, how the shoulders, the length of the pants. It's very important, but it's a free world. If you call anything else a designer, I think it could be a designer. Frebrea, you agree? Yeah, I do actually. Like Francisco said, there's lots of different types of designers. I believe that we all have our own signature. Like Francisco said, there's a lot of stylists out there, there's a lot of merchandises and there's a lot of people who actually just go shopping and copy things and they put them in their collection and then they call it a collection. I'm very proud. I think we stand apart from that, but there's a lot of out there, what's called fashion, which is just copying and regurgitating somebody else's idea and it's more mass market and it's more of an audience that is more like it followed by social media or things that are much more mass market and a certain price point. Everything, it is more democratic because things are made in China and there are a lot of price points all over the place. But they're not necessarily designers who are copying? Yeah, I think they're brands and they definitely have a collection. I wouldn't think design is when you have your own signature, you have your own way of cutting, you have your own point of view. I think there's a lot of, what's it called, plagiarism in this business as well. That's interesting because we were talking about that a little bit behind the stage here and obviously there are a lot of celebrities who have celebrity collections now who do not have the credentials of being a designer. So how do you feel about some of the stuff they put out? Narciso? Well, I mean, it's confusing. I mean, it's confusing to me because you have celebrities, people who are married to celebrities putting out collections that... The dog's collection. But also, you know, there's a lot of celebrities who are designed, they say they're designing collections, but they hire teams of designers to go shopping for them to copy things and to put them in their collection. So they're not really designing there, they're figurehead for the collection, but they're not actually designing. They're the brand. They're the brand, the name, and because they have name recognition. But there's no protecting your design from your copywriting or... No, there's no copyright protection at all. Yeah, I mean, I think it's grown, the fashion industry has grown tremendously. There are close to 300 shows, I think, here in New York. How do you separate who's a manufacturer and a producer and a designer? I mean, it gets overwhelming for people looking at fashion from the outside. They consider it all fashion. And I guess it can be. It's just there's a very big difference between someone like Maria, whose whole... I mean, I followed her work for so many years and have seen her evolve, her cutting techniques and her prints. And to see that, how she's evolved that all the way up to seeing the first lady wearing something that I know is so born so profoundly from her craft and her love of the craft. It's amazing. It's amazing to see that kind of design. And I try to focus on just that kind of design and sort of let the noise stay outside the office door. I love that you each have a point of view in your design. It's very clear, your aesthetic, as I mentioned, how you design and what your objectives are. How did that evolve with you, Narciso? How did you know you were going to have a clean aesthetic and what was it that appealed to you? When I was a kid, I grew up in a very Cuban household. It was a super Cuban and I loved the food and I love everything about my Cuban family, except my bedroom had to be black and white. And they didn't know why exactly. They were sort of perplexed that everything had, there was a black and white wall. It was very cool and there was a royal blue rug and all the furniture was black and white. And I don't, when I studied in high school, everything had to be, you know, had to be white paper with black ink, black shapes and I don't know. Something triggered it way back when. That minimalist approach. Yeah. And I, again, was very fortunate to work with companies like Donna or Ann Cline when she was, when Donna was the director of Ann Cline and Calvin and meet all these great designers and like-minded designers who were so inspiring. And it all, it all feeds your creative. It influenced you. What about you, Maria? How did your point of view evolve in design? Oh, well, the last 16 years with Zero evolved basically when I dropped out of fashion for two years. I didn't want to do it anymore. And because I had worked for big companies, big commercial companies for a few years and I was just bored with it and it was very formulaic and I was just bored. So I decided to get this creative space very naively. I had saved some money from all the freelance stuff that I had done and basically I got this space and with my husband we were going to have a sort of a gallery space as maybe I was going to make some cushions. I wasn't going to make clothes and it was going to be a very, a place where friends could show their things and it became very much because my husband is a photographer and he was too busy shooting for a telling vlog or whatever and actually earning money that he couldn't really contribute to the space. So I ended up being about what I could make and put in the space. And so I would make things and basically from four very simple shapes, geometric shapes that I thought was an interesting way to start making jersey pieces that were very easy and they would just drape differently depending on the body and it became, from that it's become a collection but it really wasn't intending to be back in the fashion business to be honest. Sort of organic. I couldn't help it in a way but I ended up making clothes again but at least for me it became like an evolution in my head of how I would design because working for other people after doing a collection with a partner in the 80s which was very edgy and very fun and it was called Richmond Cornejo and we had a lot of big following in Japan and we saw quite a bit in the States and it was very punky and edgy. I wanted to do something totally different and so it became very much about living in New York making things that are interesting but also really easy to wear. I'm a lazy dresser. I hate having to think about where I'm wearing too much. I just like to pick it up and feel like I'm done. So it's sort of an evolution from that and then because I'm Latin and I like traveling there's a lot of color and texture because I love a bit of eye candy and I'm always saying it's like intellectual love and sometimes I go well maybe I won't wear it but I love seeing it in the collection. Maybe I won't wear it personally but it needs to be in there. So anyway I think. And Francisco, you stepping in and the house of Calvin Klein. I mean that's a big job title. How did you give your signature look and feel to the brand? Well I think also perhaps evolution in my own style because I started again at Bill Blass and Oscar and then I went to Gucci from Gucci to Calvin. It's like is this really happening right? Again I didn't think it was a perfect match very honestly and it was so haunting the fact it's Calvin and when you think of Calvin you think of perfection you think of like how can you go from there you know? So the pressure was always there and it kicks but you have to release yourself from it and you have to do your job. So very much like I think both of you you know I'm a craftsman you know and I love to be involved with the cut and all of that. So I think I have evolved into a you know closer rather you know distinct but very edited perhaps not so much not necessarily minimalist but reductionist in a way because I'd probably just polish it. I'm driven tailoring. I love tailoring and I love dresses. Something that comes really easy when I'm doing a collection but along the years and it's been you know 12 years at Calvin I think perhaps I brought a little bit more of that craft to close. I like to think that what I design is like a car right? So a woman a guy goes to a car dealer and it's a fetish you know he wants to buy the car and it has to be that way this teach has to be that way the leather seats and this and that. So I feel like a woman who buys my clothes feels that way too you know she picks that piece and this is oh my god this is beautiful and it's incredibly done you know and it's just perfect and and I fantasize about the wear you know I love when the clothes gets the wear so you know that tends to me using fabrics they're a little more you know constructed you know so there's all this this this ongoing in my head how I want the woman to experience my clothes and that taught me quite a lot because what I imagine in the very beginning of being ideal you know for a woman is not necessarily what you know it didn't quite work for instance because my clothes were hugely constructed you know so I learned to level that and to ease that you know and I think that's the quite is the magic and the mature maturity on design on the design table you know how you how you evolve with your customer. Was there an aha moment or a moment where you knew you each made it and I know Narciso because I've interviewed you in the past about that moment the Carolyn Vissette Kennedy wedding dress a white gown I think that was your moment right it was pretty big I'd say that really started me in my own business you became a household name overnight sure it was it was really overwhelming to you to have that amount of press and people outside your apartment door and it was a very strange time but you know ultimately it was a something that was so personal you know it was my best friend's wedding so to me it was something really dear and something I treasured and then I got back from the wedding life changed dramatically that was the moment that was definitely Maria I have to think from a design point of view when in the Cooper here it was very humbling because I was in a room with all these amazing designers who designed a plane I remember Jonathan Ives was a runner-up and he designed the Apple iPhones and stuff so for me from a design point of view that was my wow and it was actually very humbling because I wasn't in a room with all these really incredible minds so and then seeing Michelle Obama land on you know wearing the clothes over the years you know when she's doing cool things like you know like the less work and not the red carpet or the official location so much but when she's talking to women's groups or when she's moving around and and to me that that's also what the clothes are about it's about real women doing things in the clothes so for me that was really such a great compliment because the clothes were actually being used I always said that they were being used for a greater purpose she's actually doing cool stuff while she's wearing them so that was really you were just at the White House last week you were saying yes we were there for a fashion event there yeah we're there twice in one week we did you know two one for the Cooper Hewitt and then one for the first lady the fashion workshop which was really amazing great all right Francisco you I have to agree I think when the Cooper Hewitt award was quite amazing I was just like oh this is like this Smithsonian the Hewitt it's a place that always treasured I mean it was like escape in New York City you go to the Cooper Hewitt it was oh it's always magic you know so I was beyond flattered and thrilled and honored it was really really special and I don't know I just it was like you know it was somehow you know something is happening but and our sister just won the Cooper Hewitt last week so congratulations thank you so much tell us about the process of design how do you get your inspiration every collection every season Maria let me start with you I call it inspiration architecture inspires you inspiration desperation I call it because we're in such a schedule now that you're constantly producing so the first thing that we do is look at fabric and depending on the fabrics it takes the shapes to be honest and then you know photography I take hundreds I mean I have 74000 pictures in my computer something ridiculous which needs editing which I use for color inspiration we use it for print inspiration and I'm very geeky I take pictures of floors I take pictures of lines on the wall of you know the shadow of a tree I mean and all these things come to play somewhere whether it's a line or a color you know a lot of the prints are taken from from one photograph that I thought this is like the perfect color match you know nature has the most intelligent designer the most amazing designer is nature because everything is so beautiful and the colors and everything so a bit geeky like that and then I sort of start to try to get everybody into it because I don't do boards you know at this pictures that I take but there's not like inspiration as in silhouette so anything we sort of start geeking out and I start dreaming of traveling and you know that's all that comes into play or for fall you know I was in Chile and then I was thinking well if I had been in Chile when I was 20 and I was traveling around Chile what would I want to wear and what would what would my perspective be on fashion at that time what would I be would have been into if I'd been here traveling around so it's just in my head I start traveling yeah you know and it's it's always like traveling and I'm sort of telling everybody and everybody's like and it's like pulling out on my brain with a straw and then everybody sort of gets on board and it keeps evolving and you know yeah Narciso I see you work with boards yeah I I take a lot of pictures as well like so inspired by the city and each collection is starts with tons of pictures that are from the streets and and I come in and I put them on boards and we look at them and then throw them out and put the new ones up and but each season it I don't know I never like to stick to a routine because you can see a fabric and it inspires multiple collections and ideas or you could be working on something that doesn't work this season and then two seasons later you've perfected it that could be the start of a collection or really funny we gave away a dress this season to a model and then I saw her in the dress and I thought why did we give that dress away it was so beautiful it looks so nice on her and so we asked to borrow at that to inspire you to start working on this season so every I love that we can be we as designers as creators we can start from any any perspective whether you cut a little paper doll collage and build the season like that or put colors together that's the most exhilarating part of the design process does technology come into that at all now francisco are you using computers to to help with the design aspect or not one no not for me I mean I think I go in the same the same way with Maria I do travel so much yeah I'm always like in this travel mood but books to me are the immediacy the contact of the book you know I buy like five six books a week you know it's just insane and then you inundate yourself all this information which obviously not fashion books just anything right and then fiction non-fiction doesn't just picture great picture you know you know landscapes you know great design you know pottery you know anything you know anything really you know Bauhaus you know it just goes you know a very wide range then obviously you know start editing everything you know and then you create this image of this woman traveling you know what is she wearing how and you know what stage she is so I think my process is very emotional it's very direct I have to have a contact with the fabric of course fabric so very tactile you know constant and then I have a lot of trouble for instance you know the PR department comes in and then what's the season about you know I cannot say it I just can't you know and then come again what's the season about guys I don't know you haven't decided yet because I don't keep boards either I do not do boards well we just started actually and then and then the moment the show is finished yeah it all out it's all out right you have all the words everything is just kind of it's so crystallized it's so incredible when you're working on it I think it's all like ideas in your head and you're sort of trying to pass up to the team that you're working with but it's all ideas and they're all like only you have a feeling it's like a gut feeling about things that it's very hard to sort of say in black and white yeah exactly and I hate putting anything down on black and white as a word because it's almost it sort of captures it in a way that maybe it's not ready to be captured yet exactly it's interesting because I hired some when I realized that I work in semi is a tariff way maybe I should find people that understand me a little easier so I ended up I found out that you know in Japan you know Rae Kwa Buko you know Komori Garcione she works very much like this way apparently so she walks in the room and she has only designed pattern makers in other words you know a person who actually designs through pattern making instead of just designers with sketch so that's very interesting interesting concept that's how she does it so she goes and she throws a world a word right she says you know I don't know train station so all of them they go like you know there's nothing there's what is what is a train station you know and they come back with that stuff so you know I think again the challenge is you know to communicate and to keep that moving but we I think I mean certain individuals that are very controlling you know and because we actually are creating you know you have this space to create it's very difficult to delegate and to explore anybody else's ideas so you know it's it's interesting do you and you you mentioned you work with a team yes are you are they contributing to the design as much or is it you have the vision you set the you know this is my objective and you know we're going with that or is it more like what should our collection be about this season is it more of a free for I threw it out there what is what is what do you guys think because I mean they're all very young people working in my studio you know they're part of a completely different generation you know so it's nice to have that you know that collaboration and I find that it should be a collaboration but at the time you know at the end in order the end usually you know again we start with one thing that one idea you came up with an idea you know that's worked and changed and changed will be immediately in different directions and then you arrive in the same idea but usually I have control of that do you ever get stuck like you know writers have writers block do you ever have designers block yes Maria yeah so how do you get through that I mean especially for next spring summer because of this I haven't been exercising and I just kept saying to everybody it's just about the thrill it's just about this there's nothing else in here let's just do this let's just do this because usually you know I would over question everything and torture and then I just thought well there's nothing left in there so we're just going to do this we're doing this so in a way it was quite liberating because even if I wanted to question it there was my brain was so spent that it was just in a way focused at all a lot more do you agree guys nurses so do you get how do you get through that I you know it's really funny I take a walk it's the simplest thing and and I've been doing this forever and it just I could go just around the block and I thought it was some weird habit of mine that I just needed to take a walk and then I would get like a breakthrough around the corner and and there's nothing around the corner there's the health food store and a coffee shop and but I read in and then I read I think in the times that it's like one of the best things that you can do when you have a block you just walk out step away from it step away from it and have a walk and and come back to it and I thought oh I guess I wasn't the only one yeah um what collections are you designing now is it it's uh 2015 prefall and fall prefall and fall 15 so not to put you on the spot Francisco but what's your collection about it's breaking out in hives right the nerves already oh it's it hard to you know I mean you're thinking ahead like I mean you're looking at fabrics that are now but you're guessing what people are going to want so many almost a year in advance the interesting thing though is I also learned along those those years at Calvin's that sometimes you we would go really fast but sometimes we have to take a break you know because you know I had a trunk show yesterday in the store you know and here's some gorgeous women came in you know they're always skinny legs and they're all fitted you know it's like you know and I'm showing this pair of pants which just like it you know it's like a different leg shape you know and it's you know somehow you know it's like oh no this is this is not for me I mean you're wearing it already you know so it would take those pants it would take at least you know a year or want to understand I'm not talking about any fancy thing it's just a slightly different leg shape you know in a very fit advance so so in a year I love it I think what I mean to it now continuity somehow continuity to me seems quite a current thing in my mind you know how can we make that happen how can we actually slow down the process you know while everybody else just wants to be fast fast faster you know I think we own ourselves to have a little time to actually design and perfect it and not just move on you know and it's a very hard thing to do you know because you just want to create you know does the business side affect the creativity I mean knowing that you have to create a collection that is going to sell versus this is what I like it's a lot of pressure I mean it's pretty nerve wracking the week before the show because it's about having a company it's about being able to carry on it's about employing people it's about the team it's about growing it's you know with independence of finance so it's a lot of pressure and also I mean with us having the store I feel like our client in the store is so much further ahead sometimes there are wholesale clients our retail client because they've been buying the collection and they want newness they want new things a little bit similar but not quite you know they want something you know our job is to create desire every season and also functional desire because people have to wear the clothes and they have to feel good in them it's like urban camouflage you put these clothes and you want to feel good and you want to feel strong enough to face the day it's not just fashion so I think there's a lot of pressure and we have fun with it but then you know there are comments from you know certain things that need to be changed or you know a little short dress became something else and you know something that ended up was cutting one piece and then I'm having a darts somewhere and I'm like I hate darts and I hate fastening so I'm like no yeah so it's always like a juggle and we try and compromise you know because of course we need the collection to sell but there are things that I call the ugly children that you know don't make it onto the sales floor but then they come back and they're the best sellers yes interesting so that's nice yeah you know nurses so how have you seen you know the business side effect how you have evolved in and how you design I mean I've used it to to my benefit I mean I really love the idea of making clothes that are easy to understand and make you look good and are approachable and I like Maria in that sense in that sense I mean she said she's lazy about dressing I I'm dressing a woman where she's dressing herself I'm just looking to to make those dresses those pieces that that are make a woman feel great and we love you for that love him no but so when you know that there are things that that people respond to that people like that no they know you for you know you always check your selling reports and it's it's smart to to use that and and design into that use that as a bit of your inspiration I mean and evolve it so it does impact your business for for all the designers who are wannabe designers who are here what advice going down the line here would you give them to you know to aspire to to be the next Francisco Maria and I see so that's gonna start with you I think perseverance and hard work you know I think you just have to keep going for it and just work hard I don't think this comes easy it's really hard I mean it's magical but it's really hard so you know if you believe in something you go for it and don't because the difference is what's great right I think there will be a there'll be a space for something different so just be truly yourselves I mean truly honest but you love you know and it's not right it's not wrong it's just who you are so I think that you know it's very important to Maria yeah I agree I think it's it's actually not about being the next Francisco the next now see so it's about the next Maria it's about finding your own voice and finding your own creativity and your own voice in a in a business which is you know there's so many people out there so you've got to really find your voice and define that and like and six percent work really hard and there's no shortcuts unless you're a celebrity already there's no shortcuts sorry it's true it's true I think so yeah I mean I always say perseverance I mean it's you you can't take no for an answer if you're serious about a career in fashion or or in any of the arts I mean I think it's so deep within you that you just have to be very determined to make it your your life yeah and really quickly the greatest challenge you have each faced when it comes to establishing who you are and your brand not taking things to personally and you know accepting the fact that not everybody's gonna love what you do and I think just be have a sense of humor about it and you know not be I mean I used to cry when biased in by the collection because my Italian factory hadn't shipped and they would just say we love the collection but you know your factory didn't ship so we don't want to put money into it anymore or somebody would come in and try something on and say mmm and then so as I get all the what's given me the age is actually that not to take things to personally and and perseverance that you know not Rome wasn't built in a day Francisco has there ever been a moment where you questioned if you were if you were in the right field yeah all the time how about this morning I think we do I mean I totally do all the time but it's not because I'm not you know I don't appreciate what I do I don't think I'm doing right it's just because you know there's so much there's so many more things I want to do yeah you know so I feel like you know fashion is just part of one thing that I love you know but I but I always think of of an environment I always think of you know lifestyle so I would love to do a hotel I would love to do you know design a building you know I would love to write a book you know love to I don't know I really feel that way I feel like I'm not complete you know so yeah the Narciso was there ever a time where you were worried about making it sure I mean you know the economy goes up and down you're more in favor or less in favor it's it's you know fashion is so fickle and it changes so quickly that's why it's fashion you know I mean there's kind it's funny but it's a it's kind of why you're in and you're out kind of a thing you know there's it's very logical so yeah I mean there are there are moments where I wake up and have that momentary panic that I should be doing something else and then I go to the office and it's so exhilarating and like I have this amazing workroom and everybody that works are so excited about the the creative process and everything and you forget the hard the hardship if there ever was a hardship that feels so small because everybody is so committed to to the work so yeah I mean it's a love and hate yeah love and hate relationship I think every profession is that way though you love what you do and then you don't love what you do I want to open it up to questions and I think we have a microphone so if if whoever wants to step in the aisle first I guess if we form some lines in the aisles and that way we can open it up to to questions yes okay we've got a couple over here we've got some questions over here I think on this side hi guys so my name is Patrick and sorry I'm a little nervous just because I first want to say thank you sincerely and from the very bottom of my heart to all three of you for adding such like I don't even get to wear any of your clothing but just going to like style.com like religiously every season and seeing just the most like it just stuns me every single season all of you and you know just thank you from my heart for adding such beauty to the world because it really enriches my life I can say that for sure and my question is can you tell me about your muses and your as a person the people in your lives who really inspire you and I'm interested in for me it's like after seeing the Wyatt both YSL movies this year and his relationship with you know Lulu and Betty Catru and you know and such and I'm just really curious as it's something that's fascinating me right now and I'm just curious like what who are your muses and how do they inspire you and what is that process like I guess is what I'm gonna ask. Who has a muse? I'm so happy to talk about that because it's a real muse I work with Camilla Nickerson I don't know if everybody heard of her and she's an editor of Vogue and she's the most intelligent woman I've ever came across and it's just terribly inspiring I mean I just think of her and I get inspired so it's crazy because I don't know sometimes you just on you know you just I mean have beauty had deliciousness it's just so incredible you know it's a true muse you know so it's her intellect that's really I mean she is just you just want to dig in you know you just want to touch her you don't want to just she's amazing and I think I think I never knew this would happen in my life because you admire so many people you know you you know you you know there's a tear sheet that you love this woman you know love this woman there's all those are great women but I mean that's reality you know there's this you know somebody that you find in your life that you just compliment you you know it's like kind of a marriage in a way you know it's not always up it's not you know it's it's just totally invigorating conversation you know and it happens that she's just gorgeous so it makes my life easier Maria do you have a muse it's hard to just say I mean I know Camilla and she's amazing she's a friend and she's got amazing style I don't have one muse I have many I think of the girls that I work with the team I think of friends who are doing interesting stuff what clothes they need architects whoever actresses I have many and in the collection I think it reflects that it's quite eclectic I always say it has a younger sister an older sister and then she goes to the office she doesn't go to the office and you know I would have worn this when I was I always say just because I'm getting older I don't want the collection to get older so I always picture myself when I was 21 it's so great and you know so you are all muse the 21 year old you but also you know the guys because they all wear the clothes in different ways and they they have their own spin on it you know and my daughter who's 23 will wear the collection a certain way then you know all the girls in the office they're all different shapes and sizes and they all wear it in a different way and to me I find that really interesting and inspiring and then I geek out you know design wise you know sorry and nurses so do you have a muse sure I mean Maria's my muse but I I never thought of her now I have to think of you as 20 running around Chile it's true I mean as she's so profoundly inspiring and so brilliant and you know as is Camila and yeah you know we were so fortunate to work together as well she's a woman of such great style but much like Maria I think it's um I always say it's a kind of a Frankenstein of a muse because you take all of these women these amazing women that you've yourself you know have come to my office and left everybody in awe you know trying on dresses and it just it it is about so many women for me anyway I like to you know I want to dress her mom and her daughter and I wanted to be about women so yeah it's a bit of every every muse when I love the all of your collections as the approachability for women I mean they're all designed to make women feel fabulous and comfortable it's it's you know not about you know trying to make the fashion world go but it's more about like I'm comfortable in my skin and that's what we we love thank you who else has a question yes good evening how are you I am fashion marketing I've been in marketing for 15 years and I've actually transitioned into non-for-profit within the marketing space within fashion I work for dresser success very curious to know how philanthropy really plays into your brand I know that each of you might have a cause that's personal to your heart but overall from a corporate perspective you know is there a cause that really resonates within your company within your employees you know your your culture thank you great question we've been working with every mother counts because I think the right to have a child and survive is a basic right of every woman we tend to associate ourselves with causes you know usually our clients help us create that because of the association we have a lot of really cool women also human rights watch I personally came to Europe originally as a political refugee so I'm very aware of the political side of things so that to me is also very close to my heart we're not at the stage that we can give millions of dollars by any means but whenever we try and do fund raises through sales or percentage of the sales to go to these courses we do you know we also do a you know pvh which is a large corporation and we're heavily involved in so many charities but personally I'm I have an association with Acre which is organization you know does research for AIDS and I've been on the board for six years now so I think they're very close to my heart but we often you know support in so many different organizations and also for instance FIT in as one of a major partners so we we have this policy it's very much part of our culture you know to embrace and to share and to give nurses so sure I mean we've been the company as a whole has been involved in so many kids charities women's women's charities where we try to participate in everything and my office gets a little crazy because I'm always committing us to let's make a gown and raffle that for you that's it and you know they gotta it gets a lot but I think it's so important we're in a position where we can be involved with people like aid for AIDS which is such a great organization that that gives back to the Latino community in a huge way and Patrick Martin Institute for gay youths and I mean it's just there's so many people that can benefit from a little bit of help you know we try to do as much as possible okay another question over here yes got one here and one here hello I was just wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about your design education experience the schools you went to design education Parsons yes I went to school in England Ravensville I did fashion and textiles I did a BA and then I started my own company straight away with a partner when I was 21 foolishly so I've learned from the job basically by making my own mistakes on my own time and money mostly yeah right Francisco I went to FIT which is great I actually started FIT in the evening as I couldn't speak any English when I first came to the US and I was taking English classes at the Hunter College during the day and taking continue at classes at night at FIT until I saw I don't know how I read it because I couldn't I couldn't read English either but it was but it was this contest happening in school and there was you know there were recruiting 15 students to go to to Como and spend like two months in Como and developing a collection whatever you so I you know I put my name on it and then they couldn't find me because obviously I was not registering school full-time you know anyway somehow they found me because I had submitted all the sketches and what have you and then I ended up getting a scholarship from FIT because I won the contest so I was really uh actually that's to answer your question this was a major thing break through moment yeah it was a big moment yeah a contest so I find FIT quite dear to me you know and I love how the school is so generally open you know too well okay questions here yes right here thank you hi I just wanted to say thank you for being part of the fashion industry especially being latinos I was part of the be the next and I got to me and see see where I guess and I was super excited you know to have you there um you guys come from various various different backgrounds Francisco you said you didn't speak English when you were here so I was wondering what made you guys you know like focus in New York and how was that challenge between being from another country and a different background and working here great question great question yes um take it I think I moved here in 1996 and um for me English is also a second language because I moved to England when I was 12 so that's why I have a very odd accent I think it's sort of English and a little bit Spanish a little bit of Nord in England and so it's a bit of a mix but I think what I loved about New York is the fact that you can sort of reinvent your story and you can be your own person and I think that's that's the thing I feeling it like an outsider and also for me that's what gives me sometimes the energy because if you don't know the rules you make your own rules and so in that way studying the store and just maybe making a gallery maybe making some clothes it was very liberating because nobody knew me nobody expected anything so in a way there's a lot of freedom in arriving here from somewhere else because nobody expects anything of you and everybody's so willing to give you a chance here doesn't mean you're going to succeed but at least they say go ahead have a go which is actually great about America yes magical yeah I feel exactly the same yeah Narciso? I was born here so I was you're Cuban Cuban super Cuban I mean I think I learned Spanish first before English for sure yeah but you know I that that question of like letting your heritage stand in your way I I brush it aside I think you never you know it's never been an issue sure it's been an issue but I you know I've always laughed in its face you know I mean I think it's horrible that it that it can be a reality but it's never you know like like I said before so you don't take no for an answer so it's a doesn't keep you out of the board room or the design room or the yeah we shouldn't yeah we can but it should so you have to be strong good good for you great yes question over here good evening I'm Namdeegum I'm currently a senior at FIT and something that I'm sure many of my other classmates are questioning and going through is what's going to be my next move what is going to be the right move and Joseph Althazara a few years back has been quoted to say that the fashion education really begins after school and so I wanted to ask each of you to take us back to the one when you're graduating school and what was sort of going through your head what did you think was going to be your next move or what would be the right move and sort of begin your journey or take us back to the beginning of your journey that's great so what does he need to do next as a senior at FIT you know I have to say we live in very different times I think you have to find your own experience because we also to be honest I mean I can I I left college and in the second year of college actually I freelance for somebody I freelance for Fierucci designing so when I left college my college collection was bought by two stores and then I was working with a partner so we decided to join forces so my path is maybe not everybody's path and I think the realities have really changed and there's so much competition out there and there's different there's so many different paths to be honest it's whether you want to work for a big company or you have the means or the naivety to want to just start your own thing you know I think there's so many different paths that you can take I think my only advice will be to just work really hard and just be prepared to take a lot of rejection but just stay strong like Narciso said you you just have to keep going it's about perseverance you know and there's so many different paths right now my only advice would be is if you also it to get more technical because there's much more careers in the technical side whether it's network or prints if you know the more technical side of fashion which is you know there's not a lot of people that sort of um specialized so if you specialize in a certain area whether it's accessories or network or textiles and there's also that layer that can also help you get a job you know I hope that answers your question Francisco and by the way I was kind of a drop out not really but I actually didn't go to my graduation I graduated five years later after I had my job at Calvary but I I think you just um never work for money yeah you know ever because it's not going to get you anywhere or it's not going to give you you know the love or the returns that you really want as a professional um and on screen you know I mean if you know what you like and you know a little bit of how are you going about just go and do it just work for nothing you know and that's how you're going to learn you know and you're going to learn really fast because I think the means that they are much faster the whole operation is completely different you know um I think the more you get your hands in the dog you know the more the faster you grow so um and I think internships are key right now I think you know a lot of my team started off as interns and gradually they got if we had a good season they would get the job and I think more and more the proof is in the pudding you you really have to be able to work in a team and you know be present and I think when you intern someone you prove yourself and you're more likely to get the job than somebody coming in with a portfolio from outside actually you just mentioned amazing word team teamwork yeah it seems like the world's revolving towards teamwork yeah that's very millennial kind of you know staying you know more more I mean funny enough because I always my studio was really you know there's always this freedom of speech and communication but I think it's an amazing tool to learn how to work as a team you know and having less of an individual voice accept you know opinions and you know what have you I think that's something about that I know working for a common goal you know to be on to work as a team for the common goal which is the collection and so internships practically speaking internships getting that experience how much of a portfolio or even a collection do do you need to start out you're graduating school hopefully you're graduating with a portfolio I think the perseverance factor is the most important I mean I think if you're dedicated to to your work and you can create a great portfolio and be relentless about getting your foot in the door getting an internship getting an interview meeting people coming to things like this and meeting people and and being really open because as long as you enter by whichever door it's a great opportunity when I started to work I mean my dream was to go to Parsons like one school I only applied to one school and I only wanted to work with Donna I was obsessed and on a mission and after school I took a break and I thought I don't know if I want to do this and I took six months and really cleared my head before committing and I was very lucky I someone who I went to school with and started to work with Donna made the introduction again and and we started to work together and that experience of coming in through the licensing division and starting to work on and we did everything we did like shoes and bags and hats and gloves and jewelry for the show we did everything until we got to sweaters and furs and collection clothing and we just you know they you kept moving up moving it yeah further into into the company and I you know and whenever I speak to students I say you know go everywhere I mean I didn't want to go to work in Europe and I went to work in Europe and it was amazing I got to do beautiful work and learn from you know tailors and craftsmen that were extraordinary at such a young age and it made such a big impression and as Francisco said it wasn't for money it was for the for the love of the craft and to learn so many people today they're not really interested in learning and they kind of skip the the process a little bit and they skip over working or you know coming in as an intern or working for a designer and they you know just want to put a collection out there you know what what you learn in those work rooms and from those people it's it's what makes you it's it's what teaches you in school is amazing and you learn so much but then when you're in the workforce as an intern as a designer as a receptionist you you're really absorbing and I I mean for me those 10 years of Donna and Calvin you know was a lifetime of of information and inspiration so well said okay we have time for one more question one more question I guess let's do over here and that's right there hello good evening my name is Ines and I have a question it is how do you see the the future of fashion recently I went to to a talk of how internet it's been affecting fashion the people that was speaking they briefly said that they see that it will become everything virtual do you think that it will become that way or how do you see that fashion will be evolving with the internet thank you how how has technology and the internet influenced fashion and how do you see it changing sort of the future of the fashion industry I was just then in the we actually another organization of support for instance the new museum which is a great new york institution and we just did they had just come up with a new program they bought a new building and they institutionalizing this whole new idea of of artists and entrepreneurs designers all sorts of types of activities coming together at this one space so they have this created this organization all called Inc which is incubators and and I visited you know two weeks ago and it's fascinating because you'd have a a designer designer implementing a whole new system where you know you're going to see you know 12 pieces of clothes and you go online and you actually choose the print that you want that print you know could have come from you know Jeff Koons from you from you from me so it's it's this this web of information that you choose your style and you could print whatever in it so there are a lot of there's there's a lot of things happening and I think that's I think that will happen and that's very exciting too you know it's just a different way you know and it's I think you'll probably you know it will take a little time to get legitimized can I say that but it's interesting it's a thought you know and then there was like this this one this lady who was doing digital printing obviously but into textiles you know it happened that I had actually in the past tried to develop it with a group of people in London they had just start printing and I really wanted to do push the fabric you know for ready to wear and it was just impossible so there's this team of people now at the new museum actually working on the same goal so so digital printed textile digital printing textile which is like five years ago we could get a mesh you know but totally unwearable you know we're very costuming you know but now I mean the challenge is really to make it as wearable as possible you know so there's all sort of things happening and I think it probably takes a long time I'm not sure if you guys have any anything on this but I don't think you can rule that idea out that more and more you know we'll suffer or we'll not suffer we'll have the great influence of technology you know on our door steps nurses so Maria had the his his technology or the internet influenced you not really I mean I think I see that there's a lot of am I speaking very I think with the whole Instagram what I keep saying is like this like this Instagram fashion where people are almost constructing collections to be photographed in a way that people are looking at things flat and say we're selling to net important it's not so much even hanger appeal anymore does it photograph well does it look good in 2d and you know there's there's all these different levels now of technology because everybody's buying things online now so the clothes have to translate on so many different levels whereas before it was much more about how does the fabric feel how does it fit now is how does it photograph does it look good flat you know there's so many layers now of that and say yeah you design for for a whole new world in that way yeah but that comes with service though because if you think of netta protei I mean they do that you know you have the 3d version you have the flat version but then you have amazing service that comes with it yeah because you can actually have five pieces next door nine o'clock in the morning you just order them tonight yeah nine o'clock in the morning you're gonna have it so it's instant gratification yes you know there's something to that that fast communication and immediacy yeah and I think yeah they love also the fact that they can have things shipped to them they can try them on with the things they already have and beautifully wrapped beautifully wrapped then they can send back whatever they don't want to keep and they don't have somebody pushing them to buy anything they're just trying it with their shoes and in front of their own mirror and sure you know late at night one night so we're most of a shop these days Narciso the future of fashion and technology we've been creating different materials in Europe for some time now and some of those producers are now opening shops here so they make their process accessible to to us and you know we've taken different idea I mean different pick I've taken different pictures and cut them up and printed them and spliced them and put them on chiffon and you know endless amounts of technical things I mean it's kind of fascinating that you could find inspiration on a pinterest board or anywhere on the internet and digitally printed onto fabric that'll then be laser cut and bonded to something else that'll ultimately make a garment and I think that's fascinating and I think it's a kind of funny way to to make all of the internet wearable in a very funny way cutting-edge well I cannot tell you enough how grateful we are to have all of you here tonight great questions and Francisco Maria Narciso always such an inspiration and we love what you design but we love more your work ethic and you know the the ability to create and to allow people like the young designers in this room aspire to to want to do and be you know the next whoever they are in the fashion world so thank you so much