Interview with Andrés Caballero Macuil, fashion designer based in Milan, during his presentation at Milan Fashion Week SS23
Could you tell us a little bit about the collection we are looking at tonight?
I am Andrés Caballero and I am Mexican. Tonight I am hosted by the Italian Chamber of Fashion the Italian Fashion Week. I am presenting my brand called San Andres Milano. It is a collection of shirts and it is a monoproduct. Everything here have been handmade. Everything, the structure and all the sewing and embroidery are created exclusively in my workshop and the idea is also to use eco-sustainable materials. All the materials are low-impact and the main idea of the masculine shirt is to create a semblance of the feminine and the masculine. They are totally genderless unisex shirts where the shirt can be worn on both the male and female body. It is up to you how you want to wear it. Take your own personality. Precisely the mannequins are dressed with different shirts overlapping or knotted or as if they were simply sarongs to precisely give the vision that the shirt can be very versatile.
Do you think there is room for this traditional or artisan way? The market is more unified and people don not seem to understand quality.
In my case, my clients, they are looking for quality in both the material and the finish. There are many things that are handmade in my finishes. I think that the handmade part is very important now because this way you can differentiate from the mass. It is also about sensibility because it does not contribute to pollution in the long run if people buy few things but of good quality. So it is also a part of sensitivity for the planet because it is the only way to re-educate the final consumer, especially that they understand that quality pays more than buying cheap things that are going to break easily. Having a connection with your garments is also very important. I remember when my mother or my grandparents, even when I was a child, had few clothes but I loved them a lot and wore them a lot. So I had nice memories with my clothes too. It wasn’t just changing just to be a fashionista but also having that connection with your clothes. I think that when you have something made to measure or when you buy handmade, there is that connection. Fashion I do understand it like that, your clothes can be bought just by the measurement.
What do you think about the fact that these days more and more people are buying online, even the virtual fashion? You can actually buy clothes that don not exist, to be worn in the digital world.
I think that for everything there is an evolution and I am very interested in the social part. So I think it is something that can happen like the avatar, like in the virtual world and it is very interesting on an intellectual level. However I definitely do not think it will ever replace buying clothes in a shop and trying them on because at the end of the day we are not virtual. We are absolutely real and I think that dressing is also a psychological issue and also a matter of first necessity. So you have to cover up for the heat or for the cold. Above all you dress to have an identity. We are looking for an identity. So, of course you can have your virtual life but you definitely will not give up your normal, ordinary life.
Can you describe your customers? Who comes to your workshop?
I am happy because they are both men and women who are not interested in having a precise male or female identity. It is a genderless revolution. I especially like them because of the comfort and the quality of the finished garments. I also do high fashion and haute couture in my workshop. They are exclusive clothes and this line is precisely the line of pret because it is for business. I consider my client to be a very intellectual customer who likes fashion, but fashion that is sensitive to climate change and obviously to the whole bio part of it. I think that precisely having the responsibility to provide a good product is what people are looking. That is what you are going to be giving them and what they are going to see. So if you give them a product that is not well made, they may still buy but if you give them a product that is well made, they will truly appreciate it.
