Alexander Ayala

Today we are going to review the collections of one of the best designers in Guatemala, and I'm not talking about being one of the best just because you sell more or because you have many stores, I'm telling you, he is one of the best because of the quality of his work, his European vision about fashion is really outstanding.
I met him last year at the second edition of SVFW, he presented his collection at the "Avant Garde" day, his collection was really well executed, it was named "Miércoles de Ceniza" (Ash Wednesday), which is a catholic tradition that in our countries is really respected, because this is when you accept your identity in Catholicism.  The color palette was monochromatic, but the details, the textures and the vision of his designs were really amazing. He used transparencies in both genders, men skirts and also beading on t-shirts. You can see this mix of the old traditions and customs and also this futuristic version of how these adepts should look like. Even though this collection was actually a capsule collection, he managed to have menswear, womenswear, statement pieces and have a cohesive collection in just a few looks. This collection was presented exclusively in El Salvador first and then he presented it again in Guatemala, and for this being his first collection, the final result after one year of full work is really appreciated.

Now in 2013 he decided to return again to El Salvador, his collection was named "Nobody". This time his collection had nothing to do with the theme of the first one, but the result is also marvelous. His inspiration on this collection was death and again, his futuristic vision of this death, this is a clinical death, everybody is afraid of going to the hospital and not returning alive, everybody is afraid of cancer, AIDS and heart deceases, and he translated this fear of death to a post apocalyptic world where everybody is familiarized about dead people. Now his men and women from his last collection, who believed in Catholicism and covered his forehead with ashes in order to conquer death and have eternal life, is living between the deaths, just as Jesus did, he descended to Hell in order to conquer sins and death. His use of transparencies were present again, this collection is more urban if we are comparing it to his previous avant garde collection, there are more wearable pieces such as those blazers, those jackets, and also he delivered fantasy with some of his statement pieces. His color palette again was monochromatic, including a blue-ish gray. This collection made me fall in love a little bit more with his vision of fashion design and high fashion. I hope his next collection will be also a hit and I am really grateful to have met him, who, among some of our Salvadoran designers, is making its way through success.

Credit for the Images: Emmanuel García Brán, and AK Photography.