In episode 251, Kestrel welcomes Francisco Diaz of CiscoSews to the show. An upcycling designer, Francisco created CiscoSews, a slow fashion sewing studio, to experiment with garment making.
One question we ask on this week’s show is —
What does nonbinary fashion mean to you?
I think we often fail to welcome that myriad I mentioned, when we think about nonbinary fashion. Nonbinary does not always mean androgynous. Nonbinary fashion can look feminine, masculine, neither or both.
This week’s guest is all about living outside labels, and truly embracing what feels good to them, on the daily.
They also happen to be a super creative slow fashion sewing genius. Throughout our chat, they share more on how ditching the fashion binary has opened up more avenues for creativity to flow, in their upcycling design process.
Quotes & links from the conversation:
“Just being open to different possibilities is really good for my creative process.” -Francisco
“I think putting too many boundaries on myself — boundaries are definitely important and there’s a lot of them in sewing — but having as much of an open mind as you can with these different pieces will definitely help you out in the creative process.” -Francisco
Friday Pattern Company
“I think right now — what nonbinary fashion means to me is just dressing the way that I want to dress without worrying about how the fashion industry would label it or how the person that maybe created it would label it, and just focus more about how it feels on my body or how it aligns with how I want to express myself at the time. So, sort of living outside of any of the labels and just focusing on what feels great to me.” -Francisco
“I think it frees my design process — I think it almost just opens more avenues for creativity to flow and it sort of stops the blocks of trying to fit into societal expectations of what people would wear.” -Francisco
CiscoSews Website >
Follow Francisco on Instagram >
This week's episode is sponsored by Ana Luisa, the first direct-to-consumer jewelry brand to become carbon-neutral.
If you’re interested in checking out Ana Luisa, you can use code CHATTER to get 10% off.
S05 Episode 260 | What are you latching onto? A special edition recap — highlighting what we learned on season 5 to take us intentionally into season 6
S05 Episode 259 | Georgina Johnson's book "The Slow Grind" & the inevitability of degrowth in fashion
S05 Episode 258 | Aja Barber on how the *affordability* story is fueling a messed up narrative & why we need a culture shift
S05 Episode 257 | Farai Simoyi of The Narativ on the need for safe spaces where global designers can be seen, valued, and heard & educating the next generation of fashion's leaders
S05 Episode 256 | Shilla Kim-Parker of Thrilling on the digitization of secondhand & supporting small business
S05 Episode 255 | Gee's Bend Quilters: the original purveyors of sustainability & exploring the meaning of an equitable collaboration with Mary Margaret Pettway & Greg Lauren
S05 Episode 254 | Johnathan Hayden on using a brand as an experiment, questioning ownership over one's trash & how augmented reality could impact sustainability in fashion
S05 Episode 253 | Advocating for the U.S. to appoint a fashion czar, what are The Green Guides and more on the intersections of politics & fashion
S05 Episode 252 | Frankie Collective on reimagining supply chains for *upcycling* & embracing sustainability and streetwear through reworked design
S05 Episode 250 | Natalie Shehata on why *diversity* is tokenistic and advocating for holistic inclusion
S05 Episode 249 | Isiah Magsino on fashion's current obsession with *genderless* and paying respect to queer & trans communities who have been stepping out of the binary forever
S05 Episode 248 | Ocean Rose on botanical dyeing, sustainability as a collection of idiosyncrasies & the art of slowing down
S05 Episode 247 | Christian Allaire of Vogue on the deep meaning behind Indigenous ribbon work & fashion as a means to reclaim culture
S05 Episode 246 | Nia Thomas on building an autobiographical brand & breaking up with plug and play approaches to doing fashion
S05 Episode 245 | Eshita Kabra-Davies of By Rotation on fashion rental, making the sharing economy personal & challenging the pressure of *newness*
S05 Episode 244 | Alyssa Beltempo on creativity over consumption & shifting the narrative away from placing *all* responsibility on the consumer
S05 Episode 243 | Julia Perez of Jae and Leona on separating self care from capitalism, launching a skincare line during the pandemic & advocating for skincare as liberation
S05 Episode 242 | Questioning the meaning behind *regenerative fashion* and building new fashion systems with Christy Dawn & Oshadi Collective
S05 Episode 241 | Reimagining waste as a resource, creativity's battle against commerce & the importance of welcoming financial sustainability into the larger conversation
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