I have long been thinking about connecting my art to the fashion industry. There are many points of contact between visual arts and fashion design that the idea was always tempting to me. This summer, with plenty of introspective time ought to the pandemic, as I was reorganizing my wardrobe I found two trousers that I brought from my home country (Uruguay) years ago. These trousers are called 'bombachas de campo' or 'bombachas gaucha', and are used by people in the countryside that are associated with labor on the agriculture, forestry, cattle and dairy industries. Bombachas are known for they comfort and toughness, two characteristics that make them easy to wear in almost any daily activity. I love wearing them! However, urbanites in Uruguay don't wear them because of the stigmatizing image of countryside labor life: they are just not cool or appealing from a fashion point of view. It occurred to me then that I could integrate the ongoing artistic work I was developing with abstract art and artificial intelligence, and combine it with fashion by producing fabrics with my art on them that could be used to re-create a bombacha gaucha with a total different feeling and aesthetics. My artistic re-interpretations (as I call it) of bombachas gauchas took place when I produced my first prototype and re-imagined how to wear them in combination with other apparel pieces with a more contemporary look tuned with living in close proximity to New York City; and so far this was the result:
As shown in the picture, the bombacha was made from a light Cotton Twill fabric, suitable for wearing in summer, and could be combined with apparel pieces of a solid color in order to balance the color combination of the pants. The featured art design on the fabric was spun off from my art's latest project with artificial intelligence.
In order to test this prototype and measure audience response, I shared the image on my Facebook account along with a small description of the idea and intention behind the new creation. The response was positive and encouraging:
Based on the initial response from people, I have started to work on the implementation of a production line for these bombachas, and with it the possible emergence of my own brand of clothing.
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