Designer Adriana Pavón Creates Frida Kahlo-Inspired Line To Support Indigenous Artists In Mexico

Latin American fashion businesswoman Adriana Pavón launches Mexico Culture & Pride, an initiative that empowers consumers to own sustainable fashion accessories that will create jobs for the world’s many indigenous cultures starting with the people of Oaxaca, Mexico. The initiative aims to conserve cultural textile traditions through education and bring fair trade commerce through exhibits to the international market. Mexico Culture & Pride is currently in the first of a three-phase campaign that includes a Kickstarter fundraiser, which will fund a multi-city collaborative exhibition tour and deliver the first line of supporter-purchased merchandise of the Frida Kahlo-inspired collection.

From now until August 20, supporters of this Kickstarter campaign become co-launchers for Mexico Culture & Pride by pre-purchasing items such as tickets to the upcoming exhibit “Through Frida’s Eyes” and quality accessories designed in collaboration with indigenous groups. A 50% discount will be reflected as a ‘thank you’ to all supporters of this first stage in exchange for their support. “Our promise to you is that every item is handcrafted and designed specifically for you and no two items are alike due to the uniqueness and organic process; all items are fair trade and each one of our items is child-labor free,” says Pavón. “If you replace even one item in your closet with one of our sustainable pieces, you can change the world. We are using Kickstarter because we feel confident there are others that support fair trade fashion. We also want supporters to feel secure in their purchase as Kickstarter will not charge them unless the goal of $10,000 is raised at 100 percent,” she added.

Pavon has not only invested the last two years to Mexico Culture & Pride, but also has put her wallet where her mouth is. “I shifted my life and my career. I don’t have a car. I live on a budget. All my energy has gone into this project. My team and I went to Mexico to meet and work with the people and we documented the whole process to be transparent and share the beauty and importance of the culture,” she says.

Through her work as a consultant and industry influencer for the past 20 years, Pavon learned that techniques and the environmentally friendly materials utilized by the locals are on the verge of extinction at an alarming rate; this is due to the globalization of textiles that are toxic for the environment and European designers plagiarizing the culture. To reverse that trend, she recruited a top-notch team of high caliber individuals who are passionate about their work and have extensive experience in their field with clients such as “Project Runway Latin America,” “Mexico’s Next Top Model,” Chrysler and vast experience in manufacturing top brands you purchase in stores today.

Pavon wants to share her cultural traditions by sharing her journey in the process to celebrate the diversity of the world's indigenous cultures, which are disappearing from our society at a disturbing pace. Her inspiration for the premier collection, Frida Kahlo, was an iconic Mexican artist whose wardrobe took over the pages of Vogue magazine and her paintings were greatly influenced by this particular Mexican culture and art form.