San Antonio designer Agosto Cuellar[1] , director of Saturday's “Runway en la Calle” fashion show, has dug into his past for the Guadalupe Street catwalk finale of the fifth annual Una Noche en la Gloria arts fest.
Well-known for his Jive Refried vintage Southtown boutique that closed two years ago, Cuellar pulled many of his treasured vintage garments from packed boxes and refashioned them for his San Antoyko collection — a chola-meets-Harajuku (edgy Japanese streetwear) mashup of 15 eclectic looks.
Doing so, he said, “gave me more focus in my work — and my life — than I've ever had.”
Five months ago Cuellar lost his Web producer job and didn't have the money to buy fabric for his collection. So returning to his roots via reinventing cherished garments seemed an easy — and right — solution.
“It's how I began. Each look is recycled, or, as I like to say, 'upcycled,'” he said about his cut-and-paste method with existing garments that predate World War II, as well as other eras. He tailors each, from palazzo pants to short skirts in vivid hues, and gives others a touch-up via hand-painting and silk screening.
“And I'm doing my aprons again,” he said about the kitchen garment that often shows up in his collections because of its emotional connection to many Latinos.
Returning to join Cuellar on the runway, located on the corner of Brazos and Guadalupe streets, will be designer Elizabeth Hernandez[2] , Angelin de Carlo (aka Mary Alice Medina[3] , a popular Southtown hairstylist/artist) and visual artist Raul Castellanos[4] . New to the runway is designer Petrecia Falcon[5] , a University of the Incarnate Word[6] fashion graduate with a following of her own.
The hourlong avant-garde show, set to begin at 11 p.m., is always a big draw with a runway on La Avenida Guadalupe on the city's West Side and more than 300 seats for guests, as well as plenty of standing room.
The arts festival begins at 6 p.m. and ends at midnight. It is organized by the Contemporary Art and Literature Organization[7] , or CALO, and co-sponsored by San Antonio City Council[8] members Shirley Gonzales[9] , Rebecca Viagran and Rey Saldaña; Citibank; and the Westside Development[10] Corp.
Gabriel Quintero Velasquez[11] , the event's founder and one of many organizers, said this year's festival marks the midpoint of a larger 10-year effort to help locally based artists, well-known and new, market their talent.
From the beginning, Velasquez said, it was important to include a fashion show.
“When it came to envisioning La Gloria, fashion was a very important part of the event's reality,” Velasquez said, adding that Latino culture is synonymous with looking good from head to toe in pressed clothes and shiny shoes.
And fashion, he said “is definitely an important art form, especially among the younger generation.”
Cuellar, he added, also was his choice to produce the show that through the years has drawn a larger crowd, going from a few hundred five years ago to almost 1,000 last year. About 1,200 are anticipated for this year's show, which essentially closes the festival.
“Agosto, in fashion, is one of the champions,” Velasquez said. “He is a creative investment in this city.”
Cuellar said he's elated to be involved with La Gloria's evolution and looks forward to the next five years.
“But I've never considered myself any kind of a trailblazer,” he said. “I just have never given up on what I love to do.
“I also know that people from the South and West sides of our city — and all over — love a fashion show,” Cuellar said. “So, most of all, this show is for them, for people who love fashion and art.”
mquintanilla@express- news.net
References
- ^ Agosto Cuellar (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ Elizabeth Hernandez (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ Mary Alice Medina (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ Raul Castellanos (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ Petrecia Falcon (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ University of the Incarnate Word (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ Contemporary Art and Literature Organization (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ San Antonio City Council (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ Shirley Gonzales (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ Westside Development (www.mysanantonio.com)
- ^ Gabriel Quintero Velasquez (www.mysanantonio.com)
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