Carla Fernández Mexico

Carla Fernández is a fashion designer and cultural historian who is documenting, preserving, revitalising, and bringing to contemporary relevance the rich textile heritage of Mexico’s indigenous communities. Combining her passion for beautiful clothing and a deep respect for the artisans and communities who produce traditional textiles, she founded an ethical and sustainable business that includes a fashion label and a unique mobile design studio, Taller Flora (Workshop Flora). Carla Fernández promotes environmentally responsible production processes and the economic development of indigenous artisans and their communities by ensuring that her coworkers are recognised and paid for their intellectual property. She shares her methodology and spirit as a designer-anthropologist through talks, exhibitions and publications such as her books "The Barefoot Designer: A Handbook" and "Manifesto of Fashion as Resistance".

Report from the 2013 Prince Claus Awards Committee here.