Miami, .- sponsored by Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, the Miami Fashion Week 2019 began on Wednesday a new edition, as in previous years focused on sustainable fashion but in this edition with the design made in the Dominican Republic as a protagonist.
“We were probably the first week of fashion in the world that focused on the environment,” said an enthusiastic Banderas during a press conference on Wednesday to mark the opening of the event, which will take place in this South Florida city. on Sunday.
“We live in a very confusing and violent world and the fashion industry has been identified as one of the most polluted, we want to do something about it,” the artist explained about the subsequent objectives of Miami Fashion Week, of which president since 2016 and owner by 10%.
Fresh from the Cannes Film Festival, where he received the award for best actor for his role in “Dolor y Gloria”, the last film by director Pedro Almodóvar, Banderas declared himself tired (“my natural state for many years”), but very excited about this new edition of Miami Fashion Week.
About the award, which some consider the most important of his career, Banderas confessed today in an interview with Efe feel a “bittersweet” feeling, because “they did not recognize Pedro (Almodóvar, as best director)” and that in the end was in hands South Korean Bong Joon-ho.
The week in Miami, which will host what is considered the second most important fashion event in the United States, will combine the next few days with the best of local design, especially from Latin America and Spain, along with a series of discussions regarding the social role of the industry.
Banderas, who has parked at the moment his dreams of taking a line of sustainable clothing, because “at the moment would only give losses”, was flanked among others by authorities of Miami-Dade County and Massiel Olmos, representative of the Ministry of Tourism from the Dominican Republic, one of the sponsors of the event.
“The Dominican Republic is the epicenter of design in the Caribbean,” said the government representative, who alluded to the late designer Óscar de la Renta as one of the greatest exponents of design on the Caribbean island.
The Miami Fashion Week 2019 has a high concentration of Dominican designers, such as Jenny Polanco, Arcadio Diaz, Jacqueline Then and Giannina Azar, who will show their proposals on the final runway on Sunday, while a day before the jewelry designer Monica Varela will expose his works in a lunch for figures of social networks.
The focus on the role of fashion as an agent of social change will not only be seen in the promotion of sustainable design, but also in activities to raise funds in favor of a children’s hospital
This year, the pro-funds party for the Lágrimas y Favores foundation of the Spanish actor will be enlivened by the live music of the Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes, with whom Banderas was very grateful.
Other designers participating in this edition of the Miami Fashion Week are the Spanish Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, RR by Rene, Fernando Alberto Atelier, Daniella Batle, Glory Ang, Vero Diaz and Herminas Reea, who will present their “resort collections” for the 2020 season.
At the same time, and as is tradition, the Miami Fashion Week Summit will take place, in which fashion figures such as Lauren Bowkers, Stefan Siege, Katharine Hamnet and Neliana Fuenmayor will talk about sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry .
In this regard, Banderas stressed that it is not only about addressing the effect of good practices in the environment, but also aspects such as the abuse of workers and other important issues.
“We have always put the accent on the catwalk, but accompanied by the social,” reiterated the Spaniard.
The deputy mayor, Alina Tejeda-Hudak, highlighted in the press conference the positive effect that the development of the event has produced in the local fashion community. So this year, creations of students from Design and Architecture Senior High School and the Miami Fashion Institute will take place. (EFEUSA)
