ON THE TRACK OF MEXICAN PINK
When one is lucky enough to fly over CDMX in rare clear times (from this gray veil that usually covers it) something very notable is the presence of little pink paths. The further the plane descends, what were pink spots become more defined and we discover the little roofs of flea markets that cover the sky of the Capital, no matter the day.
© AllenMondragon
We, who love design and its history, could not leave aside this iconic color of our identity and which so inspired architects such as Luis Barragán (Casa Barragán, Cuadra San Cristóbal) or Ricardo Legorreta (Hotel Camino Real de Polanco) for mention a few.
© Arquine.com
However, the one who raised it before the world and to whom we owe the term Mexican Rosa was Ramón Valdiosera (1918-2017), a great fashion designer, promoter and defender of our culture. Multitalented, he spent the first years of his adult life as a painter, writer and draftsman. In the early 1940s, he embarked on a tour of Mexico in search of inspiration. Her trip opened her eyes to the great wealth of textiles, embroidery and techniques that exist. He created his workshop and started designing. He found his patron in the President of that time, Miguel Alemán. His collections, inspired by the numerous iconographic elements of our identity, fit perfectly into the nationalist project of Alemán who saw them as an ideal vehicle for transmitting our cultural wealth to the world.
It was during a catwalk in New York in 1949 that some journalists, fascinated by the use of this peculiar pink color that dominated their collection, that the term took flight. From there we began to talk about a Mexican Pink .
© Collection of the Ramón Valdiosera Foundation
Festive, this color accompanies us every day. In the market, in the parks (the structures of the Bicentenario park in Azcapotzalco, for example) in the toys, the quinceañera parties, the sweets and even in the nature that surrounds us with our spectacular flamingos or roseate spoonbills, bougainvilleas or in the roses Yucatan lagoons.
Paying a small tribute to this legacy that Ramón Valdiosera left us and celebrating this color that illuminates our days, we created the emblematic t-shirt with his Pantone . Discover it here!
Text: Eva Parenteau