S6E02 Color Camouflage with Melania Chavarría Nuño

In this episode Melania shares her story about how she went from being too much to finding her own voice, how color became the main driver in her work and how she wants to bridge the gap between the intrinsic variety of Mexican culture and the world of the arts. Learn about how she expresses these elements through her own body and person. 

Fashion and Textile Designer with a degree from Centro de Diseño, Cine y Televisión (CDMX) and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp, Belgium).

Born and raised in Mexico City, she works on a diverse range of projects within the creative industries, spanning fashion, arts, design, styling, journalism, and creative direction.

With nearly 10 years of experience, she has developed numerous dynamic design projects aimed at fostering and promoting a stronger fashion identity for Mexican culture from a contemporary and international perspective.

In 2015, Melania launched her design project, CDMX11000, inspired by the surreal architectural language of Mexico City. This project has evolved through social media platforms, using photography to create a visual language where local arts, design, traditions, and culture are seamlessly integrated with fashion. Through the interplay of colors, textures, shapes, and prints, the project highlights specific theories, aesthetics, and concepts.

Her continuous collaboration with other creatives led her to share their stories and projects through DNA Magazine, an innovative fashion media outlet. There, she writes to spotlight emerging talents and guide the next generation of creative professionals.

Transcript

Judith van Vliet: Welcome back to the Color Authority podcast. This is Judith van Vliet podcasting out of Madrid, Spain, and today I'm going to be talking to Matching Melania. At least this is how you probably know her from Instagram.

She's a fashion and textile designer with a degree from Centro Diseno y Cine in Mexico City and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. She was born and raised in Mexico City, and she works on a diverse range of projects within the creative industries, spanning fashion, arts, design, styling, and journalism, all within a completely new creative direction.

She has almost 10 years of experience, and she has developed numerous dynamic design projects that are aimed at fostering and promoting a strong fashion identity for Mexican culture from a contemporary and international perspective.

Let's hear what she has to tell us.

Good morning, Melania. Welcome to the Color Authority. I am super happy for you to be on my podcast.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Thank you so much for inviting me. Thank you for having me. I'm. I'm so happy to be part of it.

Judith van Vliet: It is. It's early morning in Mexico, but I can see you're already in your workplace, so you're already ready to get started. And what's the best moment of the day to start talking about color?

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Basically, you know, I live surrounded by color, as you can see, so I don't know, I think I'm so used to see color at any kind of hour of the day.

I work a lot at night.

So actually, I don't think there's a moment in my day that I don't get to see color. It's always surrounding me.

Judith van Vliet: I've had the same question since the beginning of the podcast. And obviously, because you especially, as you just said, you're surrounded by color each and every moment of your day. What is color to you, Melania?

Melania Chavarría Nuño: You know, it's actually because of that, I think it's a very difficult question for me to answer because, you know, color has become basically everything to me. I don't know if it's because, you know, I'm a fashion designer or because.

Well, actually, no, because there are lots of designers that don't normally use color.

But, you know, to me, thinking as a fashion designer, you kind of have to find your own language. And I think color has become mine.

And even without planning it, it was just a very natural way for me to express myself through design.

I don't know if it has to do. Also because I grew up in a culture like Mexico that we are surrounded by color in every single way, whether it is nature, food, traditions, but, you know, what's funny is that when I was, you know, studying here in Mexico, lots of, you know, friends and people I've met, they actually try to avoid color.

But I've come to discover that actually there are lots of possibilities by using color and even more when it comes to the body, because there's a lot of power in the way we can perceive, I don't know, maybe a silhouette, the body figure.

You can change lots of meanings.

Also, again, because, you know, growing up in a culture that has lots of meanings around color, I try to kind of ask new questions around color, find other ways to, you know, make other color combinations.

I, you know, also when I think of color, I'm never thinking of something like flat. I'm always thinking maybe with color with the texture or maybe color with the silhouette or, I don't know, a fabric.

There are certain colors. I'm always thinking in certain kind of surfaces.

And because of the things that now I'm doing, it's become like even more interesting for me to kind of discover all of the possibilities.

Because, you know, sometimes I hear like somebody saying like, you know, yellow is my favorite color, but I'm always like, what kind of yellow? Because, you know, I discovered that there are so many possibilities that people are, you know, happen to work with very little ideas of color that now I've kind, kind of became obsessed with, you know, finding all of the colors that nobody has ever worked with.

So, you know, it's. It's basically the most important element I get to work with every day. Yeah.

Judith van Vliet: And I think also, even if color, it doesn't always have to be a new color, but it's the combination. Because if you combine pink with a color with whom it's never really often, I mean, it completely changes and then again, the surface, the texture, it's, it is, yeah, it's a never ending game.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Also because, you know, in fashion there are lots of rules.

You know, you would think that when you're working in a creative industry like fashion or even, you know, that I'm related to arts or whatever, you, you get to imagine that, oh, you work with lots of color, you're very free to do that.

But actually there are lots of rules. And I do believe that it's okay to learn the rules, but, you know, to break them. Because, you know, when I was working only with fashion people, they were always like, you can mix this color with this other because it's going to affect maybe the way you're going to look.

You're going to look fatter. Or you're going to look, you know, tired or whatever. But the more. The more I work with color, the more I think that, you know, I.

I totally forget about those things. I don't actually even care if a color affects my skin tone. I don't care if it makes me look like older or younger. I try to forget all of those things.

And I think one of the things that gives you that permission is color. You know, even beyond working with a certain silhouette or with a certain fabric, I think the real, I don't know, the most important element to, and probably the most powerful to change the whole perspective of something.

It's actually color.

Judith van Vliet: Yeah, exactly. And I think that's also me working with so many brands. It's so important that you can change the complete product or a brand by just changing the color. That's.

That's how easy it is to work with color. But a lot of people are afraid of color. Just like you said, I don't like yellow, I don't like green. I'm like, yeah, but which one?

And also, not all greens are the same. Some may actually be very enjoyable for you.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Yeah, also because, like you say, there are lots of meanings that, you know, they are kind of attached to a certain culture.

And that's something I've been trying to kind of promote and trying to fight against at the same time. Because, you know, whenever I propose something for, you know, any kind of project, they're always like, but, you know, maybe this color, people are going to relate it with, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So I, I try to, like, you say, like, okay, when I say green, but you're not maybe thinking the same shade of. Of green. Or maybe we can you mix it with this other color, it's going to look totally different.

So, you know, like you said, there are endless possibilities. It's just so interesting as long as.

Judith van Vliet: People have an open mind. And I think that is the most important thing. And people need to try, you know, it's.

You can't say no in the beginning, you know, no, just try live it. Because that's also. I think you need to live color. You need to feel how a certain color makes you feel on a given day.

It's not making you feel good. Change it, you know, it's not a big deal.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: That's actually something I also try to do with myself, you know, because, of course, when I started, there were so many things I was like, no, there's no way I'm gonna work.

Wear that color. And it was when I just, you Know, started like, okay, but what if I maybe just try, you know? And now I'm. I feel like, you know, I feel so free to work with it.

But there was this kind of very interesting process I went through so that I can, you know, like, I feel very different right now, but it's not that easy. You know, right now, everybody looks at my work, and it's like, yeah, it's so colorful.

But it wasn't that. You know, it wasn't like this from the very beginning. So it takes time.

Judith van Vliet: Exactly. I mean, it's. Now you. You've grown so much, but obviously it took a lot of effort to get where. Where you are right now. Can you tell us a little bit how you fell in love with fashion, which is not an easy market.

Exactly. Like you said. So how do you fall in love in fashion? You get all the rules, like you just said, and. And then you still have to find your own style and then also still become who you are today.

I mean, it's not. It wasn't an easy journey, I imagine.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Oh, and even less when, you know, you grow up in a country like Mexico. Because one of the things I've learned about and that has actually helped me a lot is, to be honest, you know, because this industry is pretty much about.

You know, it sounds like a dream that you. When you get into the industry, it's just never like that. I fell, you know, in love with fashion from a very young age, so there was no other option for me.

I just, you know, felt like, I'm gonna give it a try because I don't see myself doing any other thing. But it was kind of very difficult, you know, to grow up in a country that it's still very young in this kind of industries.

When I started looking for a place, like, to study fashion, it was very, very difficult because the kind of direction that I wanted to have in fashion was not available in Mexico.

The kind of things that I liked were never, you know, the brands that I liked. I didn't find them in Mexico. So it was pretty much like imagining an industry that I didn't know if it was going to be the way I imagined it.

You know, I'm like, that. I like, okay, let's just try. Of course, one of the most important things, and I have to say is that I had lots of support from my family from the very beginning.

So I always felt like, okay, I'm not alone in this kind of journey.

But, you know, one of the most beautiful things at the same time, from, you know, Growing up in a place that has not such a big tradition as European countries in this industry is that I also got to kind of create my own version of fashion in a very wild way, let's say.

So I think that you can see that in my work, like it's a very free version of fashion. I, I get to have fun, you know, still.

So, and, and I, I never grew up surrounded by this kind of industry that has lots of rules and everything. So I kind of was able to, to find my own journey to, to have lots of freedom kind of creating my identity.

As I started discovering fashion through magazines, I think like many other people, you know, and it was a very visual way to kind of get close to this industry. And I started, you know, googling literally the names that I saw on the magazines and you know, trying to understand from my own point of view what was going on and reading all of this, the critics around any collections and you know, so it was a very, I, I think a very innocent way to get in, into this industry.

And of course, you know, as I started growing up and I, I literally took any job opportunity that people gave me, you know, so I started working in magazines because that is also one of the things that work the most in, in Mexico and doing styling and working, you know, for free actually.

But that helped a lot. Yeah, that helped me a lot to, to kind of convince myself that, you know, that was exactly what I wanted to do.

And of course, you know, when I started, you know, starting in a formal way in Mexico, I kind of found out that there were so many things that we didn't have, you know, because the vision of fashion in Mexico has to do with business because, you know, there are many brands that come to Mexico.

So the most of the jobs that you can find here, of course things have changed a lot. Now you can name different Mexican brands, but the truth is that I don't think there is still a strong industry as when you're thinking of, I don't know, of course France or you know, Italy.

We're not there. That's the reality. And even less when you're thinking as a fashion designer because most of the jobs happen to be marketing or again styling or this kind of editorial related jobs.

But I wanted to do something creative. So I had lots of difficulties finding opportunities for me in Mexico. And that's when I started looking for other opportunities for me. And that's when I literally fell in love with the Belgian industry.

Because I think it's a very particular point of view in Fashion a little bit wilder. You know, they are. You know, they're always thinking outside the box. I, you know, again, fell in love through a magazine.

I don't know if you've ever seen these magazines that they used to. To publish the show of magazine that the fashion department created. A few years ago, a teacher in Mexico, when I was studying here, fashion, he gave me that magazine and he.

He told me, I think you need to see this. And that's when I just, you know, fell in love with it. And one of the reasons was because they were so free to work with color that, you know, it's so.

It was.

And I get it, because lots of people think that. I don't know, it is maybe because we are surrounded by. I mean, we're next to one of the most important economies in the world.

So many of the things that have been done and the efforts that have been done in Mexico are related to kind of copy the system that, you know, the US Has.

You know, all schools happen to kind of develop a system like, I don't know, Parsons or. And I always felt like that's not my thing. You know, I want to explore my culture.

And I was always, you know, kind of. I felt the pressure.

And it was. I can even believe I'm saying it, but that's the truth. I was always pressured to kind of look like something else. I was the weird one of my class, you know, because they were always.

I remember back in the day, everybody wanted to be like Alexander ****, and everybody wanted to work with neoprene and do, you know, very minimal. Minimal design and monochromatic things.

And I remember how many difficulties I had when I was doing my graduate collection, because I have, you know, a board of I don't know how many fabrics, and they were like, no, you need to edit all of those things.

So I was having this constant fight of trying to find a place for me to exist, you know, creatively speaking. And when I saw the show of magazine, I just felt like, okay, this is the kind of.

Judith van Vliet: This is it.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Yeah. Also because I think it's very difficult to reach that point where you. When you're able to work with so many references and so many colors, so many textures, and not everybody knows how to help you to go to that place.

And I think Antwerp has that power. You know, they totally get that kind of narrative in fashion. So it was a thing when I went to Antwerp that I was able to kind of find my real voice.

And it was so funny that I actually went so far away to kind of find my voice that was very linked to the culture that I've always been surrounded by, but that many people in Mexico refused to accept.

In a way, you know, been a very personal kind of, like I said at the beginning, a very wide way to understand fashion.

But I. But I like that because, you know, I think the. The more authentic you are, whether it's sooner or later it's going to find, you know, the audience is going to connect with a certain audience.

Yeah, I actually don't know if I can actually say, like, I find. I already find, like, the final way of. Of how my work is going to look. I always think I'm evolving.

So I don't know, it's probably because, like I said, you know, Mexican society is still very.

We're still very divided in this kind of matters. You know, in Mexico, you kind of have to sort of have money to be part of a fashion industry. It is really, you know, seen like that.

And I'm trying to fight to fight against that, you know, because one of the ways that I think fashion is going to work for our culture is when it's going to be open for everybody, you know.

Judith van Vliet: Exactly. But I think that is the case with a lot of products. Just generally, you know, this. I think this exclusivity, I don't know, it's a bit in the past, honestly speaking.

I think there needs to be more diversity, there needs to be more inclusivity. And I think. I think actually you were in one of those countries studying in one of those countries where that could be at the base.

I mean, Belgium, it's. It's a different country than my home country. Although a lot of people think it's very similar. It's not, but it's. It's interesting that you went all the way to Belgium, as you said, to find in the end, or to confirm your style, because it feels like more.

It was confirming who you are, where you come from, what is your authenticity. I think authenticity, by the way, if everybody would just be authentic, I mean, that. That then you are original as well.

What were the lessons that you came back to Mexico with from Belgium? So you went to Belgium, you studied there. What were those big lessons that you said that changed not just the style and being able to be yourself, but also perhaps other lessons that you took in your work?

Melania Chavarría Nuño: You know, one of the Belgium is a before and after in my work, literally. Because I think one of the most difficult things growing up in Mexico is that we have lots of, like I said before, influences from bigger cultures or what we think are bigger cultures than ours.

And we keep on kind of trying to, let's say, copy what others are doing, because we think that's what's valid, you know, and even more when it comes to the creative industries.

So what Antwerp gave me, and the most important thing for me was to discover the power of being you. I was never, ever allowed to say, or to kind of mix my work with someone else's work.

From every single thing, every single creative process, we had to show that every single step was made by. Entirely by us. You know, you could never use an image from anybody else.

And that was something I was not used to. You know, in Mexico, you have all of this, you know, kind of influences, and we're always looking at the outside. So it was the very first time that I started looking, you know, on the inside, you know, to kind of ask myself questions of, you know, what do I feel or what do I think about this certain topic?

I was finally able to say, like, this is the things that worry me that I'm afraid of. This is the kind of things that I'm happy about, and what am I going to do with that?

So I kind of started to find my inner voice that I was never able to use before, and I never felt empowered enough to use it. I was always trying to go with the other.

The topics that were kind of trending. And it was the very first time that I felt that it was important to say what you were really into, you know, and to kind of accept yourself, because there's actually lots of beauty into saying, like, okay, this is a very bright side of me, but there's also a very dark side of me that actually it could be beautiful to work in, to.

To kind of.

To use it as a narrative in design, you know, because Antwerp. I think one of the most beautiful things that Antwerp has given to the fashion industry is the possibility to speak other languages in terms that you're not.

You know, because before Antwerp, I think the whole fashion industry was very interested into the esthetic version of it. You know, you had all of these beauty kind of very feminine narratives.

And Antwerp gave the world this kind of very dark, twisted stories of, okay, there's. There's. There's actually darkness, there's actually pain. There's this very difficult moments we all go through, and there's actually beauty.

And, you know, it's. It's actually even a need as a human being to be able to speak that from that part of you. And growing up in a Very complex culture like Mexico.

It was like a very. It was like a relief for me to know that, you know. Yes, I'm actually, you know, come to Mexico City before, and you can. There's a very bright side, but there are actually lots of troubles, too.

We're also, you know, I grew up in a culture that has these beautiful traditions, and we work with color, but we also talk lots about death and there's violence. And I also felt the need of speaking from that point of view.

And one of the things. Actually, it's very fun to talk about this with you, because one of the things I came up to discover is that what they were most interested in my work was with color.

I never knew I had lots of possibilities that actually color was going to become one of the most important features in my work. But I came to discover that in Antwerp because, you know, I remember these kids coming up from these countries that I looked up like, oh, my God, they do everything perfect, like, you know, Germany or, I don't know, you know, France or whatever.

And all of a sudden they were coming up because there was never. Before me, there was never a student from Mexico. So it was like very, you know.

Judith van Vliet: For them, you were fresh energy. You were.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: They didn't know what to do with me. At the very beginning, they were like, what were you talking about these things? Because they have this kind of cliches in their minds of what everybody thinks Mexico or what a Mexican should look like or should work with.

And when they started looking at the way I was color, combining colors, they were like, can you show me how do you mix this or how do you make these decisions?

And I was like, it was the very first time I started questioning myself, like, how did I actually ended up, you know, with these color combinations? Because before that, I was just doing it, like, casually.

Exactly. Yeah.

Judith van Vliet: Yeah. But I think if you are born and raised in a country like Mexico, it's like innate. I mean, I wrote so many articles about this. Also my late article in Manera magazine, and also another article for Ade, Mexico, Latin America, it's innate.

You have it. And for Europeans, this is like, yes, like, to suck up that energy and to sponge and to try to copy, because I think now the world is sort of upside down.

You know, just like you said, Mexicans look to Europe, they look to the United States thinking it's better. You even have a word for that. But now the whole world is looking at Mexico.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Yeah, it's.

Judith van Vliet: It's so. It's. I mean, it was good it was nice for you also to be then in Belgium and be that, you know, perhaps new energy and to be that special girl, you know, that does things differently.

And it reinforced what you're doing today. Because what you do today, as you say, you use yourself. I mean, yeah, there's fashion designers that are obviously the end of the catwalk.

They come out, they show themselves, and then we finally know who the, you know, they do interviews. That's them. You are there. You use your body, as you said, to communicate and to make connections between what is Mexican culture, street art, also contemporary art, and then fashion and architecture even.

Yeah. How did you come up with the idea to use yourself as your whole person?

Melania Chavarría Nuño: It was practically an accident and practically a necessity for me because when you kind of fell in love with this kind of industries, you're always thinking that you're gonna have fun and it's, you know, all about creativity.

And then as things, you know, start to get formal, you get to realize that actually fashion works as any other industry, you know, and even more when you're again, coming up from a country that has not.

That really doesn't have many possibilities to, you know, to choose from, to work at or whatever. And because, you know, many people ask me, like, why didn't you stay in Belgium or you moved to France?

But one of the things is that I actually found out that I needed to use my voice, creatively speaking, that I was never going to be happy, you know, to be part of a creative team, to be the hundred thousand designer at, I don't know, whatever brand, you name it.

I know there are lots of people that look after that, you know, and all they want. I mean, it's okay. I'm not saying that this is not going to work for everybody.

I mean, that's great. But I actually was able to explore many versions of the fashion industry before, you know, coming back to Mexico. And I just realized that I needed to use my voice.

I needed to kind of even just give it a try, you know, Like, I want to. To know that I'm able to. To have a place where I can express myself.

And I started to have lots of job opportunities here in Mexico, but they were always, like, very.

Judith van Vliet: Yeah.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: The formal side of fashion.

And also because of the kind of. The kind of perspective that I was using in fashion, I was never very. It was not very welcomed here in Mexico. Everybody told me, like, it is too much.

You know, you need to learn to yourself because what you do is never going to sell. And I get it. I Mean, because at the end of the day, you get.

You have to understand that you are part of a country that has many other. I mean, we're still not there where, I mean, people have to work. They need to be comfortable.

You know, the country is. I mean, the city is chaos every day, so people are actually worried about other things before fashion. That's reality. Everybody wants to have. Have, you know, a nice look and whatever, but it's actually impossible when you have so many things to do.

And I get that. So, I mean, to. To think of selling. I mean, and to be able to maintain maybe, I don't know, a brand or whatever that I could live from it was to think that was basically, you know, it was never going to work.

So I just. I just gave it a try. Like, actually, one of the. It was actually in NPREP that they gave me this kind of advices that, you know, because they're actually pretty smart on the way they take every one of the, you know, the people there, and they were always like, you can use yourself because it is very natural for you to express through yourself.

And I was never aware of that because when you have anybody else but you, and because nobody wanted to wear the things that I was doing. And it was a very natural way for me to discover that I was actually kind of my own muse.

Let's just say that because everything. I started working, you know, in fashion as a student, I was always wearing my own things. And they told me, like, whatever you do, wear it, let people see what you're doing, that you're going to be your best kind of advertisement, you know, And I was, you know, I was never aware of that.

So when I came back to Mexico and I was, you know, giving it a try, you know, working here and there, I just felt like, what if I'm. I mean, if nobody's going to buy the things that I'm.

That I designed, then I'm going to do it for myself. And I just, you know, because there was social media, I just felt like, what if I post it? What if I kind of do a kind of diary, a fashion diary of the things I'm wearing every day?

And I never, ever thought that it was going to end up in what it is now, but it was, you know, it was a very. Kind of, like I said, a very accidental way to discover that I was.

Yeah. My kind of my own muse. I don't know even. It was. I don't even think like that. Yeah, it's kind of.

Judith van Vliet: So it's the Closest way to explain it. Yeah, you're your own. I mean, you bring your own expressions throughout yourself. Not necessarily a model or an advertising.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's how it just came up to become what it is right now. You know, what you see on Instagram. But it was never a plan. It was never something that I formally thought of.

It was just something that I felt the need of having this place or this opportunity to keep on expressing myself. And because I felt that I needed to keep on kind of exploring my ideas.

And I just felt like there. There's no other place better than May, you know, because I heard lots of time, you know, that nobody's going to buy what you do.

So I just felt.

Judith van Vliet: In your head.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Yeah, so I just felt like, I mean, okay, but then I'm going to do it for. For myself and. Yeah, but.

Judith van Vliet: But now you have to plan because now, I mean, now people expect like the next post and the next style and where she's going to be the next time, you know, is she going to.

Doing something at Zona Mako? For sure you're going to be at Mako somewhere. But how do you. But how do you now plan that? Like, how do you know what to design, what to wear?

Or is it. I mean, it can't really only be random, right? You have to select, you have to prep. It's a lot of work.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: It's a lot of work. But the truth is, I mean, that is probably one of the questions I get asked the most, you know, like, how is this whole thing working?

And what.

But the truth is that because of how things develop, you know, this whole time is just. It's a very difficult question to answer because there's no answer. You know, what I think about creativity is that you have to keep on finding new possibilities.

I don't like to stay still or to keep on repeating myself. So I actually like to. I mean, this project was.

Was like a miracle for me to discover because everything is different every time. You know, there's actually lots of differences from. You might see there are like the same kind of results of a photo where I am matching, but there's actually not a single.

I mean, some of them are. You know, you can say, okay, these was something similar to this other thing. But the, the funny part from. The fun part for me is that everything is different all of the time.

I actually like to always be, you know, kind of reading, kind of investigating what's coming up. Of course, because, you know, in a fashion, the fashion industry that is actually Something you necessarily, necessarily have to do.

You know, like you. You. You have to understand what the next trend is going to look like or what's coming up in a kind of silhouette or whatever. And I like to.

I like the trend forecast situation. That's something I Do you use color trends?

I don't know if I'm using it as that because I'm actually, you know, as you can see in what I'm doing, I'm mixing my sublots with the way other industries work.

So something that I've discovered is at the end of the day, we're all connected. You know, sometimes I work with artists and they tell me like, no, my. You know, my.

My process is very personal and blah, blah, blah. But at the end of the day, we're all thinking the same way. We're all feeling the same kind of things because we're part of the same situation.

You know, we look at the same things. Yeah. And it doesn't. Right now, I don't think it. I mean, it doesn't matter if you're in Mexico or if you're in India or if you're in whatever.

We're all connected.

So it's. It's very interesting for me to find kind of those connections. But because of how I mix my work with someone else's identity or their narratives, I don't necessarily think that I have to use every single trend.

You know, I don't feel that I have to.

And that's actually one of the most beautiful things for me about this project is that it's way more. I mean, it's so free for me to work from this perspective.

And I feel very, very happy to be able to explore colors or silhouettes that in the fashion industry, it would have never worked, you know, because sometimes it actually. An outfit looks terrible, but really terrible, or the fabric is just.

I mean, you would even be able to wear that. I have so many clothes that you can actually wear that for real. Because it might be a fabric that, I don't know, it's kind of transparent or it's not even a fabric for real.

I actually been able to explore so many other surfaces. Sometimes I embroider things that don't happen to be part of. I mean, you would never, ever even think of to put that in a piece of clothing, you know, So I work with paper, and that's something that Antwerp gave me, you know, because we were constantly pushed to think outside the box, to kind of find other ways to work, you know, with a human body.

Sometimes I use, like I said, paper or cardboard from my very young. From the very first collection I did. I used building materials. You know, I use this kind of wire that they use for electricity, and I made an embroidery with it.

I used lots of plastic. Sometimes people think that that is trash. That is treasure for me, you know, So I don't know. There's not a single process. I do many other things that would be impossible to sell, that would be impossible to think of, you know, to wear for real.

Judith van Vliet: But you can, because you don't have a production, you know.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Yeah. So. Yeah, there's not a single answer. And that's. That's the beautiful part of this project, I think.

Judith van Vliet: Yeah. When you think about. When you come across your next, as you said, your next project, and you're thinking about how you're going to style yourself or your clothing, what's the role of color?

Like, is it already at the beginning? Is it something that, as you said, intuitively comes to you, or is it something that you really, you know, match for? How much possible.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: I think color is actually the most important part of this project, you know, because I think it's actually.

It plays the most. Yeah. I think it's the essential element of what I'm doing because it is the most. It's the thing you see the most of what you can understand the most about, I don't know, a space or an art piece, because sometimes it's a very complex painting, let's say, and I have to decide which color am I going to choose from all of that, you know, that they use.

Judith van Vliet: Yeah.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: And I kind of have to look at it for long so that I can understand, like, okay, maybe if I. If I place myself from this perspective, it's this color that I think is the most important.

But if I look at. From this other perspective is this whole different story. And it's even, you know, when it comes to architecture is the same. And also because I think it's.

I don't know, let's say it's the most. It's the most important visual element when you're also creating, you know, photography in that sense. Because also, I mean, because of the amount of things.

I mean, I'll be honest, because of the amount of things that I'm constantly working it with, I don't have lots of time to build many things as I would like to like to create different fluids.

And so I think color is. Has that power to change the whole. The whole situation of what I'm doing, you know, So I. And I was something I like to do because lots of people tell me, like, how is this working?

Or how do you make these decisions? And because I'm working on social media, people think that I'm always there, but I actually like to experience color and, you know, maybe painting or a sculpture outside the, you know, from looking at, you know, digital life.

Yeah, yeah. I like to go to maybe an exhibition before I'm going to make a match or whatever. Because the way you appreciate color is totally different from the way you're going to end up with a result or whatever.

And sometimes when I'm not able to do that and when I plan whatever outfit, it just doesn't work because you have to see it. You know, that's with color.

Judith van Vliet: You still have to see it.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Yeah, yeah. For me, it's the most important thing also because, you know, color, like we said at the very beginning, changes a lot when it has. For example, I actually started this project with street art, and street art has lots of difficulties because, of course, the lighting changes, like during the whole day.

So you don't know when that artist took a photo of their work. You don't know exactly at what hour they took it. So I actually, when I do this kind of scouting of street art, I have to look at the same exact hour, try to.

To go on the same hour at the same hour. But. But sometimes, I mean that even. It's a whole different story from a day to the other.

Judith van Vliet: Yep.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: So, yeah, I mean, I think color is the most important element in every single way, in every single thing I do, you know, and how you live, even when it comes to fashion and the things I'm doing working with fabrics, it's not the same thing to work with a color in, you know, maybe in wool than in something in patent leather or, you know, something that has kind of silk or whatever.

It's just. It's the most important thing to consider for me.

Judith van Vliet: Yeah. You also work with big brands, of course, that have their brands. They have their strategy, they have their vision.

How do you keep your personal vision, which is very strong in your case particularly, how do you keep that in the project? Or how do you keep. How do you make sure you're not overwhelmed by what is somebody else's strategy in a project?

Melania Chavarría Nuño: You know, what's been very beautiful is because of how different this project has, you know, the difference that it has, you know, when you kind of compare to other creators. I've been very lucky to have that respect from these brands that I never ever thought I would have.

But they normally are very open with what I'm doing and they normally tell me like this is a strategy we have, but we know that you're doing something different so we want to hear something from you, like you, what kind of feedback or what kind of things you would propose.

And that has been very beautiful because I feel that made me feel very empowered that, you know, there are other brands that sometimes come and they have their very clear vision of what they do.

And now I know that I have the power of saying I'm not going to be part of this because we're never going to match, you know. But I think it's very important to, to get to understand the language of the things you're doing.

I think that might be one of the most difficult things to do as a creative because to defend your point of view, to work with these very big brands like you say is always a challenge.

But I like that. I like the challenge of mixing my language not even with brands, but also with artists that normally happen to have a very particular point of view or with designers or with architects.

Yeah, I've been very lucky that this project has been very particular for them. And normally I have lots of freedom. They are normally very open minded to get to hear what I want to do or what.

That's my point of view. I, yeah, I have lots of support right now from the creative community.

I, right now I don't have many difficulties in that sense. Yeah. So I think it's a bit of learning how to respect who you are, but also get to understand.

I normally do lots of investigation of what the brand values are. I normally try to look after the kind of posts or the kind of products they sell if it's going to match the kind of colors that I use.

Like a few months ago a brand came by and they told me like, we're going to do this product in this kind of colors and you work with colors. And when I saw it was like, it's not the kind of colors I work with.

It's not going to be. I mean, it's not going to work for you. It's not going to work for me. But I normally happen to, to, to be very aware of the things that I'm going to say yes to or no to.

And I have lots.

Judith van Vliet: It's again, it comes back to your authenticity. Right. Doing what is authentic to who you are and who you are as a person and as a fashion designer. Your, your online life, as you said, it was like from one moment, boom, you know, it exploded and it changed.

I'm sure it changed many aspects in your life. How do you balance, you know, you need to create, which is, I mean, we're both content creators. You much more than I even.

It's like sometimes you're just like, how am I going to get to the next, you know, content?

How do you balance that with also your personal life and your personal needs in life.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: This is my whole life. You know, when you get in this kind of industries, you really have to understand that it's going to be your entire life around this. You really have to love this because there's no other way you'd be able to work in these industries.

You have to do basically everything.

So for me, there's no, there's not a moment where I feel like I'm, you know, because I'm always making new ideas. I'm always trying to. To solve things. You know, even when I'm doing some, maybe eating or sleeping, I'm always thinking of these things, but I actually like it.

But, you know, actually when it comes to thinking of kind of becoming a public figure, if that's something to say, it was very challenging because, you know, as you said before, fashion designers, yeah, they might have this kind of public profile, but you don't necessarily have to have it like it is through your work that you kind of show yourself to the world.

Exactly. You know, and I was trained like that. And even more, you know, when it comes to Antwerp, like the whole vibe is to have like a low profile. You know, you have all of these names like, you know, Martin, Margiela, you know, so everybody has this very low profile.

Yeah. And they all have this, this very kind of a life outside the public eye, you know.

Judith van Vliet: Yeah.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: And I don't know if you can even imagine that, but I actually like that, you know, I haven't. I happen to have a very private lifestyle. I.

I like to share what I do and even more because I've seen that it actually, I mean, I get to receive lots of beautiful messages from people. One of the reasons why I maintain, maintained myself in this project is because I think that there's a very big need in Mexico to promote this kind of industries.

And I really get lots of motivation from people hearing their stories. Sometimes I get messages from people telling me that they had a loss or they many stories and that what I do, you know, makes them feel better or whatever.

And, you know, I get to hear lots of kids telling me that they want to study fashion because they see what I do. And these kind of things really get me because I was one of them one day.

You know, I never found someone closely like, you know, growing up in a place that we don't have many people, you know, related to these industries, you're inspiring people.

It's beautiful to know that you're able to inspire people. It's been very difficult for me to kind of maintain myself in that sense because sometimes, of course, when I'm, you know, at a museum or these kind of places where I can find the people that follows me, they come and they ask me for a photo.

Wait a minute. I don't even know how to react or what to do because I was never trained for that. I was never intended to have this kind of public profile.

And now I'm a bit more used to have interviews and to give my point of view on whatever, but I normally just do what I have to do. I see this as work, but I actually have a very private lifestyle.

I like to. I spend most of the time alone, literally. I like to go to museums alone. I work most of the time alone. So I kind of try to find a balance between the things that I.

I feel com. You know, comfortable with and the things I have to do because of this project. And I think to find that balance has been very important. And that has, you know, has.

Has given me the opportunity to maintain myself kind of in a good way or in a positive way to keep on going with. With this project because. And yes, of course, there's a lot of pressure.

You know, you. You see all of these trends, discourse, these fads that comes up, you know, being part of social media, there's a lot of pressure. And you kind of.

Because at the end of the day, I work with a brand and they kind of put myself next to a creator that I get to, you know, I. Sometimes I'm like, I have nothing to do with these people.

You know, they're all the same. And I'm completely different to him, you know, so I feel so out of place, you know, normally, but that I also think, you know, I like to see on the bright side that this is the only project they're, you know, considering for this kind of campaigns or, you know, that they're also giving an opportunity to a person that it's so different to this kind of people or whatever.

So I try to look at the bright side of things because I actually enjoy a lot. And I think that I've been very lucky to be able to find a thing that I started doing because of the love that I have for, for creativity, for fashion, for design, and to get paid for it is just amazing, you know, so.

So I think it's a bit of everything. And I've always said that the moment I don't feel that I want to keep on doing this, I'm 100% to stop it.

You know, I don't feel that pressure.

I work in many other things. I still work in editorial. I, you know, I'm able to do other things. So I don't feel the pressure of, you know, staying here for forever.

Let's just say no.

Judith van Vliet: No. As long as you're having fun and you're enjoying it, this is obviously where you're supposed to be. Thank you so much for sharing your joy, your energy, and obviously you're an inspiration for so many out.

So I think that already, that's already on the positive side, as you said. So thank you also so much for sharing your story with the Color Authority.

Melania Chavarría Nuño: Thank you so much. I really, you know, I feel so honored to be part of this podcast. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share what I do, and I hope people get inspired by these things.

We were talking.

Judith van Vliet: Thank you for listening to another podcast of the Color Authority. I hope you enjoyed it. Please rate, comment and feedback the show. This is now a beautiful option on most podcast directories.

So let us know what you think and next month we will come back to you with another colorful episode.