Hey, I’m Zara Shanzay! Welcome to the second letter of “It’s a Woman’s World!” Today we will be looking at designers from Mexico and learning about the incredible impact of these three talented fashion designers: Carla Fernández, Regina Soto, and Josefa Ibarra. I hope that you learn something new from the three women below, and that we can follow their mission to create a more beautiful world.

To begin, Carla Fernández is a fashion designer, a business woman, and a global activist. Fernández has been a leading member of the ethical fashion movement for several years, and uses her art to advocate for decolonisation, environmental sustainability, intersectionality and social justice.

She collaborates with over 200 artists across Mexico in order to help preserve traditional heritage of Mexico’s vibrant indigenous communities including mestizo, Afro-Mexican, and many more communities through her brand, and employs them to create for her brand. Her style blends avante-garde, unconventional and experimental art with traditional craftsmanship, and her advocacy for sustainable sourcing practices is apparent in all of her work

In 2018, Fernández published her manifesto titled “Fashion as Resistance" at Victoria & Albert in London, as well as original pieces from her five collections that displayed the designer's dedication to advocate on social justice, from environmental production, to advocate against exploitation of workers in the fashion industry, and so much more. There are 10 main subjects in her manifesto which I will link here. It has the names of all the artists who worked with Fernández on her collection “Fashion in Resistance" along with her main philosophies for her mission. This was an incredible read, and there are so many points which were so beautifully conveyed. I highly suggest everyone read and implement what Fernández wrote.

She wants the fashion industry to be redesigned in order for garments to not end up in landfills, and describes these high-end corporations as “bloodsucking transnational corporations” whose mass production is incredibly detrimental to the planet. She wants the exploitation of workers in the fashion industry to be eradicated and for the idea of luxury to come from the craft of being handmade. She welcomes creativity and purely authentic, human made work.

Carla is a phenomenal designer, but an even more influential activist who is redesigning the fashion industry to be more ethical and authentic. Her brands locations are in Mexico City and Mérida, and she also has her online shop at the Carla Fernández Official Website, where you can shop her and hundreds of other artists handmade pieces.

Sources for Carla Fernández:

“Carla Fernández.” Art21, https://art21.org/artist/carla-fernandez/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2026.

“Manifesto.” Carla Fernandez, https://en.carlafernandez.com/pages/manifesto. Accessed 23 Sept. 2026.

“The Business of Fashion.” The Business of Fashion, https://www.businessoffashion.com/people/carla-fernandez-tena/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2026.

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Next, we will be looking at the work of Josefa Ibarra. Josefa lived from 1919 to 2010 and is known as the “mother of Mexican fashion design.” Her designs showcased traditional Mexican style and elements mixed with modern functional designs on a global haute couture stage.

She began to design her own clothing during the late 1950s, and her work was discovered by a couple who ran a concession stand in Disneyland. She produced clothing for them in a small shop. It is important to note that her clothing was never mass produced and she employed local women to create them. She also taught young girls how to sew. Her and her business partner, Ana Villa built their brand called El Aguila Descalza (translated in English to The Barefoot Eagle) and they opened several retail stores across Mexico in the 1960s and 70s.

British-American Actress, Elizabeth Taylor, discovered Ibarra’s shop and became a decade long customer. Josefa Ibarra exported her garments and designs to high end chains in Mexico, The United States, and overseas beyond that. Her designs attracted famous clients like Diana Ross, Nancy Reagan, and many more. Ibarra also became the first Mexican designer whose work was featured on the cover of Vogue Paris.

Josefa Ibarra retired from fashion design in the late 1980s, and is remembered for bringing Mexican fashion to a global stage and introducing indigenous Mexican fashion to the fashion industry.

Sources for Josefa Ibarra:

Fan Attic, Vintage. “Josefa - Vintage Fashion Guild.” Vintage Fashion Guild, 13 Apr. 2023, https://vintagefashionguild.org/resources/item/label/josefa/.

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The last designer we will be learning about is Regina Soto. Soto is a senior design manager at Someone Somewhere which became the first ever Mexican manufacturing firm that is certified for being “climate neutral.” This means that their firm reduces carbon emissions and aims to cut their carbon emissions to zero. After becoming a fashion designer, Regina began to realize how much waste is generated by the fashion industry and her goal is to reduce this to create more environmentally friendly fashion.

Soto’s designs are made with fabric that she makes by hand in traditional looms. This process is vital to producing her climate friendly garments. Moreover, the clothing she designs and makes is meant to last in order to avoid clothing from ending up in land fills like mass produced fast fashion.

Similar to Carla, Regina employs indigenous artists from across Mexico who have had their techniques passed down for hundreds of years. They create all their clothing by hand in order not to create energy waste. A majority of these artists are women. Soto believes that embracing tradition yet simultaneously enhancing preserved techniques is important.

Regina Soto is a fashion designer who is making incredible breakthroughs in the fashion industry in order to preserve both cultural traditions as well as to preserve and protect the environment. One way to follow in her footsteps is to upcycle old fashion and clothing and join local programs in your community that work to combat the climate crisis.

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Sources for Regina Soto:

Baptista, Diana. “Mexican Designer Cuts Waste With Fashion From Indigenous Artisans.” Context.News, Context, May 2023, https://www.context.news/just-transition/mexican-designer-cuts-waste-with-fashion-from-indigenous-artisans.

Thank you so much for reading the second letter of It’s a Woman’s World! I hope you learned something new and inspiring. Tune in next Sunday, when we will be in Guatemala, learning about fabulous designers from this vibrant country. Follow me @zaraxshanzay on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, to see my newest videos and projects.

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