Esteban Tamayo is the artistic thoughts behind Tiempos, an up-and-coming Mexican vogue model that has caught the eye of celebrities from the likes of Bella Hadid to Jhay Cortez.
Regardless of solely launching Tiempos a couple of years in the past, Esteban’s ties with vogue started nearly a decade in the past. With a background in product design and a ardour for model constructing, Esteban has made a reputation for himself within the Mexican vogue trade with a wealthy portfolio of private initiatives and collaborations with main retailers.
His former model, Prepared To Die, has earned him each native and worldwide acclaim whereas granting Esteban the chance to work with names reminiscent of Virgil Abloh. It’s additionally due to his skilled relationship with considered one of Mexico’s largest vogue retailers that led to the manifestation of NeoCity, which is now probably the most worthwhile but reasonably priced streetwear label within the nation.
Hypebeast had an opportunity to interview the multi-talented, Mexican artistic at his studio, the place Esteban shares his inspirations, imaginative and prescient for modern vogue, and plans for the close to future.
How did you first get into design?
There wasn’t a lot design or artwork the place I got here from. I used to be first inclined to check structure due to an architect uncle of mine. I bear in mind going to his home after I was younger, and that’s the place I first bought my first strategy to design. By the point I used to be purported to go to school, I lastly did some analysis myself, and that’s after I came upon what being an industrial designer meant. I used to be captivated by it – not simply the artistic facet, but in addition the manufacturing aspect of it. So then I made a decision that’s what I needed to check and concentrate on. Finally, I ended up transferring to Mexico Metropolis and that’s the most effective choices I’ve ever made.
Although you’re employed in vogue, you appear to have a robust affection for chairs. Why is that?
I’m devoted to vogue as a result of future took me right here and I’m glad about it. However considered one of my major passions has all the time been furnishings design, chairs particularly. Designing a chair is sort of like designing a constructing – it’s probably the most collectible piece of furnishings in a home. Whether or not it’s faculty chairs, lounge chairs, or workplace chairs, it’s fascinating how a single object will be re-interpreted in so many alternative methods. The operate stays the identical however the aesthetics will be distinctive. I simply love designing and accumulating chairs.
So how did you get into vogue design?
Ever since I used to be a child, I’ve all the time been concerned about promoting stuff. My household has all the time been promoting jewellery, and I knew I needed to discover ways to promote luxurious objects from a younger age. Throughout my highschool days, I even grew to become a vendor for TOMS, the shoe model. I used to go to individuals’s places of work to promote sneakers and watches, amongst different issues.
After I bought into industrial design, that’s after I realized I might be promoting my creations. I began with wood iPhone circumstances – again then when that was a pattern – and I bought them beneath my first model Lumberjack. In a while, I additionally designed a single-cut, folding pockets with no stitches on it. That was the primary creation I made and designed as a school scholar, and at this time we nonetheless promote that piece as a part of Tiempos, my present model. I did a solar-powered LED jacket for a college challenge as properly, which contributed to my journey into vogue.
Finally, I got here up with a graphic t-shirt, “Mexico Metropolis by Prepared To Die.” We made 100 of these they usually bought like sizzling pancakes. It was about embracing and representing native tradition, whereas additionally being influenced by US streetwear labels, and that was all manner earlier than Mexico Metropolis was as sizzling as it’s at this time. We then produced our first cohesive assortment known as Outsider with native producers and suppliers, and it was a success. New alternatives began arriving and I bought to know the industrial aspect of vogue. I bought hooked on storytelling and what makes a model profitable past its merchandise.
Alberto Leal @betunka
Alberto Leal @betunka
Alberto Leal @betunka
Do you see your self as a clothier?
I’ve by no means thought of myself a clothier. That’s why I’ve by no means had a namesake model as a result of individuals would instantly affiliate it with me. What pursuits me probably the most are the tales behind the manufacturers. As a artistic director, my position is to information the model and make strategic choices to assist it obtain its targets. I consider everybody who interacts with the model helps construct the model. It’s meant for the person, not the designer. When somebody wears considered one of our items, pictures them, and even types them, they’re constructing our model too.
How did you begin constructing Tiempos?
My earlier model, Prepared To Die, was ending up a serious collaboration with the Mexican sneaker model Panam. There was a lot success that got here from it in such a brief interval, and we couldn’t deal with it. We had been engaged on RTD for over 5 years at that time, however we weren’t ready for that stage of demand. Then the massive earthquake in Mexico Metropolis occurred in 2017, and we needed to vacate our constructing. I used to be actually unhappy after we needed to shut the model down.
After that, I went to work on an reasonably priced streetwear-inspired label known as NeoCity for Coppel, a Mexican retailer, which is likely one of the most profitable manufacturers within the nation at this time. Their merchandise are bought in over 1,800 shops with all the pieces from T-Shirts to sneakers, and equipment. Inspirations-wise, it’s just about the identical as any streetwear label, however with costs which might be far more reasonably priced for the native market. Engaged on NeoCity feels very very like getting a grasp’s diploma for me, as I’ve discovered how you can take care of manufacturing, logistics, and finance, firsthand.
By that time, I used to be already desirous about launching a brand new model, as I didn’t wanna be out of the sport. But it took me about three years to lastly do it. At first, it was purported to be Tiempos by Tamayo, however I wasn’t certain about placing my identify on it despite the fact that we already finalized a brand and it even had a private which means behind it. Finally, we determined to go by the model identify Tiempos and redid the entire model id. Simply when issues had been beginning to take form, COVID occurred. I assumed that meant the loss of life of my model, once more. I clung to it towards all odds and was decided to make it work out this time. I additionally needed to change the complete manufacturing plan and technique, which was initially based mostly in China, and began working with native suppliers as an alternative.
As of at this time, Tiempo has launched a whole assortment, established its very personal on-line retailer, and is at the moment constructing its first brick-and-mortar store.
Alberto Leal @betunka
Alberto Leal @betunka
Alberto Leal @betunka
New and rising manufacturers have a tendency to return and go.
Right this moment it’s very easy to provide a T-Shirt, take an image and easily begin promoting on Instagram. However that can be the explanation why so many manufacturers emerge and disappear in a single day. Our identify Tiempos, which means “time” in Spanish, comes from my realization that it takes time to construct a stable model from scratch. Creating an id, choosing supplies, and finally releasing a group, take much more time than most individuals assume. I’ve bought long-term targets and I’m decided to realize them, and that’s one of the precious issues I discovered from Virgil.
How did you find yourself assembly and collaborating with Virgil Abloh?
I’ve all the time seemed as much as him. One of many first issues I observed about Off-White was that it’s a Milan-based model, however based by a Chicago native, and with a flagship retailer in Hong Kong. We met again in 2017 when he performed on the Ceremonia competition in Mexico Metropolis. I used to be accountable for internet hosting and exhibiting him across the metropolis. We threw a welcome occasion for him and we ended up turning into shut mates. In a while, he invited me to contribute some design work for Off-White and that’s when he launched me to his staff. Finally, I had the possibility to go to the Louis Vuitton headquarters in Paris when he was appointed as creative director and the remaining is historical past. These experiences will eternally stick with me, they usually have helped form my imaginative and prescient. I would really like for Tiempos to be the primary Mexican luxurious model with retail spots all around the world.
What are your ideas on skate tradition’s affect on vogue?
It took manner an excessive amount of time for luxurious manufacturers to embrace skate tradition. Different subcultures like punk had been welcome within the luxurious world manner earlier than skateboarding was. The Supreme x Louis Vuitton collaboration was an enormous turning level – from then on skateboards have been showing in main runway reveals and even being acknowledged as an Olympic sport these days. I consider that’s one of the highly effective methods vogue and tradition have influenced one another in recent times.
What in regards to the hyperlink between vogue and tradition?
The way in which I see it, vogue has all the time been a mirrored image of tradition. Main manufacturers reminiscent of Louis Vuitton or Gucci have documented main occasions in European tradition through the years, a lot that they’ve change into archives of themselves. I would really like for Tiempos, and the Mexican vogue trade to replicate on our native tradition as properly. I’m unsure if this aim will ever be achieved, but it surely’s one thing I’m engaged on.
Alberto Leal @betunka
Your ideas on social media?
Posting daily on social media is just not an important factor to me. I’d quite be partaking in deep conversations over time, than posting shallow day by day content material. I want to take a slower, extra aware path to speaking our model messages and philosophies. That being stated, I’m glad to see when somebody like Bella Hadid wears a chunk from our very first assortment.
Are you able to elaborate a little bit extra about Tiempos’ aesthetics?
I’ve all the time favored the retro-futuristic aesthetic. I used to be born within the ‘90s and I bought to expertise the growth of the web again then. The Matrix film impacted me a lot after I was a baby that I even used to have nightmares about it. The late ‘90s aesthetic was based mostly on predicting the long run, and a few of these predictions are not fantasies. We’re residing in that future now. That’s why the colour palettes and suits we selected for Tiempos’ first assortment are a mixture of present and nostalgia.
The one method to put your self within the current second is to research the previous and challenge the long run. That’s how main manufacturers determine what colour, what material, and what match a garment must be. It proves the relevance of vogue in modern tradition, and that’s what the time period, imaginative and prescient means.
What do you assume are the most important challenges for Mexican manufacturers to realize international recognition?
First, we have to know who we’re and perceive what luxurious actually means. For example, French and Italian vogue has a wealthy historical past and custom in luxurious, and it merely simply is sensible for them. Sadly, that’s not the case in Mexico, and we can not count on a Mexican model to do the identical as a result of it simply doesn’t make sense right here. Manufacturing traces are totally different, distribution channels are totally different, and even our clients behave otherwise. We have to produce one thing genuine and unique, whereas additionally being a mirrored image of actuality. When a model has a transparent id and a function behind it, the product will converse for itself, and the individuals will acknowledge these attributes. No one likes being faux.
Are you hopeful about Mexican manufacturers breaking into the worldwide market?
Liberal Youth Ministry, made in Guadalajara, is the one Mexican label carried by CDG group in Dover Avenue Market areas around the globe. I sincerely admire them, they usually’ve confirmed that native manufacturing will be as much as worldwide requirements, as they’re even manufacturing for different main luxurious manufacturers. I consider international markets are recognizing the distinctiveness of Mexican vogue, due to its enchantment to clients who’re used to luxurious manufacturers, and producing high quality clothes is just the tip of the iceberg.
What do you assume are the most important hardships for the Mexican vogue trade?
Due to my partnership with Coppel, I’ve discovered plenty of issues that aren’t taught in vogue faculties in Mexico. So many new designers have revolutionary concepts and the manufacturing trade is large right here, however each of those worlds have by no means correctly collided to create one thing exceptional collectively, and that’s a serious difficulty. Native manufacturers wrestle with manufacturing day by day and a few of them can not fulfill the calls for of the market. There are additionally trade requirements that haven’t been adopted by smaller, unbiased manufacturers but.
Not like in Europe or the US, there may be not a vogue conglomerate that invests in up-and-coming designers in Mexico. There are not any faculty majors centered on vogue manufacturing, retail, or distribution both. A designer’s job isn’t the identical as a retailer’s, as they require totally different expertise, whereas most new designers don’t even know how you can produce and promote their items.
I’ve taken different jobs to collect the funds to construct my initiatives. I’ve additionally skilled working for sportswear and streetwear manufacturers, which have given me a broader perspective on the trade. I consider that there are very gifted Mexican designers right here, however the trade as an entire has not caught up with the market’s calls for, and that’s additionally an awesome alternative for anybody keen to sort out it.
Alberto Leal @betunka
Alberto Leal @betunka
Alberto Leal @betunka
May you inform us extra about Tiempos’ upcoming flagship retailer?
We’re very enthusiastic about it. We’ve been engaged on this area alongside an structure studio known as Sala Hars, and the proposal displays what Tiempos is as a model. It’s our first retailer and I’m not intending for all our shops to be the identical sooner or later. We’re planning the opening round February 2023 within the Juarez neighborhood in Mexico Metropolis. It’s going to be extra like a vogue home – with the shop on the primary ground, the workplace on the second ground, the artistic studio and sartorial division on the following ground, and the highest ground can be my habitat. We’re additionally contemplating promoting different manufacturers’ merchandise which might be in step with our values. The area can be fully modular and that may give us the liberty to vary it in keeping with its totally different wants. That is necessary to me as a result of I take into account myself a multidisciplinary creator, and I would really like for Tiempos to be multidisciplinary as properly.
As a multidisciplinary creator, how do you juggle all your initiatives?
I delegate lots. I work inside a staff and I’m not egocentric with my concepts. That is one thing I’ve discovered from being a artistic director during the last 6 months. I’ve outlined what my position means and what it entails as properly. If I foresee that I received’t have sufficient time to sit down and design at this time, I encourage my staff to work on and contribute their unique concepts to assist take the model additional forward. I can’t be anxious about each single little element, however I do have to have a worldwide imaginative and prescient of what the model represents as we aspire to be a worldwide model.
How did you get Bella Hadid to put on your debut assortment?
When individuals ask me that query I all the time inform them that the one purpose these issues are potential is that I’ve been doing this for ten years. Six years in the past I met a man who was an assistant for a stylist good friend of mine, at this time he’s styling Bella Hadid and had reached out simply on the time we launched Tiempos. It’s like a domino impact – massive issues occur while you least count on them. I additionally consider stylists play a serious position within the vogue trade and typically they go by unacknowledged. They’re those who determine what to function in editorials, concert events, music movies, and on TV reveals, they’re principally what DJs was once within the music trade.
Alberto Leal @betunka
