The Midriff Blog

Fashion = Art: Our Interview with Arte-Puro

Posted by Cameron on Jun 26, 2012 in That Looks Awesome

Arte-Puro is a fashion house in Brooklyn. Their striking and unique style mixed with their practical approach to sustainable fashion is exactly the type of independent spirit we like to champion. Their pieces are beautiful, equal parts applied fashion and high art. We dig it and think you will too. Clayton interviewed the Leonor Aispuro half of Arte-Puro. Find out more about local designers and support independent fashion… you’ll look better.

Q. Can you give me some background as the where, and how you got started in NY?

A. Arte-Puro is a combination of our last names , Uriarte and Aispuro, which translates to “Pure Art”. Originated in Phoenix, Arizona in the Fall of 2005, after seeing some success, but feeling like there wasn’t much of a fashion industry there, my cousin Emilie and I decided to move to New York to continue to pursue and expand our business. Soon after coming here we found boutiques to carry our product and started working with photographers and doing collaborations with other artists.

- How do you, as an independent designer, stay current with the erratic attention span of taste-makers in a city like NY. Staying current with not only what is hip, but then seasons, etc?

I personally am more inspired by classic, vintage fashion as well as construction and by nature and natural fibers. Most of our collections follow the same format. In that sense, I don’t follow “fast” fashion trends and mostly work with vintage and dead stock, and natural fabrics. We usually do two small collections per year and try to stick to simple cuts and designs.

- Have you found a community of support in your craft? Is it as competitive as the other art- like music, photo etc?

There definitely is more of an awareness for sustainable and “slow” fashion now, in the US (specifically NY), than there was before. The fashion industry is extremely competitive, not only in New York, but also nationwide as well as globally. Our biggest challenge has been trying to change the industry in the sense that we don’t want to over produce. Although I believe in outsourcing works for some, bringing awareness to the low cost- not-so-glamorous side of fashion is what we struggle with on the daily.

- What are you, personally, doing that you wouldn’t be able to offer to a major line. What are your intentions besides what you think looks best in your lines?

Aside from the design and construction aspect of our collections, we try to mainly focus on creating a sustainable, classic product. Consumer’s idea of fashion is usually to purchase without awareness of what fabrics are being used or where the product is being produced and it’s mostly a trend that dies within a few weeks to a few months. With Arte-Puro we are trying to create a long-lasting and classic product that defies “trends”. Another major important part of our company is to work within the community. We recently collaborated with “Weaving Hand” a Brooklyn based company that works with people with disabilities as part of a healing arts project. To travel to communities around the world that have developed textiles for generations to maintain their traditions, and most importantly, to bring awareness [to these communities].

- With fashion being so subjective, and everyone considering themselves an “expert” where does what you create differ from what someone else deems as unique, simply because of exclusivity?

Everything we create, currently, is one-of-a-kind and/or made to order. Our textiles are unique and we definitely do our research before we produce, if this means traveling to villages and learning about weaving techniques and natural dyeing process, or searching for production within our neighborhood. We aren’t trying to create the most avante garde pieces, just wearable, beautiful, classic art that is pure, with a main focus on our textiles and production.

For more info, to order and to contact Arte-Puro or to see more galleries and their latest line check out their website at arte-puro(dot)com