Laila Chaaban
Laila Chaaban Iduate is a Fashion Designer with the mission to help to create a Cuban style and put the country in the international fashion map. After the Cuban revolution private factories were nationalized (as her great-grandfathers), and there was no space in this new reality for fashion, the production was dedicated to practical goods; like this, the Cuban fashion sense and national style disappeared. This is the world where she grew up, in a place where people dressed in foreign visual values, where fashion didn't exist. But while she was studying industrial design at the Superior Design Institute (Isdi), the only design school in Cuba, a few things changed. A series of new laws were introduced that permitted private citizens to own businesses; this was a game-changer because now she could have her brand and surrender to her childhood fantasies. She changed majors and specialized in fashion design in the same school. She opened her atelier in 2019 and has worked devoted to this project since then.
The Brand
Capicúa means head and tail. It is an old word with magical meanings in the Celtic tribes of northern Spain. Refers to numbers and words read the same from left to right and from right to left. Capicúa is a brand that wants to try to do things differently. It has a number of rules to ensure sustainability and solve the problems they see in the fashion industry. Each piece is unique. It uses wax fabrics that come in thousands of different prints. When they cut the pattern, they layer different prints, and the result is an uncostly way of doing unique garments. Only fabric. They don't use any accessories; the pieces are only made of 1 type of fabric. This ensures that it will be easy and cheaper to recycle. Zero waist pattern. They use a self-made patterning technique to create pieces of clothing that have no waist to use all of the carbon footprint created in the production of the fabrics. Natural fibers. Coming from the tropics, the use of polymer materials is unthinkable. Flexible sizes. The pieces are designed to englobe at least a 12cm difference in measurements. The human body, especially the female body, is not a strict form, and the clothing should adapt to you and your natural hormonal changes. Dopamine rush. They to do happy/vibrant clothing, visible from miles, colorful as the place they come from. It's a timeless design. The garments are not trending; they have characters and personalities of their own. Timeless design is not simple to design; it is designed with character and doesn't go out of style. Clean construction. The inside of the garment has to be as pretty and clean as the outside. Capicúa takes inspiration in color and prints, in being fun, in being extravagant, in being noticed. The print is a significant cultural heritage for Cubans, and color is something we well know and are not afraid to use; a Cuban dressed in black is rare. But gravity is the major inspiration for how this bi-dimensional material reacts to body, movement, and planet. Everything changes when you let it react to its surroundings. Capicúa wants to explore and experiment and thinks fashion should be a fun experience. Question everything and try to answer with: what if...and see how it goes. Ask like a kid, and don't set anything for granted.
Reseña Capicúa soy yo, Laila Chaaban, graduada de Diseño Industrial, especializada en vestuario del Instituto Superior de Diseño en La Habana, Cuba. Fundé Capicúa en 2019 para tener un espacio de creación libre.
Perfil de la Marca Capicúa es un nombre singular, directamente relacionado con el concepto de la empresamisma. Cap (cabeza) y Cúa (cola) representan un ciclo cerrado, donde el principio es el finde manera continua.El concepto de diseño sigue esa línea cíclica, donde los parámetros básicos son cerodesperdicios, tallaje flexible, cero uso de accesorios, tejidos 100% algodón y piezas únicas.Se trata de la moda lenta, una filosofía de consumo responsable. Diseño estás piezasporque quiero que seas vista, inconfundible, única.
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