I had a perfectly splendid New York Sunday; brunch at the Mercer, shopping in Soho, a walk through Chelsea, Thai food in Williamsburg, and then a few blocks away from my house I saw this great gate casting these wonderful shadows and I just couldn’t help myself……Guadalupe eat your heart out!
We are often asked- “are you a religious company?” The answer is no; whether we call ourselves Catholic or Buddhist, those are personal choices and do not reflect the essence of the brand. What is true for each of the incredibly fierce and talented women that make up the VSA team, is that we all believe strongly in the power of the ancient symbols we use in our designs. We are inspired by the Virgin of Guadalupe, fascinated with the history of the San Benito, and drawn to the iconic symbol of Our Lady of Miracles.
For those of us that have had the good fortune to experience life in San Miguel de Allende, the colonial town in the heart of Mexico where VSA grew up, these symbols and icons are a part of daily life. A hand painted Guadalupe, adorned with plastic flowers and candles, greets me as I turn the corner for tacos. Tucked carefully into the edge of a mirror above the driver on my local bus are two pictures, Mary and his mother; the two most precious women in the world. I have yet to see an auto shop in Mexico without an altar up on the wall; a smiling Guadalupe lit with a tiny blue bulb offers encouragement to hard working men alongside scantily clad calendar girls. Basically what I’m saying is; these people wear their religion on their sleeve, it’s in their hand-shakes, it’s everywhere. It’s not so much ‘practiced’ as ‘celebrated’ and it’s hard not to be influenced by it!
With this year’s spring collection we decided to fully embrace our Catholic influence. We focused on the idea of the Last Supper, looking back at other interpretations of this famous feast, from da Vinci to Dave Lachapelle and asked ourselves…..what would you wear? Featuring some seriously insane crosses and super long earrings, the Resurrection Collection is all about the bling! That bling being Swarovski sparkle; once again VSA uses Swarovski Elements in an unlikely and innovative way.
A big inspiration for this collection was the ‘Cholo’ style so prominent in Mexican urban youth culture. I don’t mean the starched bandanas and facial tattoos, but there is something about some of the young men and women; the exaggerated lip-liner and easy nonchalance, that radiates an unlikely glamor. I call this particular kind of glamor ‘cholo-chic’, Ms Gwen Stefani rocks it oh so well! and of course playing a little gangster rap while you’re at the design table is bound to influence things!
Dave Navarro rocks VSA! Rihanna wears VSA!
Photo by Billie Danger
Madonna has always been one of the sexiest and most notorious cross-bearers. When I saw Madonna’s Video for ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’ featuring M.I.A and Nicki Minaj I had to pause and re-pause; I was so sure she was wearing the Resurrection Cross Pendant! Then at the launch for her new fragrance, which I am dying to get a whiff of, I did a double take again! Clearly the Resurrection Collection has Madge written all over it!
Madonna and Lourdes wear VSA, the Royal Collection no less!
We had so much fun doing the photo shoot for this collection! We are such an international team and are so rarely all in the same place, but we managed to get quite a few of us together for this! Here it is again; The Black Supper.
From left: Alejandra (production manager) Lisa (CFO) Rachel (west coast sales) Guadalupe (Swarovski Mexico) Maggie (owner/designer Talula de la Lune handbags) Mariana (owner/designer Totem Bowls) MaryCarmen (finance department) Cheryl (owner/designer VSA) Lucia (Art Director) Jimena (Finance department) Molly (Mexico retail manager) Talulah (VSA heiress!) Mercedes (designer/PR& Media) Pancho (best dog ever!!)
We all saw a brand new side of Ale, was it the hair? the heels? Whatever it was it suited her and we all wish she’d dress like this for the office!
I would love to hear your comments! Have you had your hands on the Resurrection collection yet? Which piece are you dying to try? What do you think of our interpretation of the Last Supper? and most importantly……what would you wear?!
xM
P.S Jim Lewis wrote a great article on glamor in the latest issue of W magazine, if you missed it read the full article here.