Where is Mexican fashion criticism?

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Text by: Carlos Didjazaá

Fashion criticism laid the foundation for Mexican fashion.

The debate held in 1945 between designers Ramón Valdiosera, Armando Valdés Peza, and Henri de Châtillon, which most researchers consider the starting point of Mexico’s fashion history—even though long-standing, successful designers like María Pavignani and Marguerite Rostan already existed—was a debate among fashion critics. It’s an injustice that no one mentions Rosario Sansores, who also took part in that discussion, and that her words have been lost to time. Pointing this out is, in itself, criticism.

The term "Mexican fashion," coined by Ramón Valdiosera to set himself apart from his contemporaries by arguing they created fashion but not "Mexican fashion" because they weren’t nationalists like he was, is an exercise in criticism. The fact that curators Ana Elena Mallet and Gustavo Prado have anointed Valdiosera as the champion of Mexican fashion? That's criticism too.

Criticism is not just a review; it goes beyond saying, "This is good, this is bad, and here’s what's good about the bad and vice versa." It also serves as a system of categorization: canons, generations, artistic movements, literary genres—these are products of criticism. However, for one very particular reason, criticism holds little relevance to the market. That’s because the market is a democracy, and democracy is the dictatorship of desire: people want what they want, regardless of good judgment.

Yet, despite being futile for the market, criticism is essential for memory. That’s why certain individuals, who may not have been very successful in their time, later become symbols of their era.

Recently, I wrote a profile that required me to dive deep into the debates within national art criticism, which led me to essential texts (Diego Rivera's Arte puro, puros maricones, José Luis Cuevas's La cortina de nopal, Ida Rodríguez Prampolini's Los pintores: no hay críticos en México…, etc.). This research made me wonder: What would be the essential texts of Mexican fashion criticism?

The easiest solution is to say, "There is no fashion criticism in Mexico," and shut down any possibility of debate