MANUEL JUAREZ
A Journey from film to fashion

by Ashma Shukla
(click images to enlarge)

Manuel Juarez is the kind of person who, when asked about their clothing label, pulls out his phone and shows you a picture of a venomous sea creature.

**West Ender and fashion designer Manuel Juarez.**

I learn this when I meet him at a coffee shop on Robson. I am slightly overdressed for the occasion with my large Indian earrings, having spent the better part of my morning wondering, what do you wear to meet a fashion designer? The answer, I quickly realise, is anything. Because as I hurry into the café, I find Juarez already at his laptop, working with the focused energy of a man who has places to be and things to accomplish.

As we talked, I learned that Juarez was born in Mexico. Six years ago, he found himself packing his bags and following his dreams to Vancouver to study prosthetics and FX make-up for film. The city did what it often does. Juarez fell in love with the mountains, the ocean, the way golden sunlight reflects against buildings at sunset. But student visas are unromantic things. So, when the pandemic arrived, Juarez had to return home. But he worked hard and found his way back for a yearlong diploma in fashion design.

This led him to create Physalia, his Vancouver-based clothing label, where he experiments with colours, movement, and texture to create pieces that have stories to tell. Recently, he presented his debut womenswear collection at Vancouver Week.

WHAT IS PHYSALIA?

From his experiences working as a production designer in film, Juarez brought with him a question that most of us don’t consider about our clothing: what do these shapes and shadows communicate? Understanding clothing as mise-en-scene, Juarez realized that clothing tells us who a character is long before they’ve said a word. This is the kind of experimental thinking that fuels his designs. And it is something that becomes evident in the name itself.

Venomous marine creature Physalia Physalis (Observation.org Photo)

“Do you know what Physalia are?” he asks me, reaching for his phone with playful excitement in his eyes. He shows me the picture. Although they are often mistakenly called a jellyfish because of how they look, physalia are marine organisms that drift through the ocean with impossible beauty. Bright and iridescent, their long trailing tendrils flow delicately. It seems obvious to me why Juarez is drawn to them. They’re captivating. After a pause he specifies, “they are venomous.”

**Mexican singer-songwriter Belinda.** (*Alex Cordova Photo / HOLA! Magazine)*

And that sums up the collection. Clothes that make women feel dangerous and luminous. It’s a vision Juarez has shaped over several smaller collections. Aptly named Fastigium, Latin for apex or summit, the collection features looks that are structured yet fluid, and bold in their use of colour. Like the apex of his career so far, it represents the bigger things he hopes are yet to come.

As he explains his designs to me, I realise his clothes don’t just exist to dress a body, they exist to inhabit a world. So when I ask him who his ideal customer is, he replies almost instantly, “Belinda, the Mexican singer.” She is a woman with a powerful presence.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT VANCOUVER FASHION WEEK

I ask him what it was like inside the Fashion Week. He paints a picture that is equally exhilarating and exhausting.

The chaos and adrenaline are palpable. Models are in perpetual motion. Designers are posted in their sections, readying for battle. Make-up artists and hairstylists work their magic at speeds that defy physics, as models need several transformations over the course of the show. Designers are given fifteen minutes for a rehearsal with the models, done before they must be dressed for their first runway walk.

This is where Juarez gets to communicate his vision, as he explains to the models how to carry his collection. His instruction is simple and direct: to march. Sharp and powerful, in rhythm with the music which, he off-handedly adds, he has produced himself. In another corner, photographers click away, doing complete photoshoots for each look, as a model coordinator manages the flow of models walking the runway.

**Three looks from Juarez’s Debut Collection** *(Manuel Juarez Photos)*

This is when I begin to realise the extent of the effort Juarez put into his work.

Not only was he there to fit models for the looks, he was also coordinating logistics, music, and marketing. From designing the looks to sourcing the production of garments to presenting the collection to the audience, all the while researching and marketing the collection to buyers, Juarez was doing it all.

I found myself a little mesmerised by his stories, imagining iconic scenes from The Devil Wears Prada and the Bollywood film Fashion. But Juarez didn’t let himself celebrate just yet. Although the Fashion week was a magical moment, he admits he sees it as a first of many. He is just stepping through the door.

BUILDING A BRIDGE

Now, he looks forward to working with boutiques that would want to buy his collection wholesale, and continue developing Physalia. Because, he explains, while fashion school had taught him theory, it was at the Fashion Week that he put it all into practice.

In fact, Fastigium taught him that fashion designing is not only about cultivating his artistic vision but also developing his business acumen. Now, he feels more ready to build the kind of profitable brand that reaches a bigger market and creates jobs for other creatives in the process. He hopes to be a bridge connecting the skilled craft of Mexican seamstresses and the market of powerful women here in Vancouver.

Before we part ways, he shows me a video from Fashion Week. I think of the women in my life who would love to wear his looks. Outside, the morning breeze plays with the leaves. Closing his laptop, Juarez takes a moment to simply sit in the city he has come to love. To his younger self, he says, “believe in yourself! Work hard. Have a clear goal and plan to make it happen.”