What bribed the rich and famous fashion collections of the extraordinary Cuban Isabel Toledo

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Just a few months ago, Isabel Toledo, a Cuban-American designer who became famous throughout the world for her ingeniously draped clothing, which she described as "liquid architecture", passed away. And it is not at all surprising that the outfits created by her in the blink of an eye became one of the favorite clothes of the rich and famous, including publicly eternal personalities.

Maria Isabel Izquierdo was born in 1960 in Kamazuani, Cuba. Toledo is perhaps best known for creating Michelle Obama's inaugural ensemble in 2009, a lemongrass-colored dress and coat set in wool and lace. She began sewing at age eight, shortly after her family left revolutionary Cuba to move to western New York, New Jersey. In high school, Isabelle met her future husband, Cuban émigré Ruben Toledo. This is how their story of love and collaboration began. Ruben illustrated and sketched, while Isabelle sewed and draped garments renowned for their elegance and ingenuity.

During their school years, the couple often visited Manhattan, where they gradually found new acquaintances with very popular people such as Joey Arias from Fiorucci, Andy Warhol, Halston, Patricia Field and many other luminaries of design and art. Toledo made her first line debut at the Danceteria in 1984, the same year she and Ruben got married. In 1998, Toledo prudently decided to abandon the standard biannual clothing collection format and follow her own creative schedule. In subsequent years, she presented her vision of couture to fashion brands Anne Klein and Lane Bryant, continuing to create under her own name.

A couple of years ago, Andre Leon Talley of Vogue brought the Toledo couple to the Detroit Institute of the Arts to talk about fashion, style and art. Then, about a year later, Laurie Farrell, curator of contemporary art galleries at DIA, asked Isabelle to host a show there and after she told her “Yes!” Toledo enthusiastically took a two-day tour of the museum and fell in love with his collection. After that, the famous designer, burning with ideas, created interventions throughout the museum, dedicated to various topics, for example, the Italian Renaissance, ancient Egypt, the early American language, African art.

Isabelle's first impulse was to dress the museum. Literally. As a reaction not so much to specific works of art as to the space, including the history of DIA, its employees, curators and visitors who constantly pass through it. Toledo approached the space of the museum as a living being. And then she began to notice certain patterns in different cultures, at different times and connect the dots, seeing how the Ocean Statuette was placed in one gallery, and then noticed that the same pose was repeated in an early American portrait in another gallery. “All this historical work from the museum collection was very instructive: each era and culture, communicating over the centuries, could now tell us something about how everything was done, what ideas were appreciated,” Isabelle wrote, feeling responsible for that she supposedly takes over the leadership of civilization.

According to the designer, clothing can speak to us in the same way, perhaps even more deeply, since it deals directly with the body. Linen headbands used for mummification inspired the couple to create a sculpture called Human Remains. From Isabelle's words, it became clear that linen was used for this sculpture, since it perfectly holds its shape, remembering well the outlines of the human body. And Ruben, in turn, painted it in the same way as they paint and decorate the Egyptian sarcophagus, telling us about the dead and their journey into the afterlife.

In addition, many viewers, including critics, turn their attention to one of the works called Dismantling Industry / Transitions, which talks about the positive changes taking place in Detroit and how the city is completely rebuilding itself. Like any living organism, humanity has the ability to incubate, transform and be reborn into a new form. Detroit's citizens are truly loyal to their city - their pride and affection for it is beautiful, strong. Sew Great Detroit is an extension of the nonprofit Alternatives for Girls, a program that helps homeless and at-risk young women. Sew Great teaches these women the art and craftsmanship of sewing, helping them get closer to creativity and thus ensure their own life. In addition, the participants of this project sewed a series of bags created according to Ruben's sketches.

But the series "Black Cloud" is another part, which was created under the influence of the frescoes of Diego Rivera. This amazing work was made from Isabelle's first sewing machine, disassembled for parts and pieces. Every single component - screws, belts, plates, even a sewing needle - was presented in combination with black taffeta. The work makes the viewer look up to the heavens, thinking that the artwork is a commentary on the disappearing workforce of the fashion industry, women and men creating custom garments, many of which have skills passed down to them from previous generations. An overly human and delicate fashion ecosystem will be lost forever with this new generation. "Black Cloud" is a testament to the end of one reality, pushing young dreamers to create a new one.

In addition to all this, in one of the rooms on the ceiling hung black dresses from the "Labor of Love" series; in the other, there were mannequins in sculptural black dresses with heads covered with black hoods and veils, representing a celebration of immigration and the integration of different cultures into the local social structure, while elsewhere there was a luxurious golden dress covered with a black cape - an ensemble that resembled the black robes worn on statues of the Virgin Mary, mourning the death of her son.

It is also worth noting the fact that geometric shapes turned a simple coat into a perfect sculpture; the dress and jacket recreated the silhouette of a pagoda in their shapes, and the multifaceted diamond cut was reproduced on white draped viscose dresses. Some garments were characterized as a cocoon of form, others as a Convertible Lettuce dress, thin and ethereal layers of silk crepe gauze or finely draped motifs that formed a kind of waterfall effect on the fabric, while jersey and taffeta dresses could easily change shape. due to its texture and structure. Isabelle's style of work and her passion for innovative tailoring and tailoring generated undisguised interest from the public, forcing critics and fashion historians to often compare her with the designers Charles James and Jeffrey Bean.

Not surprisingly, Tona worked as creative director for Anne Klein from 2006 to 2007, while collaborating with major retailers such as Target, Lane Bryant and Payless ShoeSource. Isabelle has also designed costumes for performances, troupes and dance legends including Twyla Tharp and Christopher Wheeldon. And one of the latest installations she created is the centerpiece of the Detroit Institute of the Arts (DIA) "Synthetic Cloud" exhibition, which features eleven pale blue packs hiding brightly colored lower layers. Maybe so, the legendary designer will now dress the angels who took her to heaven on August 26, 2019, at the age of fifty-nine.

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