Upcycle Fashion Future is here

Claudia Rodríguez-Biezunski is so fucking cool. WHY? Because the limit of her creativity is probably yet to be even realized but her fashion pieces (couture really) and studio looks unlike anything I’ve ever seen. From the outside all you see is pink meeting the blue skies of the Barrio Logan Neighborhood in San Diego with her giant signature SL on the outside. But inside is an explosion of hip street style meets couture fashion pieces that welcome you with warm hugs and offer endless possibility.

Sew Loka embodies what most fashion houses will be running to catch up to; a healthy, sustainable and inclusive cultural ecosystem fostering collaborative creation. Her up-cycle fashion line is what drew me in originally but Sew Loka is so much more. It’s a damn icon of San Diego. If you want to feel the real cultural rhythm of this town, walk her block. If you want to see true history meets future in fashion, touch her fabrics and try her designs on. Her studio where she creates, teaches and sells is a fucking PLAYGROUND and I can’t get enough of the vibe she’s created with her narrative of pictures, figures, art peices, signs, memorabilia. I mean, like a good book, every time I’m there I “read” something new about her or what she’s creating just being in her space. Literally we have a national fashion and cultural treasure right in our San Diego front yard in the ever colorful Bario neighborhood.

I’ve recently been reading Hans Ulrich Obrist’s “Ways of Curating” and I can’t help but draw a distinct parallel between her and all the praise for modern/historical curators. Claudia ISSSS a curator of a history that helps us interpret the present through a new lens. I mean yes she is absolutely a creative artist that creates fashion art herself but she is so much more.

Sewing and fashion are typically separated. We, the consumers or fashion seekers, are sold the end result. The garment, the jacket, the dress, the pants or the tee shirt. All we see are shiny, finished products in glamorous form (advertising, social media, influencers) but what most designers leave out is the magnificent construction of a garment. This is often hidden because frankly there is no magnificent construction to be had. Most basic bitch garments, even designer ones, are somewhat meh, lack true ingenuity AND are often wrought with human rights/eco degradation practices. Claudia is changing that. SEWING is not something to hide! It’s an incredible skill, a form of creation that we need to survive and a mechanism for incredible vision.

Claudia champions this concept which is why she is more than the epic upcycle creations that hipsters young and old flock to her for (most of her pieces in the store sold. Her stuff is just so incredible). She stewards us towards a fresh perspective on an old skill AND thus opens the door to new expression possibilities.

I don’t want to drone on because there’s only one way for you dear reader to see what I mean and that is to visit her shop or check out her website. But until then here are a few snippets from our time together.

These couture, one of a kind jackets will be installed in the San Diego Airport this month.

She uses fabric she finds, that’s donated, that basically already exists. AND has incredible taste for what she finds. Her wall of fabric had delish patterns.

She reworks a lot of fashion pieces she finds, hence the “upcycle” label. But she also creates new items from “scraps”. For example, she has a thing for remaking flannels into walking art pieces. I basically live in mine, inside and outside the house. It’s a conversation starter for sure.

TANGENT: It’s important to note language used for up-cycle fashion or recycling or thrifting even of any kind. There are negative connotations usually associated with ways to describe items that have lived a life before us. Like “scraps” of fabric or “deadstock” fabric. It’s like the fashion industry as a whole is trying to discourage or shame us from designing, shopping or even living in items previously “worn”. But how exciting is it to see an artist like Claudia, take her boundaries, and make a show stopping legacy art piece? It is often said by many creatives that boundaries often produce the most significant contribution to our society. Claudia simply embodies this.

Find her studio

2113 Logan Avenue,

San Diego, CA, 92113

Her website Sew Loka

And I highly encourage you to sign up for one of her classes, check by her art installation in the San Diego airport or simply drop in on one of the many events she’s apart of. Thank you Claudia for letting me pester you :)

Stay tuned for a follow-up showcasing more of her fashion designs!