About Me
HI, I’M ELISA, A GRADUATE FROM BUNKA FASHION COLLEGE
Elisa was born and raised in Bolivia, by a Japanese mother and a Bolivian father. Through a collection where the colorful culture of Bolivia and Japanese technical pattern-making combine together; she tells her own story as a Latino Nikkei.
Who am I? Elisa? Erisa? Bolivian? Japanese? My identity has been ambiguous since I was a child. But since I have lived and studied in Japan, I have stood firm in my identity and began to understand, “This is who I am, I can not hide it, and I want to learn to love it”. From that time on, new challenges but also dreams were born. One of those dreams was to dedicate my first collection to my parents. Through this collection there is a mix of the colorful culture of Bolivia with the Japanese wabi- sabi, and technology. This process has helped me face my identity and learn to be proud of it.
INSPIRATION
Dance CAPORALES while you enjoy the WABI SABI taste of life.
For me dance will always be another language to express feelings, emotions and traditions. The explosive jumps on a traditional Bolivian dance called Caporales, the peaceful and calm steps on traditional Japanese dances, were the key to reconnect with my roots. But like in any other world, there are “bad days” / “bad rehearsals” or “good days” / “good rehearsals”. “The WABI-SABI of life”
Having that in mind, I wanted to represent this within my fashion show as a joyful carnival. Models dancing to a Japanese-Bolivian song; showing the world that no matter your background, we are in this life to learn how to dance to those good days and bad days. To enjoy every day as a carnival, to embrace who we are as individuals and as a diverse society.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
DETAIL
We create our own carnival, our own world, our own “ME”.
Since COVID-19 started, WE “the human race” were forced to constantly change and adapt our lifestyle to a completely new one. Not only as a society, but also on an individual level. There was a time when many started to lose hope, confined to our homes. Though some realized it was up to ourselves to make our lives a carnival; dance to it no matter how good or bad it was. I wanted to portray that feeling of independent happiness, and the power each one of us has to make our life an enjoyable carnival within a small place; in this case, represented as a small apartment during the lockdown. This is seen in the fashion movie I created. I used various techniques such as an upcycled kimono, and even the map of my hometown hand flock printed in 12 layers of fabric in this collection. With each piece representing a different stage of my life in two different countries, it represents my colorful Identity; “MY ID”.
ID is not only about nationalities, it is a collection of memories, dances and advice I have been given throughout my short life. I hope you enjoy this project as much as I did while making it.
Graduate Fashion Week in partnership with:
