All posts tagged Alexander McQueen

One of the favorite parts of my job is getting the chance to meet and connect with bay area talent.  Whether it be music, art, or fashion, the bay area is full of creative, and passionate individuals; honing their craft under our very noses.  So when P.A.C.E (People Are Created Equal) clothing graced the wall of our facebook page — I knew I had to find the mastermind behind the label.  An email or two later I had my answer, or should I say, my “answers” — as P.A.C.E clothing is a two man show.  Meet Carlos Juarez and Aldo Diaz, the faces of P.A.C.E.  Offering iconic couture (Carlos) and screen printed styles (Aldo) the P.A.C.E label has a unique look to be sure, and more importantly some unique and motivated designers driving the P.A.C.E brand to greater recognition both locally and globally.  Already nominated for the BAY AREA FASHION AWARDS as best emerging designers, Carlos and Aldo are well on their way to spreading the mission and fashion of P.A.C.E clothing to consumers everywhere.  In a few short weeks TBAF will be providing a hands on review for the P.A.C.E clothing line to you, and what better way to introduce you to the line, than to introduce you to the designers.  Carlos and Aldo were gracious enough to sit down with TBAF to give us an exclusive interview, and offer some insight into the men behind the fashions. Let’s get started shall we?

TBAF:  Tell me a little about yourself:

Carlos: I am 22 years old and into fashion design. Its not a phase and its what I wanted to do for a long time. Now that I am able to do so I am trying to go full force in making my dream come true.

Aldo: A little about myself? Tough question, got a lot to say,  but for the sake of the interview will keep it short.
Born and raised in Peru until the age of 9.   Moved to SF in 1994, learned English and how to play basketball.  My love for basketball turned into an obsession for Air Jordans.   My love for Air Jordans turned into love for fashion and the rest is history….

TBAF: Where are you from?

Carlos: I was born in the city of San Francisco in 88′.

Aldo: LIMA,PERU / SF, BAY AREA

TBAF: What’s your educational background?

Carlos: My educational background is complicated, but fresh out of high school I attended St Marys College of California for a major in International Business. I was not happy, so ventured off to go get an Art degree at Berkeley City college and a fashion degree at College of Alameda.

Aldo: Middle School – St Thomas / Perfect Attendance haha
High School – Bishop O’Dowd Dragons (got best hair Senior year)
College: UC Santa Cruz Slugs where I majored in Latin American Studies

TBAF: What are your general professional and non-professional interests?

Carlos: My general professional interests is to get people that wear what I make and feel comfortable enough to go anywhere with it on. My non professional interests range from motorsports to shopping.

Aldo: Professionally I want to make P.A.C.E a worldwide brand designed for people to help people by providing dope a*s shirts where part of our proceeds are geared to help different organizations make the world a better place.  Along with the brand we want to provide the most entertaining fashion shows filled with great visuals, good liquor, and music.
I have always liked to entertain and celebrate the good/simple things in life so I would like to open up my own restaurant/club one day as well.
Non-professionally I like to party like a pro. ha

TBAF: When did you realize you wanted to become a fashion designer?

Carlos: I was always into Fashion growing up. Always wanted the new Jordans, Ivrsons and latest brand on my back at like 8 years old. But at my short stay at St Marys I met a guy name Will who had his small t-shirt line. I started working with him “managing” his line because of my “business major” and I got really into it and enjoyed it. I did not care about my papers I had to turn in but instead thinking of new designs for his line and drawing in class. I told him Ill drop out of SMC to go get a fashion degree to blow his line up. We talked about it but never got really came to a solid conclusion, maybe cause we always spoke business after partying like at 4am. So I left and started to do my own thing and started pursing a degree in fashion design. So thanks Will for the push! 

Aldo: I had the idea in my head since High School but have been into fashion ever since I can remember.  I remember the Fonz was a cool guy while I was growing up in Peru , and all I wanted for Christmas one year was a black leather jacket I could wear with my jeans,white tee, and chuck taylors .  The jacket came but the whole time I waited for it I would just wear my tee,jeans and chucks and actually caught a bad cold which eventually led to asthma for only wearing white tees during wintertime. Not so cool, gotta be careful, haha. My love and interest for fashion only grew and it was actually the only way I was able to connect with my peers when I moved to the U.S.  While in College I was really interested in different cultures so I thought why not combine both my passions and create a brand that represents that.

TBAF: Describe the general process you go through to design and realize a piece of clothing.

Carlos: Designing T shirts has been really fun. A basic t shirt can transformed into the most avant garde piece. So my process of coming up with a design is looking at what is not on a common tee and seeing what I can add on to it and make the shirt more virsetile and appealing. Then I get on old t shirt and create my sample.

Aldo: I like to do my research like with any project or last minute college papers I ever did.   With P.A.C.E for example, I research any country/culture/art I want to represent in the clothing line.  I then look for positive aspects of that, or just simply look for things that would look cool on a shirt.  I research that object and brainstorm how I can display it on a shirt to make it trendy but still spread cultural awareness.  Once the design is done, the whole process for screen printing begins.

TBAF: What are some of your accomplishments as a designer?

Carlos: Designing for Pace Clothing. Working out of our backyards, but still creating things people like with limited everything. haha. We basically found a way to market our brand with no samples, but selling our dreams and inspirations of what we want our brand to be. Now manifesting some of those ideas is a great accomplishment for me!

Aldo: So far participating in different fashion shows and spreading the word about P.A.C.E.  It’s an accomplishment for me when someone asks what the design is about and I can say its part of an Indian emblem for example and actually have a story behind it.  It’s an accomplishment when people say “oh that’s different, where can I get that” to our P.A.C.E Cut&Sew line. Carlos and I literally are bringing this brand from the ground up by ourselves.  We have found our own connects for shirts, learned how to screen print ourselves, marketing ourselves, reaching out to different shows and booking events ourselves.  To do all that and still have to maintain a 9-5 job to be able to reach our dream is a huge accomplishment. Rick Ross’ “everyday I’m hustling” is on constant replay in my head.

TBAF: Who are some of your favorite designers?

Carlos: Thom Browne.

Aldo: Alexander McQueen/John Varvatos/Raf Simons/Yoko Devereaux/Ato Matsumoto

TBAF: What do you believe makes a quality article of clothing?

Carlos: You have to believe in what you’re making. Dediation, perfection and love will make a quality piece of clothing.

Aldo: Personally, I look for visually attractive pieces that are different and have a concept. To me, that means that the artists put some time into the piece rather than just throwing skulls & crossbones on a tee shirt because it’s the popular thing to do.   People that are into fashion/art want to have something that is different and new. It’s like me with music as well. I like to find dope tracks before they’re released and put my friends up on it. To be able to do that with an article of clothing I think the artist has created a quality piece.

TBAF: Do you consider yourself an artist?

Carlos: I do. Thats because eveything is art and we are all artist. From how you approach a girl to how you dress and even party.

Aldo: I’m a piece of work myself man so yeah, haha.  Jk, I would consider myself an artist.  I can create articles of clothing that are visually appealing and are meant to expand people’s love for all cultures.  I’m trying to create a brand that can create jobs for all types of people as well with backgrounds in modeling, photography, music, and let their talents shine.  I’m trying to paint good lives for myself, family, and others.

TBAF: What matters to you most as a fashion designer?

Carlos: I want to see the people that wear my clothes make the clothes, not the clothes making them.

Aldo: To be recognized as a unique brand/for fans of P.A.C.E to know they can always rely on dope clothing PLUS be able to represent different culture and have part of their money donated to progressive organizations.

TBAF: What are the goals for your brand moving forward?

Carlos: A lot of goals! We recently launched Augest 20, 2010. Stay focused  never lose vision of the brand and keep moving forward.

Aldo: To be recognized as a new/unique street wear brand that people can depend on being the SH*T!  Within these next couple of months we will continue to book fashion show’s and expand our brand through state-wide underground clothing shops.

Editor’s Note: We’d like to thank Carlos and Aldo of P.A.C.E clothing for sitting down with us.  Make sure to VOTE for them in the BAY AREA FASHION AWARDS — and keep an eye out for their clothing line review — Exclusively here at TBAFblog.com