The uniform of the Guatemalan delegation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
When design, craftsmanship and country feeling come together to represent a country.
A Toda Moda is a newsletter focused on Latin American designers. Because I'm living in Germany, I also write about European designers less known in Latin America. I use to write in Spanish, but I decided to create a new section in English to share my work and analysis about Latin-American fashion industry with a new audience. I hope you will like it. My posts are translated using AI.
In recent weeks, the Fashion sphere has been abuzz with the uniforms of the delegations representing their countries at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The Mongolian team's uniform has been the most praised of all, both for its elegance of design, the delicate embroidery work reflecting the country's cultural symbols and the high quality of the fabrics used.
In the case of the Latin American delegations, the public in many countries, whether fashion enthusiasts or not, agree that the uniforms of most delegations have not been up to the standards of the event. In various publications, adjectives such as "boring", "unoriginal" and "hideous", to name but a few, can be read.
I think that the interest aroused by these costumes shows that the Latin American public is increasingly interested in the image projected of our countries through their costumes. Unfortunately, those who run the sports federations are not on the same wavelength and are opting for more classical proposals.
One of the countries on our continent that has been able to stand out is Guatemala. This country, for which I feel a special affection because I lived there for three years, is not characterised by a strong fashion industry. Compared to countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, Guatemala lags far behind. Its local production is rather artisanal and is little known to the Latin American public. Nevertheless, Guatemala has shown that when it works with a national outlook, the result is praiseworthy.
Unlike other countries such as Chile, which left the making of its delegation's uniforms in the hands of a retail company, Guatemala opted to trust in the Jaspe by Vitto brand, by designer Vitto Murga.
The Guatemala delegation's uniforms were conceived as a collection. Entitled “Bosques de Esperanza” ("Forests of Hope"), it is "inspired by the name Guatemala, which translates from Nahuatl as 'land of trees', the feathers of the quetzal and the colour of Guatemalan jade," the statement said.
These green and blue uniforms are accompanied by different details that are part of the Guatemalan handicraft tradition. Such as the "Jaspe", woven on a loom, which on this occasion was made to show the colours of the Olympic rings and was made by a group of weavers led by Heidy Noemi Pelechú Cité in Salcajá, Quetzaltenango.
The costume also features detachable appliqués made of natural fibres "by women artisans of the Asociación Arte en Mis Manos located in Jocotán", near the Honduran border.
The hats, which were made by Vitto Murga herself, allude to the birds of Guatemala and the athletes had the possibility to choose them according to their own taste.
More than 20 people from 5 different cities/communities of the country participated in the elaboration of these costumes, which implies a coordinated teamwork and a great knowledge of the craft traditions of the country (very diverse in fact).
Although some people in Guatemala also criticised their delegation's uniforms as being too simple, I wanted to highlight them because they broke away from the usual codes we have seen in other delegations, because they sought to reflect the country's culture without falling into clichés, and because it was a collaborative effort that included local artisans.
I share with you other publications that have reflected on the importance of reflecting the country's image through clothing: Quinta Trends, Ale Cuevas for Quinta Trends, el Gremio Moda Chile and Elfashionnemo.
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