Caravana Americana, the Mexican trade show featuring some of the top emerging Latin American brands in fashion, home and furniture, recently unfolded its 15th edition at Casino Campo Marte in Mexico City. This biannual event has become a pivotal platform for Latin American designers, facilitating their journey towards international recognition. 

Its co-founder Regina Barrios enthusiastically claimed, “Latin design never ceases to amaze me; it was a success”, adding there were many young brands with innovative and brilliant proposals. “We witnessed and enjoyed the great synergy achieved between urban designers and rural artisans, the result is always deeper and more interesting.”

The event also saw the triumphant return of Caravana Talks, an enlightening series of dialogues centred on the multifaceted realms of fashion, trends, and creative expressions.

Barrios highlighted that they had several new brands debut at the fair and that among the 88 designers present, 49 were focused on partnerships with local artisanal communities to create products that were both beautiful and ethically conscious.

The fair drew in over 150 buyers from around the globe on this occasion. Since its establishment in 2016 by Barrios and her business partner Alessandro Cerruti, the fair has become a prominent destination for retailers in major markets like Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Moreover, it has expanded its reach into emerging markets in Central America and beyond, including Europe, North America and Australasia. Barrios and Cerruti are also the founders of Lago, a retail chain in Mexico offering brands access to consumers in the local market. 

Some of this year's standout brands included Dos Tierras, Salucci, M de México, Amor y Rosas, ISHI (Barrios' jewellery brand), Talia Baker, Sagradas Tradiciones, Faridé Ramos, Fenomena and many more. 

For more brands, check out Caravana Americana. 

In honour of Mexico Design Week, we've selected five notable home decor brands from the Mexican design scene featued at Caravana Americana.

BAMBUREN BAMBÚ HAUS

Bamburem is a Mexican brand driven by a passion for highlighting the versatility and sustainability of bamboo as a material. The brand's bamboo furniture is inspired by the work of Michael Van Beuren and reimagined by his grandchild, Tiago Solis Van Beuren, a designer and artist.

MARVA STUDIO

MARVA STUDIO's ANANAS project engages with over five families from Tangancícuaro, Michoacán. They create various glazed clay artworks, including the emblematic pineapple. Their mission is to support community development through interdisciplinary and dynamic clay art designs.

COOPERATIVA 1050°

COOPERATIVA 1050° is a collective of potters from Oaxaca, Puebla, and Chiapas. They craft simple, elegant, hand-made clay objects that blend traditional wisdom with innovative energy. Their colour palette reflects their rich geography, flavours, scents, and textures. Their aim is to bridge the rural and indigenous world with urban modernity, preserving traditional craftsmanship while catalysing community and personal transformation through pottery.

ESTUDIO POMELO

Estudio Pomelo’s mission is to uphold local identities by connecting their origins to modern objects while creating contemporary, functionally simple objects that fit seamlessly into urban environments. They celebrate imperfection as an inherent element of beauty and experiment with traditional techniques to breathe new life into ancestral artistry.

FERVOR

Founded by Euri Lorenzo and Arantxa Solis, FERVOR is a workshop specialising in crafting decorative pieces, art objects, and graphic materials. Their unique craft involves applying gold leaf and various metals to stone, wood, and paper, producing delicate and visually striking creations. FERVOR expertly blends age-old techniques with contemporary aesthetics, appealing to the discerning eye of the modern art enthusiast.

In the News

Quinceaeñeras use the Interurban Train in Mexico City as a photoshoot setting to showcase their dresses.

Seventeen quinceañeras, in their long dresses, surprised onlookers, security guards, and the press as they exited a celebration mass and posed for photos as if it were a grand photoshoot set. READ MORE

Central America’s Secondhand Goods Sector Gets a Helping Hand from Technology

In 2021, the global apparel resale market was worth $35 billion, up from $11 billion in 2012, according to a 2022 report by marketplace ThredUp. In several Central American countries, new businesses have emerged that are revolutionizing the way the secondhand clothing and goods sales industry works. READ MORE

Vogue's Forces of Fashion Mexico is Back

The in-person event taking place at Vogue Mexico & Latin America offices at Carso Palmas in Mexico City is hosted by Vogue's editors, features engaging discussions, workshops, and exclusive experiences with prominent speakers, designers, and fashion industry icons all in one place. READ MORE

How Netflix crushed the Latin American password black market

In Latin America, Netflix users protested and canceled subscriptions due to a new pricing policy. However, subscriptions have rebounded recently. Additionally, a crackdown on password sharing has led to a 51% decrease in black market Netflix accounts sold on platforms like Facebook Marketplace and MercadoLibre. READ MORE