this girl just keeps getting better and better! accessories designer/dentist (yes! dentist!), Karla Castillo is my favorite Nicaraguan accessories designer. in the last month, she presented a trunk show along with Nicaraguan RTW designer, Marynes Arguello in Miami and is hoping to follow up with a trunk show in late April in Nicaragua. every time we meet she reminds on how tough it is for the Nicaraguan market to accept skulls into their wardrobe and constantly receives special requests to remove them for stones or flowers. however, Castillo does not back down and continues to promote calaverismo (spanish for "skull-ism") along with stylist, Mariu Lacayo.
you might believe, skull inspired fashion became trendy once you started watching Keeping Up with the Kardashian's and noticed mama Kris wear a different colored Alexander McQueen skull scarf in every episode but if we trace skull use, it can go back to the 16th century; artists like Albrecht Dürer used skulls to remind people of their mortality. however it was the Mexican art of smiling, dancing skulls, used to celebrate Dia de los Muertos (spanish for "Day of the Dead"), which helped skulls become more widely accepted. Eventually, the skull became an icon in 1970s London counterculture, where Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood launched a series of skull-inspired punk gear.
so get over it, it's a skull. it doesn't mean you're a pirate, witch, tarot card reader or a character from a Tim Burton movie. it's merely a symbol that represents to most mortality and music.
< shop skull fashion >
Karla Castillo - Nicaragua
Vivienne Westwood - London
Alexander McQueen - London
Horiyoshi the Third - Japan
Delfina Delettrez - Italy
Delfina Delettrez Tormentator necklace
