ENG. The beauty of traveling has to do with realizing how small the world is... Last month I was in Hong Kong and I got the opportunity to experience this since I was able to reconnect and meet up with a wonderful person, Paola Sinisterra. I met up with her in a pop up store event where she was showcasing her jewelry designs from her company Tangram. Let me tell you more about her: she is from Cali, Colombia like me. We met about 15 years ago since we studied at the same school, Colegio Bolivar, and we got to know each other when we participated in the revamp version of the Cats musical at our school. Paola proves that your essence doesn't change no matter how many years have gone by, or where in the world you live. She is the same vibrant woman I met many years ago, full of life, with a great love for different cultures and always with a great smile. She is a very open person and passionate for life as well as for her company Tangram. This is why I wanted to share this interview with all of you today, because her brand is all about who she is! Tangram is a brand created by Paola and Ignacio, it is a very textile and printed oriented brand. Her designs are bold, colorful, full of prints, with a unique mix of vintage and modernity. The brand is chic but at the same time it has a freedom and an easy going feeling. For me, these type of brands represent what I call the modern lux, which is a brand that aims to cater to contemporary global woman who is confident with herself, with where she comes from and with where she is heading, and of course, a woman who loves to show that through her lifestyle and through the way she dresses.
How did you guys decide to create Tangram?
Paola has textile and fashion experience working for high-end fabric mills in Europe, small labels, European sourcing companies in Asia, and Zara, the biggest fashion retail company in the market. Ignacio has worked as a designer, curator and cultural entrepreneur with a number of organizations playing a key role in developing the visual and conceptual identities of the brand. We have basically been working in the fashion industry with an emphasis in Asia for a few years and Tangram came out of the need to do something more personal, where we could work at a more detailed scale, with the best materials and enjoying the methodical process of collection development.
What is the concept behind Tangram?
The Tangram is an old Chinese puzzle composed by seven geometrical pieces that can be arranged in many ways to create different shapes. We chose the name because we love the apparent simplicity of its geometry, and all the possibilities it hides, but also because of the reference to Asian culture. Just as a Tangram puzzle we want to tell many stories through a set of garments and products that can be used and styled in different ways by different women.
Who is Tangram’s customer?
A strong woman, sexy, who knows what she wants, who looks for high quality and for pieces that complement her style, things she can use for a long period of time.
Are you passionate about fashion?
I really don’t feel passionate about fashion. I am more from the textile world, I am obsessed with prints, colors, materials that you can touch. I don’t nurture myself with fashion, after working for Zara I was sick of knowing by memory every fashion season. Anyhow, there are some designers I do admire, due to their magnificent work that starts from the textile research and always has something poetic to say without stopping being practical. Some examples are Alber Elbaz de Lanvin, Phoebe Philo de Celine, Rachel Comey, Dries Van Noten; I don’t follow the trends, neither the ups and downs of fashion.
What are the main characteristics of your products and why you feel they are out of the ordinary?
We want to create a high quality product where the textile research is the most important part and where each garment has a story, that reflects a curiosity or an obsession of our daily life.
What makes you passionate in your daily life?
My daily obsessions change constantly and they vary a lot. One week I like to learn how to jump rope to exercise and then the next week I would like to learn of how the different Chinese dynasties influence in the creations of the Chinese characters and then the following week I could be obsessed in finding the perfect recipe to make marmalade. I have an attention problem and a great appetite for doing and getting to know new things. I also have more stable passions like traveling, to discover new cultures very different from mine, cooking that is like a meditation for me and the best way to reunite a family of love ones around a table and to read memories or stories to live the lives of others for a bit.
What is it that you love the most of living in Hong Kong and why did you decided to move there?
After working for Zara and working with suppliers in Asia, we were curious to come here, maybe it was our nomad spirit or need of adventure, but anyhow, we did it in the right moment and it has been an incredible experience so far. Is a very vibrant city, where we have a fantastic group of friends, and where we are much closer to our suppliers, which allow us more fluidity in the creative process.
Anything else you want to say about your brand?
We like to go against the flow from the extreme rhythms of the actual fashion. We like to support what is created in slower paced environments, which allows for impeccable finishing and processes. For us, it is important to get out of the routine of the fashion trends and to create essential garments for a closet of a women, without letting the season or trend decide for us.
Where can juana’s 6s6nses readers shop for Tangram clothes?
In our online store http://shop.tngrm.net
Any future plans?
To grow in the Asian market, create a niche in the growing Latin-American market and to keep with the same clear vision of offering quality with interesting and fun concepts. We are working with different designers to collaborate in the graphic designs of accessories. We are always active in looking for projects that feeds our independent, commune sense and creative spirit of Tangram.
