MEXICO CITY'S FASHION MAFIA

mexico fashion I’m in a neon-lit bar in Mexico city with a bunch of bloggers. Against a loud rock soundtrack, they’re telling me they’re bored. Jesus Leon, María Videl, César Arellano and Omarov Aguilar are complaining about the decline of the capital’s once wild and decadent nightlife.

“Now she hardly goes out,” fumes César about a local fashion magazine editor. The tall, impossibly thin proprietor of the insanely popular blog Diario de Fiestas rearranges his black cardigan as he describes meeting such cooler-than-thou fashion designers as Marvin y Quetzal and others. “You can write a lot about these people, but you can’t really get it until you see them,” he says with a smile. “Skinny bitch!” interrupt Jesus and Omar as they start to poke him. “I love your [blog post] titles lately,” César gushes to Omar, who runs Mess This Dress.

These very stylish men all run websites that are now known around town for their lush and sometimes outrageous style and party photos. They have the kind of local fame that leaves the city's young and fashionable anxiously sipping their cocktails at parties, wondering when photographers will show up so they can strike a pose and achieve web fame–at least until the next blog post.

But there is a larger story here: the rise of edgy fashion in Mexico. “There are a lot more things to say about fashion and about style and about parties here,” César says. Jesus cuts in: "It’s a really small scene, and, you know, it’s kind of boring, but even though it’s the same fucking thing, I still have the urge to go out.” Jesus, outfitted in a black leather jacket and black wire-rimmed glasses, gleefully says he revels in the city’s contrasts in his in-your-face and occasionally pornographic blog Domestic Fine Arts.

It’s true that Mexico city is a study in opposites, where aggression meets calm, and where Hummers roar past beggars on the street. People here are always on the hustle, struggling to survive. “The city’s weird, but that’s part of the charm,” Omar says.

mexico fashion “We are part of the new wave of Mexican photographers,” Jesus announces to the table, waving his beer in the air. “I think Mexico was seen in a completely different way before style blogs.” The group tends to bring the party with them wherever they go, often several nights a week. “Something is always happening in the bathroom, in the bedroom. It’s the fuel of the party: booze, sex and drugs,” Jesus says. "You take better party photos when under the influence," others agree. César admits he’s kind of regretting his current streak of self-imposed sobriety. María, Jesus’s oft-photographed, fire-haired muse, giggles and says, “I don’t care what I look like when I go out. I just want to have fun.” She’s also the fashion editor of the sneaker and street-wear-obsessed blog The City Loves You.

As I drain the last of my drink, they make plans for the week and tease Omar, the newcomer of the group, about his former home Guadalajara, which María calls “three years behind Mexico City.” It seems this is an off-night for them: only one of them brought a camera.

~ ALEXIS OKEOWO

Picture credit: Domestic Fine Arts