International Columbian Designer, Hector Sanchez Unveils His Latest Couture Collection In Los Angeles This Winter
- saveurmedia
- 5 days ago
- 10 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
This fashion season Saveur Media is crossing the pond to chat with designer Hector Sanchez an internationally award winning couture and carnival designer who has studied with some of the most influential artists of our time. Sanchez along with his partner Ron Fretz, international hairstylist to the stars including nearly a decade long tenure with The Sir Elton John collaborated on this show to bring couture to Los Angeles. The city of Angels is known for its beaches and luxury real estate, but it's seldom mentioned in conversations with those of New York, London, Milan, Berlin or the iconic Paris Fashion Week. Sanchez and Fretz under their moniker SF Studio will unveil the latest collection December 9th before the holidays.
The unveiling falls between traditional fashion week scheduling which only heightens our anticipation for the show. Fretz is not only assisting in his partners design process but will be curating the glam looks for the show with the assistance of Beverly Hills Salon Artem K, known for its clientele such as Jennifer Hudson, Eva Longoria and Lara Fabian just to name a few. The event will be held at the B. David Levine interior design showroom in West Hollywood. With all the excitement surrounding the show known as ‘Goddesses’, Saveur had to sit down with the designer Hector Sanchez to give readers an insight not only into who he is, but his inspiration and creative process.
Q) Who is Hector Sanchez?
I am an artist, restless and curious about art-history and the various ways art can be expressed and channeled. I have a great artistic sensibility and the ability to communicate using materials to make my ideas a reality. They materialize into beautiful costumes for various occasions: brides, cocktails, Gala, and fantasy.
I am also a draughtsman and painter, a dancer in my youth. A consecrated artist of the Carnival of Barranquilla with varied recognitions, among them Best Contemporary Costume and winning the award of Congo de Oro, which is the distinction given to proposals with high scores and applause from the public.
I learnt to develop various creative functions as an illustrator, designer, couturier, embroiderer in rhinestones, artist of headpieces and accessories for fancy dress and costumes. Later I became independent, developing an exclusive clientele to offer my consulting services and designs in Gala costumes, party and cocktail with my own atelier and collaborators in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Q) Who inspired you to become a designer?
My mother Gloria Escorcia was an artist with her wonderful hands. She made fabrics in crochet, tricot, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, fashion, cutting and tailoring. My dad Marco Sanchez had his hobby of painting and drawing. When I was born my mother died from complications of childbirth; I never got to know her, but my adoptive parents Jesus Peñaranda and Ury Sanchez, raised me. They instilled values in me along with their three children, Roxana, Mónica and Javier. They became my only family following the loss of my mother, through the memories that were preserved of the manual works that my mom Gloria performed, from a very young age I developed a special connection with them.
I am also self-taught in the art of the needle and thimble. I felt that my mama Gloria always accompanied me and guided my little fingers to perform each stitch on any piece of fabric I touched, while also developing my skills to paint and draw. Years of looking through newspaper and magazine clippings I was increasingly curious to develop and further perfect these skills. I began honing my work of embroidery and sketching at the age of 14. At the age of 15 I had the opportunity to study drawing, painting and art with the renowned painter in Barranquilla Neva Lallemand.
With her I discovered my true vocation for design, having knowledge of my artistic skills I channeled through studies of anatomy and the human figure. With this great teacher I found the definition of what would be my life profession, fashion design. A couple of years later when I finalized my high school studies I started my studies of cutting, tailoring and haute couture in one of the best schools in Barranquilla, Academia Sistema Aurorita e hija that currently has almost 100 years of foundation.
Little by little I was carrying out the natural process of every artist/creator, working with the best in Colombia: Tomás Urueta, artisan of headpieces and accessories of fantasy and Carnival for 5 years, Amalin de Hazbun (La Aguja de Oro de Barranquilla) for 14 years, Julie de Donado for 10 years Alfredo Barraza for 5 years, Erick Pérez for 7 years and Beatriz Camacho for 2 years.
Q) Who are some of your influences? Which designers do you admire today?
One of my great influences is Madeleine Vionnet, renowned French designer and seamstress of the 1920’s/30’s, who stood out as a great artist of fluid dresses, which fall smoothly on the female silhouette and was a great artist and forerunner of the 'bias cut'. Alix Gres (Madame Grès) was a person who studied female anatomy so she could adapt the application of geometry in her cuts to the body of her clients. Both artists have given me a lot of inspiration in my work and especially the draping that is one of my techniques with which I have more mastery and embroidery of rhinestones and crystals.
Although the range of designers is large for their various techniques, artistic qualities and the use of noble materials. I also admire American designer Bob Mackie. A great artist who is recognized for his versatility and high quality in gala costumes and fantasy. I hope to have the opportunity to meet him in person one day.
Another [designer] that I admire is Italian designer Valentino, who enhances and gives magic and mystery through his designs. Zuhair Murad and Elie Saab, I admire for their luxury, beauty in the manual art and their beauty in the materials they use. I feel connected with them by their roots of the Middle East, for my great-grandparents are of Middle Eastern origin. Finally, my great admiration for Versace, because through art and haute couture they empower women and highlight their beauty.
Q) What are some obstacles or challenges you’ve faced that have made an impact on your life and your art?
I have always had the concept that dreams can come true....... everything I have achieved so far I have always dreamt and manifested it and had the fervent desire to make them a reality. But everything has a due process– time and place. I always had the challenge that many people considered me too young to be able to perform certain work but when the challenge was presented to me, I had shown that I’d been underestimated. People are surprised to see that I possess knowledge, art, expertise and passion, reflected in the results presented through each piece I make.
Another challenge has been to demonstrate that my own name, my own firm and my own style have their artistic value independent of the people I work with. My experience is condensed through years of studies, labor, trial and error. I have contributed much dedication to this art. The needle and thimble, I consider an art beyond the banal and not simple to execute. Physics through the management of light, color theory, material dynamics and stage projection has been impactful.
My greatest challenge was to be myself. As an artist of the Carnival of Barranquilla, Columbia, being the one who embodies and shows each work of art, characters in fantasy costumes, allusive to the ancient Greek mythology that gives origin to the history of the Carnival. Carnival in Barranquilla, Columbia is an intangible heritage of humanity distinction granted by UNESCO in the year 2003.
Being a part of that history in our culture, sharing our traditions, art, and history is a great honour for me. The awards I have received in different editions have been the result of the respect that I profess to our parties, to the public, to a jury that evaluates our proposals, which requires a great deal of preparation on my part at a physical, mental, choreographic and theatrical level and which perfectly combines the art of fashion design channelled into fantasy costumes.
Q) If you could style any celebrity for the Met Gala who would you dress and why?
I have always had three film artists in mind throughout my life, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Cate Blanchett. It would be a great honour to have the opportunity to be able to make beautiful works of art for any of them. They possess beautiful figures like a good hanger, everything looks spectacular on them. It is like the evolution of the feminine beauty of those beautiful luminaries of the cinema of the Hollywood golden era.
Q) What is the story of your latest collection?
‘Goddesses', seeking through metallic and satin materials, creates contrasts with the kinetic play of light and strategic sparkles, bestowing magic. Be a Goddess with delicate details of embroidery and crystals, decorating the pieces for various occasions and moments of life. With diverse materials as well as varied textures showing versatility in handcrafted work that is the added value of these works of art that will be seen in each piece of this collection.
Q) Your work shifts between couture and decked out Carnival costumes. What is your relationship to Carnival and how has that impacted your work?
My first contact with the Carnival as such, occurred in the year of 1993. I had already graduated from high school and immediately started work with Tomas Urueta, an artist of headgear and fantasy accessories. There I acquired the necessary knowledge to make the sumptuous and luxurious fancy headpieces for the Queens of the Carnival of Barranquilla. The adornments that complemented the coronation costumes for the different events to which the Queens had to attend with the brightness, fantasy and luxury that characterised them.
I learned perfectly the use of the various feathers of exotic birds such as pheasant, ostrich, goose, rooster among others, the application of diverse rhinestones that give that finishing touch to ornaments such as Swarovski crystals, rhinestones, sequins, among different tinsels and filigrees, as well as the handling of varied wires in different calibers to achieve the necessary structures in the structure of the headpieces.
Having already been self-taught in stitching and embroidery with rhinestones gave me a great advantage. It was the workshop of Tomas Urueta that allowed me to connect with the renowned designers from Colombia who came there to request the required services. We also made the accessories for the fantasy costumes of Beauty Queens for the National Beauty Contest held in Cartagena every year in November. That was my starting point in this long journey......at the same time I was already doing my studies of cutting, clothing and haute couture.
Soon I entered the studios of the renowned designers of haute couture in Colombia, Amalin de Hazbun also known as La Aguja de Oro, Julie de Donado and Alfredo Barraza. I had the opportunity to be design illustrator, embroiderer and craftsman to the Carnival Queens who commissioned the designs of their costumes for the festive season and also the Beauty Queens for the different national and international contests.
Amalin was my school of needle and thimble, Julie de Donado gave me the knowledge of stage projection through the design of fancy costumes and with Alfredo Barraza the opportunity to show all the acquired knowledge and perfect them. Through them I got the knowledge to apply it in carnival and haute couture.
Q) The juxtaposition of fashion and interior design is one many would consider opposite sides of the style spectrum, but with your latest collaboration with the B. David Levine interior design studio in West Hollywood you’ve shown that style and fashion are more than just for the runway. How did this collaboration come about?
There is something important to highlight and it is that the fashion design, interior design and architecture are a part of ‘Fine Arts’. It is the channeling of sensitivity, the ability to capture beauty in some way to be admired and appreciated in all its canons. The ability to connect with history, connecting with materials to be used in design as a means of artistic expression and sharing it with the world. Interior design creates patina, the ambience that complements the story that is told through the designs of the costumes as works of art, a symbiosis of sensitivity and good aesthetic taste.
The collaboration is through my husband Ronald Fretz. His client Kim Starzyk is a senior sales executive at B. David Levine. He mentioned the idea of the show to Kim and she is responsible for making it happen.Through this event I have the opportunity to share my art of needle and thimble work, which I have dedicated many long hours with countless stitches and emotion. My love of art and gratitude to God and life provided this great opportunity to transcend my art out of my native Barranquilla, Colombia to share with the world.
Q) How do you see fashion as it relates to interior design?
Both professions are expressions of fine arts. I see fashion design as well as interior design as forms of artistic expression that are manifested through execution, development, creation and conception from the creative mind and soul and is felt through works of art. We can make the analogy for example of a beautiful dress executed with the technique of draping or the embroidery with rhinestones with an exquisite oriental vase that even when they are opposite executions of design and apparently not related can both be a delight to our senses through appreciation and emotions. Our senses awaken us to the moments of form, colours and textures, that’s the purpose of fine arts.
Q) Has working with B. David Levine in his interior design studio inspired you in any way in your work?
In August of last year, I had the opportunity with my partner Ron [Fretz] to visit and meet the Interior Designer at his Studio in West Hollywood for a special event. I was very fascinated by the showroom, its location, the luxuriously designed furniture, bespoke ornaments, crafted elements, lamps and paintings and appreciated the delicate form. David Levine harmonizes spaces and makes them fit together in a masterful way. He shows sensitivity. He also captures the beauty of spaces and accentuates its beauty with the use and arrangement of beautiful elements, and it’s precisely what I do in my work. I am inspired by the fact that although the materials are disparate, they can achieve balance and harmony to show a beautiful aesthetic result.
Q) What can fashionistas, influencers, buyers and viewers expect from your newest collection?
Good taste, beauty, art at its best, femininity that is accentuated with designs and luxury in textures and materials.
Q) How does one get an invitation to a Hector Sanchez show?
Please Contact: Ron Fretz at +1 323-350-4387. Space is limited so RSVP to assure attendance.
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