Studio Visit: Elena Velez

When womenswear designer Elena Velez answers my Zoom call, I can’t quite work out whether she’s talking to me or not. Oh wait, no. She’s signing for a parcel. Now we’re moving through a vast open space, there’s a slight lag on the line so I can’t quite work out what I’m looking at. I think that’s a hand? She’s carrying me. And that’s a painting. There we are, focused. ‘Rose, hello,’ she says with a Midwestern twang.

Velez’s studio is situated in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, hence why our visit takes place digitally. She strategically takes the call on her phone, enabling her to do things like answer the door for deliveries, make a cup of tea – and give me a walking tour of the studio. Shared with her partner, a painter, the warehouse space is multifunctional. ‘The front room, here, is where my husband paints; then here, my atelier,’ she shows me, panning out on a room flush with dark-coloured cuttings, ‘… showroom here.’ They’ve professionally cohabited the space for five years now. ‘It works for us; it allows us to have flexible work practices and to accommodate our children back and forth between us. It’s a space that works for us as professionals but also as parents.’

The Milwaukee-reared, NYC-based CFDA winner describes her design language as aggressively delicate, paradoxical and Midwest-coded. Velez was raised by her mother, Holly, a single mum and working ship captain; thus, she spent a lot of her childhood in gritty industrial spaces, playing with her mum’s tools more often than her own toys. Velez’s artistic identity stems from a reckoning and reconciliation with this background as she navigates her spectral perception of femininity and motherhood. Designing under her eponymous label, Velez brings an interesting perspective to the NYC fashion scene as a designer from outside of what Velez calls, the ‘creative coasts’.

RD: Elena, how would you describe your design language? 

EV: Aesthetically, I’m attracted to historical undergarments and corsets. A corset is this thing to cinch you in and make you look elegant and delicate but really, it’s quite physical, violent even. I call it aggressively delicate. Paradox is something that is really core to my design language and I love having something to compare and contrast things to. 

I consider myself a voyeur on the periphery of both New York and Milwaukee. I don’t see one or the other as better or more interesting. In both places, I observe and absorb different creative cultural movements and feelings. Having these two cultural reference points is really interesting and gives dimension to my work in a new way. I like to go about the creation of a collection in the same way that I would write an essay. I start with a thesis statement, building that through primary and secondary research and interviews that allow me to immerse myself in the world that I’m trying to communicate through my garments. 

RD: Questioning and redefining femininity is something you frequently explore. What is ‘woman’ to you and how do you represent or communicate that through your work?

EV: A recurring theme through my work is the celebration of complexity. I think there are so many reductive, simplistic, unilateral interpretations of what successful femininity is. And unless we’re also supplementing the beautiful, wonderful female qualities with a capacity for wickedness, a proximity to evil; unless we’re celebrating the entire multidimensional manifestation of what womanhood is, then it’s superficial and doesn’t resonate. I want to communicate and celebrate the complexity of femininity and broaden what makes a woman interesting and valuable.

RD: Who is the Elena Velez woman?

EV: She’s completely liberated, autonomous, accountable and fearless. She’s assertive and yet delicate. She’s kind of evil, but she’s also self aware. She realises that femininity can be toxic. Part of having this conversation about the pervasive influence of the patriarchy is considering how toxic the matriarchy can be. That’s the complexity of femininity. My girl defies the limiting manifestations of what womanhood can, can’t, should or shouldn’t be.

RD: You’ve previously spoken quite candidly about the logistics of starting a brand from scratch without financial backing. In the economic landscape of today, why do you put yourself through it?

EV: It’s this or nothing [laughs]. I was compelled towards fashion since I was a child, before I even knew what fashion was let alone knew there was an entire economy that surrounds it. I have everything: a vision, a creative universe and references; entrepreneurial endurance; I have an amazing support system; my mom has always been really active in building the brand, and I have a great team; I won several awards, Emerging Designer of the Year, CFDA, Vogue Fashion Fund. What more does it take to cement yourself in the industry? Having to reconcile the difficulty of an industry that treats young creatives in such a way is hard and I have a lot of concern for the future. But, as I said to my husband this morning, this is what I have to do.

RD: Like you, I was raised by a single working mother too and f*ck don’t single parents work hard? It’s relentless. If that’s something you’ve inherited from your mum, that drive and grit, you’ll be just fine. This in mind, how does motherhood influence your designs or impact your being?

EV: My memory of the matriarchy and motherhood growing up versus how I see it now, as a mother myself, are different. I have a responsibility to impart onto someone else whereas then it was imparted onto me. I utilise this force of matriarchy within the work, it really underlines, reinforces and emphasises my duty to do this well and truthfully and in a way that will leave something special for whatever comes after me.

RD: What is your relationship with your mother like?

EV: It’s utilitarian, for sure. We communicate our affection through acts of service like accomplishing a task together. Having my oiwn children was a very conscious decision that I made. As I was getting older, I was losing my need for my mom which was really scary and upsetting. I want to want my mom and in having kids I was able to do that and experience this new chapter of my life in a new way.

As featured in SLEEK 79 – MOTHER. Available in print and digital here.