Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican Army's victory against French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. I'm pretty sure I always just thought it was Mexican Independence Day, so here's to finding out a little more about this temporarily downtrodden country! It's been raining in New York City for the last couple of days and thinking about a warmer climate south of the border is making this day go by just a little faster...




(photos via Wallpaper)

The clothing designs above are by a woman named Carla Fernandez. She travels through Mexico finding communities that specialize in handmade textiles and works with them on a fair-trade basis to collect material for the label she designed, Taller Flora. I don't have the highest hopes of finding environmentally friendly fashion that doesn't look like a hippie crocheted it in the back of a van, but aren't these beautiful? Simple and structural with muted tones make it both high fashion and accessible.