My eponymous color + shape project is an intimate visual journal, a biotic and ever-evolving reality. The idea started as a desire to explore experiential and interdisciplinary dressing that tie together to inhabit imagination. Starting with painting, then fashion prints, then silhouettes, and into a universe of endless media, each piece carries my life experiences and a vision of solidarity for the world.
The project aims to foment a deeper connection with the social and political implications of fashion and textiles through practical design solutions driven by an awareness of interconnectivity. This means supporting ethical and increasingly transparent local supply chains, engaging with a slower and more intentional process, and breaking with a sense of ownership and exclusionary ‘coolness’ in fashion. This also allows me to expand into spatial artistic disciplines that allow the vision to become more communal.
With a mission to strengthen craft in Borinquen (Puerto Rico) and uplift craftspeople in the island, I collaborate with local creators to source, manufacture, and sell her Ready-to-Wear art pieces.
I firmly believe in decentralized fashion systems and am currently researching ways to, over time, localize a fully circular supply chain in Puerto Rico. I am returning to the island to experiment with the development of rich natural dies, ongoing research on regenerative fibre development by independent groups, and the need for solutions utilizing second-hand materials.
My small batches of wearable art pieces are made of 100% natural fibers, including silk, cotton, deadstock Supima cotton and organic cotton, utilizing natural dyeing, and digital printing techniques. For this first collection, much of the print development was executed close to New York City, where the concept was developed.
All Ready-to-Wear pieces are sewn combining industrial and couture techniques in Utuado, Puerto Rico. I also has developed paper for tags from fabric scraps in Cidra with local artisan @papersandflowers. After my move back to the island, I plan on incorporating more local resources, increasing second-hand sourcing and design, and integrating regenerative fibres and more circular solutions.
Amanda María Forastieri (she, they) is a fashion designer, textile designer and artist. While growing up in Puerto Rico, Amanda was exposed to visual and movement-oriented creative practices since her early days. The lush Caribbean landscapes are still reflected in her work, along with pieces that celebrate liberation from binary colonial narratives.
She learned dressmaking from her paternal-grandmother which sparked her curiosity for fashion design. She pursued a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design in Philadelphia. During her education, her affinity for studio art seeped into her fashion studies, hence developing strong skills in textile surface design.
During her graduation year, the Supima Design Competition and onward, Amanda developed innovative ways of developing engineered prints that were designed around the shapes being draped, which has become the foundation of her creations. The artwork is created with minimum waste before printing, and to be cut as per the shape of the pattern pieces.
After working for a print studio, freelancing for local brands, and developing textiles internationally, she observed production runs on extremely big scales and had no motivation to move forward to a degrowth model. She also witnessed how there was no true initiative to engage in local supply chains and slow down the mechanized pace at which garments were produced.
Hence, after an organic process of intuitive research, Amanda opens her brainchild to the public, focused on closer engagement with garment and textile workers, land and community.