FROM THE DESK OF ALESSANDRA PEREZ-RUBIO

The fashion industry is one of the largest industry pollutants in the world today. At first mention, this may shock you, but brands ranging from fast fashion to luxury labels are feeding this fire as a way to keep the essence of their brand’s image intact; Fast fashion companies are notorious for over-producing in order to keep their promised low prices. Luxury fashion houses have been known to burn their excess inventory at the end of a selling to keep their prestige. When establishing Mestiza New York, Louisa and I yearned to find a place in the women’s fashion marketplace between trendy excess and unachievable opulence, where a brand’s image would not be tarnished by being inspiring yet still inclusive. We have learned from these large players in the marketplace in order to create a brand we are truly proud of. 

Our brand and our team believe that fashion should be more cyclical and that each dress can have multiple lives. The goal of the fast fashion business is to get trends to the customer at a lower price point as soon as possible. It is cheaper for them to churn out accessible product in an excess rather than simply producing less product. Knowing that many of these pieces end up in landfills once they go out of style has taught us to find ways to work in small batches of inventory and to ensure each production run for Mestiza is carefully conceptualized so that no piece of inventory created goes to waste. While trend-centric pieces at a lower price point end up going out of style at a pace as fast as they came into style, it is centric to Mestiza’s brand identity that every dress in a collection has a purpose in a women’s life and for future lives of the women the dress can be passed down to. 

While Mestiza looks up to the success and beauty created by these original heritage brands, we work to challenge the industry’s ideals. We do this by creating our equally elevated aesthetic and quality, our contemporary pricing, and our mission to pay it forward. At the end of each season, Mestiza has a donation period where our brand works with charitable organizations that connect us with deserving women to donate surplus dresses in hopes to give them a shot of confidence and help them on their path to success. There is always a woman who can use a beautiful dress that can help them feel like their best self. 

At the end of the day, Louisa and I are proud of the space that Mestiza New York has taken in the women’s fashion industry. We have an immense respect for our heritage and strive to ensure that paying it forward is and always will be the cornerstone of our business. We will always strive to highlight the importance of making each purchase purposeful, each product timeless and beautiful, all while paying homage to the women who inspire us, past present and future.

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