On a Mission March 17, 2020
Motherhood, Citizenship, and Collaboration: Studio Visit with Designer Paola Hernández
by Larkin Clark
Motherhood has reminded me of the importance of being focused. It allows me to go deep.
– Paola Hernández
When I asked designer Paola Hernández what three words describe her, she said simply, “Mystical, curious, methodical.”
Having known Paola for nearly a decade, I think that assessment is spot-on. When I told her I was getting married last year, she was the first to suggest that our group of girlfriends create a sacred ceremony to bless my upcoming marriage. No matter the question, she always has an intuitive answer that feels as if it’s come from the Universe itself. And when it comes to her work, Paola manages to be driven and focused while still following her heart.
When we first met, what immediately struck me was her openness to connection, wholehearted support and celebration of the women in her life, and devotion to giving back to organizations she cares about. In other words: She’s my kind of woman.
An early interest in philosophy and physics led Paola to pursue a career as a fashion designer. Her eponymous label, Paola Hernández, is a fixture at New York Fashion Week and has been featured in major publications like Vogue Mexico, Harper’s Bazaar Español, and ELLE Mexico.
Now, as a mother of two young girls, her work is shifting focus to knitwear inspired by her experience with motherhood. In celebration of Women’s History Month, she interviewed me for her label’s newsletter, a transcription of which you can find here, and we expanded upon a recent phone conversation about her journey for this interview.
Our conversation traversed motherhood, becoming a U.S. citizen, and how collaboration drives her design process. Something I love about our friendship is that, as long as I’ve known Paola, I continue to learn more things about her. Like most women, she has a history that is unique and complex—something she skillfully weaves into her creative work.
For those who don’t know you, I’d love to share a bit of your background. How did you choose fashion design as your path and did you encounter any challenges early on?
Before studying fashion, I studied philosophy and physics. I was in the search of understanding the purpose of life, in particular the purpose of my own existence. I believe both physics and philosophy re-interpret the world in a pure way. I wanted to learn more about their language. In that process, I realized my true passion was the subtle language of creativity—the transformation of reality. I chose fashion because it’s a creative process where human beings are directly involved in the process. A dress is not a finished product after the designer’s process ends; it keeps on evolving depending on the way people style it. Fashion resembles consciousness: They both keep evolving constantly.
After I realized I wanted to become a fashion designer I went to London to study fashion at Central Saint Martins. The experience of living in that city was key to push the boundaries of my creativity.
While living in London, I decided to name my brand after myself, a symbol of signing my work the way artists do. I wanted to create a fashion brand based on philosophical concepts expressed through symbolic representations by design choices.
After my studies in London, I moved back to Mexico City to start my own brand. I had my first shows at Mexico Fashion Week; my first publications in Vogue Mexico, Harper’s Bazaar Español, and ELLE Mexico; and my first group of fashion designer friends. We were the young designers in Mexico City and close to each other. More than just friends, we were a movement—changing what fashion in Mexico had been before us, and making fashion in Mexico more contemporary.
After four years developing my brand in Mexico City, I decided to move to New York City to further my career as a designer. The fashion industry in the city was strong and fully developed, so I could learn more about fashion design, fashion business, and keep evolving. The biggest challenge was to start all over again in a new city.
You recently became a U.S. citizen. How has that impacted your creative approach?
I applied for my residency in order to be able to open a company and work in NYC. In a way, I rebuilt my entire life, from a personal to a professional level.Each collection is biographical in a way. Each concept is based on books I’m reading, art that speaks to me or ideas that come to mind in my yoga practice.
For one of my collections I focused on the meaning of being American. After getting my Green Card as an outstanding talent, I became an American citizen. I will be able to vote for President in the U.S. for the first time in the upcoming elections. It’s really exciting to be able to participate with my voice in the current politics of the country where I currently reside and where I create my collections.
Does being an American citizen represent something specific for you?
It represents freedom and diversity. It also represents belonging to my home. The meaning has only strengthened with time.
You’ve also mentioned that motherhood completely transformed the way you work.
I became an American citizen parallel to becoming a mother. Currently, my collections involve different aspects of motherhood as part of my inspiration. After I became a mother, the biggest change as a designer has been the focus on knitwear only. Motherhood has reminded me of the importance of being focused. It allows me to go deep. Exploring knitwear as my main language to design collections has helped me to choose the best materials, design special artwork for each collection, and strengthen my concepts by creating unique pieces.
Every step is part of the process. With clarity and patience, it all happens the way you envision it.
I love that you’ve collaborated with several artists—including your husband, painter Michael Kagan— on your collections. How do you choose who to work with and what’s the process like?
For each collection, I like to collaborate with an artist to bring the concept to life with a dialogue and co-creation. It makes the ideas stronger. [For the knitwear featured in this photoshoot], I wanted to tell the story of the collection through American contemporary art. I chose to collaborate with Margo Wolowiec for this collection because she’s a contemporary American artist that I admire. I love her work.
When I met with Margo for the first time, she really liked the concept as well, so we started developing a dialogue around it. We chose a geolocation for her to create her art piece from. We chose One World Trade Center as an emblematic and iconic symbol of NYC, where I have resided since I moved from Mexico. Based on Margo’s piece, I designed patterns that were then used for the knitwear. The whole process felt like a dialogue of re-interpretation of reality: online images from a physical place that were translated into art to create a woven piece that was then reinterpreted to create knitted pieces.
You also have an aspect of your business that gives back in some way. Why is that important to you?
With the current political climate, and [due to my] process of becoming an American citizen, I have become more active and involved in helping the world to be a better place.
I researched several nonprofit organizations and the first one that spoke to me the most, being a woman, was Planned Parenthood. Since then, I have donated a percentage of the proceeds to other nonprofit organizations that I believe in. Each season it has been a different organization related to the collection’s inspiration.
During this time, [as we confront COVID-19], I will be selling gift cards on my website. I will add 20 percent to the value of the card and will donate 10 percent to the Food Bank of New York City. As a mother, I feel the importance of supporting an organization that is taking care of hunger during a time of crisis. For every $1 donated, they provide five meals, and they need to provide 15 million meals.
Do you have any advice for women who may be thinking of launching their own brands or businesses?
Every step is part of the process. With clarity and patience, it all happens the way you envision it.
Follow Paola on Instagram at @paolahernandez and shop her collections at paolahernandez.com.
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Interview, photography, and direction: Larkin Clark
Styling: Paola Hernández
