Profession / role:

chief designer

Company / organisation:

SYL Hand made

Website (if you have one):

www.sylviandrade.com (in construction)

My primary role in relation to fashion is:

Entrepreneur

I am looking to discover or buy

collaboration, learning experiences, discussions, etc.

About me / About business or organisation:

Since I started as a designer in my city I question myself about the consequences of fashion in our environment and in the society. I live near the most polluted river in the world, and one of the reasons is the dye of leather near the Bogotá River. Also, most of the persons I worked with has no degree and are head of a family. This two factors made me be more interested in one hand, in natural dyes from our biodiversity which I started to investigate a year ago and we are currently working on, and in the other hand, in handcrafting and local techniques. My goal is to have a brand made with natural products dyes and fabrics and with the handcraft of the Colombian artisans.

Career history / Company history:

I first studied literature in Bogotá then I moved to France and did one year of art and fashion at LISAA Institute and fashion design and "Haute Couture" in La Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne in Paris for 3 years. I moved to Bogotá were I started working with publicity then I was the chief designer of a local women's brand with more than 8 sales points in the city, then a kid's brand where I worked as chief designer. I decided to start my own project, so I presented my book in Bogotá's fashion week for young designers. I was one of the young designers that win a fashion show in the week. Because of this price I was selected to represent my country in the Moscow’s fashion week two times. After this wonderful experience I decided to open my show room in Bogotá were I actually work. My interests are mostly about sustainable design and trying to find solutions to our environmental and handwork problems. This is why I started a research in natural dyes extracted from our biodiversity with a local university and a line of dresses with handcraft made by women from different regions of Colombia. My goal is to work in fashion helping the environment and our poverty problems by developing a sustainable and creative ways to work with fabrics and dyes.