EDUARDO RAMOS AFTER HIS TRIUMPHANT SHOW AT VFW F/W 2025

EDUARDO RAMOS 

I sat with designer Eduardo Ramos a few days after his fall-winter show at Vancouver Fashion Week. It has become a ritual for Eduardo and me to get together the week after his latest shows at VFW. I wouldn't call it an interview, but more of a decompression, a time to discuss, share, and explore our views on fashion, his latest collection, and our mutual love of fashion. I first met Eduardo after his first runway show as a student, I believe, in 2019. His talent and vision were evident in his first runway show. However, skill and vision are not enough to succeed in the fashion world; the difference in many cases is work ethic and passion. Eduardo has both in abundance. Not to be set back by challenges, Eduardo's perseverance and discipline serve him well.

THE COLLECTION - ALTER EGO

My questions for Eduardo stemmed from the first: " What was your story? What was this all about? "After a short pause, Eduardo told me, " This collection is a journey back to where my life began. It was about pain and growth. For the first time in ten years, I returned to my childhood home in Mexico. It is in a small town outside of Mexico City; our family home is there. I spent time examining my past, home, family, and friends. The house itself was decayed and showed its age and neglect. I took hundreds of photos for reference, examined my relationships, and spent time in these deep thoughts, bringing this collection into being."

"Since I started designing and my life as a designer in Canada, some of my family and friends in Mexico were mostly unaware of these changes in my life and me." Eduardo shared this as part of his examination of the idea of the alter ego. The alter ego refers to an alternative self, a second identity, or a hidden personality that a person may project in certain situations. It can be a different persona from a person's usual or "normal self."

My next question for Eduardo Ramos is how you express those inspirations and motifs in your designs. The answer is about the designer's process: " I work from a place where I want to project feelings and emotions. My design process is guided by my emotional life and the desire to evoke those emotions in my audience. I design with the show in mind, and the runway is my stage to express my feelings."

ALTER EGO-A REVIEW

The Alter Ego collection opened with a model on a raised platform with extended wings. Ramos told me of the inspiration for this strong visual: " One of my memories from my childhood is that of a sculpture my mother had. It was a reproduction of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the famous statue from the Louvre. The headless winged figure has stayed with me. I remember the stories my mother told me about it, but more than that, it influenced me. It represents my mother's strength.  My mother has been through a lot and has stayed strong through it all."

The strength of a woman is a theme that runs through Eduardo's work and something he returns to time and again. Eduardo Ramos celebrates women and deliberately excludes men's wear in this collection. "Part of the story of this collection is about pain and the absence of my father in my life. My mother is my muse for much of my work. She is powerful, beautiful, and caring." The clothing in this collection exemplifies a strong female figure. The designer illustrates this strength through a three-dimensional, almost architectural quality that evokes a sense of power and memorable shapes. The garments flatter the female form with dramatic silhouettes,  evening gowns that project the ultimate femme fatale.

The strong shapes I spoke of are reflected in the series of bodices and corsets. The sculptured bodices reflect the designer's idea of decay; though the sense of decay could be ugly, these were so beautiful.  Ramos said, "Once we made the outfits, the next stage was to add the decay through patina. We frayed the looks, we walked on pieces to add that age, but we still made it beautiful." Ramos chose to use deadstock fabrics in this collection. He made this decision because it is sustainable, follows the theme of repurposing the old, and examines the value of the dilapidated and decayed. The designer brought some fabric back from Mexico. One selection was intended initially for interior design, like lamp shades. Still, in the hands of this skilled craftsman, it was modified into a luxurious, shiny bronze brocade that brought depth and vitality to a fitted body suit, a high collared bolero jacket and an open vest exposing the model's torso. Many of these pieces were paired with reclaimed leather skirts or pants. Ramos said, " We carefully used the reclaimed hides, placing their  raw edges as hems and their natural finishes as parts of the design." A circular skirt from a single hide stands out for its movement and inventive fit.

All these pieces exuded a sensuality that ran through the collection as a thread to the designer's desire to project strong, powerful women who are the authors of their sexuality. Ramos is the kind of designer whose language is so singular and precise that his collections have unwavering aesthetic through-lines regardless of his initial inspirations. The pieces in this collection fell into a balanced vision, each holding its place on the runway as unique but being part of the whole. All these elements played into the collection's story, which looks at the alter ego. The parts of ourselves we choose to show and those aspects we keep hidden, the layers of our self that others see and how, from every angle, things may look different. Form,  texture, colour and volume were all used to fulfill the designer's narrative. Models' faces were partially hidden by metallic netting, and textured dresses exposed and covered the body simultaneously. Ramos is not a designer whose work is governed by colour, but rather by tone and mood. Can you say what colours you saw? No, but you know how you felt.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF VANCOUVER FASHION WEEK BY ARUN NEVADER

IN CONCLUSION

The collection opened with a form-fitting gown and ended with a similar silhouette, but between these beautifully crafted frocks were garments that held their own. This collection, the designers' best so far, is an expression of an artist whose goal is to put on a show, move his audience and produce exciting original garments. His success is evident in the powerful, emotionally charged presentation that moved and inspired. Again, Eduardo Ramos spoke of perfection with me, but this time on the runway, he deconstructed the perfect, showed us some of the structure, shared some of the process, and invited us a little more into his world. In six years, Ramos has built a brand that explores and experiments in a thrilling way, and we wait to see where he will take us next.

EDUARDO RAMOS STUDIO

EDUARDO RAMOS INSTAGRAM

EDUARDO RAMOS AND I AT VFW.

CIAO FOR NOW, J ANDREW JACKSON