Purple Magazine
— The 30YRS Issue #38 F/W 2022

deconstruction meets destruction azzmma

DECONSTRUCTION MEETS
DESTRUCTION
AZZMMA

interview by fabiola talavera
photography by adonay sánchez

NAYELI DE ALBA, STYLE
AMBAR VENEGAS, MODEL
ALDO EK, HAIR
ADRIAN GONZÁLEZ, MAKE-UP
TANIA TREJO, STYLIST’S ASSISTANT

FABIOLA TALAVERA — What motivated you to start this project?

AZZMMA — I started my project as a way of finding a means of personal and aesthetic expression that encompassed my interests yet allowed me to expand into other disciplines. I found the answer in a hybrid between attire and sculpture.

 

FABIOLA TALAVERA — How do your pieces change when translating a sketch into material reality?

AZZMMA — There’s a sophisticated transmutation between the sketch and what the creation turns out to be. My sketches convey abstract sensations, and after several iterations, ideas become clearer in my mind, and then the piece emerges. I usually experiment with materials and let the pieces evolve. I like to allow that mutability.

 

FABIOLA TALAVERA — Do you craft all your pieces by hand?

AZZMMA — It depends on the work. Right now, I’m working piece by piece, and sometimes a tailor helps me. I usually begin by making a prototype with the material I will be using, and I add on to it and arrange it as a sculptural puzzle until I’m satisfied with the result. In some pieces, I hand-paint the fabric; in others, there’s more attention to the final touches.

 

FABIOLA TALAVERA — How do you begin to conceptualize a new body of work? Is it an idea or a material that catches your attention? What influences come into play?

AZZMMA — For me, it’s essential to imagine the material and the sensations attached to the pieces. Working on a piece coordinates my mind and hands, but there’s also an element of chance. As for my inspiration, I don’t feel it comes entirely from external influences, but more from an introspective process, exploring what my mind interprets subconsciously. I’m captivated by the idea of light and dark, the abstraction of what an angel could be, or a demon, or what a hybrid between both of these would look like. In the end, what attracts me most to attire is being able to display sensuality and power.

 

FABIOLA TALAVERA — Many of the titles of your pieces allude to BDSM subculture. Do these practices and fetishes impact your view of fashion?

AZZMMA — To a certain point. BDSM is meant to cause corporal sensations, and that’s where it comes in contact with my practice. My pieces, instead of being worn by a body, use the body. I find inspiration in the power and energy of sensations, and the performative and quasi-cinematographic experiences that my pieces might arouse. It’s also play with sex and provocation, how these pieces can add more to the sexual act — what is revealed and what is not, the complication of untying a garment, the sensation of being held or constricted, the temperature of the materials — the hidden faculties accessible only to those who recognize them.

 

FABIOLA TALAVERA — Your creations have an interesting take on what is shown or hidden, and how they intertwine with the body. How do you envision the human body that wears these pieces?

AZZMMA — I like the person wearing my pieces to come close to a feeling of deification, an embodiment associated with the supreme. The pieces highlight the body and bring a sensation of desire and unattainability into corporeality.

FABIOLA TALAVERA — Do you see Mexico City as a cultural hub for fashion?

AZZMMA —

There is a certain energy that Mexico City has, and an atypical beauty that is not seen elsewhere.
I like the night and everything that happens during it — the excitement of being perceived in sites where
desire reigns. I think we, the inhabitants of this city, live through sensations in a more battle-hardened,
profound, chaotic, and sometimes destructive way, which creates a particular power.

END

[Table of contents]

The 30YRS Issue #38 F/W 2022

Table of contents

© Purple Institute

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