Words by Mandi Pimental | Images by Juan Correa & Edward Lai
The ostentatious fashion presentations by House of Enid will cause one to take pause this season. We spoke with the designer on the process behind the unique and ornate creations.
What inspires your fashion aesthetic?
My fashion aesthetic is inspired by internal experiences and situations that occur in my personal life and that provoke any kind of emotion within me, but it usually changes from collection to collection. I consider myself to be a story teller more than anything else. What I like the most about what I do is telling stories using fashion as a medium, whether the story is developed during a fashion editorial shoot or within the clothing itself, it is important for me to always have a strong concept behind every project. For my first collection “Illumination” I was influenced by divine entities and the belief that we come from the sky. With my upcoming collection “Creation”, which is set to premiere early next year, I wanted to explore the humanity in those divine entities.
What was your proudest creation to date? The Swirl Dress that was a part of the Illumination collection. It was the first piece of clothing ever made by House of Enid, and it took 3 months to complete. It was made entirely of plastic and metal tubing so it required special techniques to hold the pieces together, such as hand stitch and welding. I remember working on that dress 20 hours every day for 3 months and at points it seemed impossible to believe that it’d ever be finished. That is why I also like to call it the infinity dress, not only did it take a long time to be done but it’s also formed by dozens of circles and spirals so it has no beginning or end.
If you could sum up your latest line in one word, which would you choose?
Unexpected.
Share a story from early in your design career and explain how it led you to the designs you create today.
I was very young when I decided to jump onto this bandwagon and I remember saying to myself, if this is what you want to do, you’re going to do it but you’re going to do it well. So I started by studying the industry deeply. By the time I was ready, I decided to release an entire collection all by myself and that’s how it all started. The collection was noticed by several magazines around the globe and praised by celebrities and art experts and that’s when I realized that my purpose in this industry is to walk in between the line of art and fashion to express emotion through clothing and accessories.
What’s next for House of Enid?
Our new collection ‘Creation’ premieres in Houston, Texas early next year, please check our Instagram @houseofenid for official dates. Casting dates for models will be posted there as well.
