Third Culture Collective is Melissa Vazquez-Aldana’s concept store in the making, that aims to bring contemporary Indian designs and fashion over to Miami, to an untapped audience waiting with open arms. Aesthetically and culturally similar to Mumbai, Miami is a city bursting with fresh talent - artists, musicians, designers, the whole shebang - so much so that it was hardly shocking to Melissa how organically people took to the designs she brought over to showcase. “Miami style is a completely eclectic phenomena -it’s so diverse and that’s its appeal. For some, the less you wear, the better, since it’s so hot! You have the bohemians and the surfers who prefer having loose and flowy silhouettes and wearing lots of vintage piece, and then you have the hip-hop influence. Miami has many faces, and none of which are too distant from what Indian designers have to offer” she tells HG.
Melissa approached BumbleGumGang and iiipoints collective - promoters of Miami’s hippest venues and music, technology and art festivals with a proposal for a lookbook dedicated to showcasing Miami’s emerging female creative talent associated with the collective. The artists featured in the project were carefully selected for their unique sense of style and personality - it was important to align the artist with the look. The artists picked their own clothes, based on which designers they felt organically suited their own personalities. This Look book features Indian designers such as Love Birds, Manish Arora, Shift and Little Shilpa.
An artist and producer, Virgo has a deep affinity for the cosmos and the subterranean world. She is currently working on developing a video game called Water Planet, a single-player first-person elven sci-fi set in a distant blue world. Upon asking her what she feels about contemporary Indian fashion, Virgo says “I love it, and I wish I had known more about it sooner, but I do hope to visit Mumbai to experience it in person. I would love to wear the Manish Arora hooded cape while walking through ruins, or wading into a crystal blue pool.”
Lexy is an artist, painter and photographer based out of Miami, and her aim is to document as much as she possibly can using myriad mediums. For as long as she can remember, Fashion has always been a part of her life. When asked about Indian style, she said “I wish more people would dress like that normally. It’s unique and expressive, I like it a lot. It’s basically art- the prints, the way it’s designed, it’s like architecture in the form of clothing, it’s not just a pant or shirt.”
Yaz is a DJ and a Model, and has been doing this for the last 4 years. She plays electronic house, deep funk and trap - all while currently working on a music production project. Describing Indian fashion in the lens presented to her, Yaz says “It’s more tasteful and outside of the box,I think the patterns and colors that are used are all so different but they mesh together so well. If you were to show someone from Florida (outside Miami) what Indian style is they probably wouldn’t get it at first. But the clothes and fabrics are so unique - Miami would get it.”
Zine maker, bartender, painter and DJ, it seems there is almost nothing this Venezuelan can’t do. Her personal style is that of a ‘cozy girl’ and she feels Indian fashion and design definitely fits the bill all thanks to the “Light flowy fabrics that don’t weigh you down. I would probably wear this to an art gallery or a nice dinner. I’m very low-key and kind of a hermit so i stay in a lot but I would wear the designs to any kind of outing.”
All photographs have been shot by Frederic Pinet. To see more of his work, visit his website here.