Different is good

Together we can achieve more
In the past two years Design Fairs have popped up all over Rosario City. These have become very popular and might be understood as a reflection of the same phenomenon happening in all major Capitals of the World. In these Multi-theme spaces, new designers show their work, exchange ideas, attend different workshops and become part of numerous activities.

There is a wide range of things to do- These aren´t only to satisfy the hedonists –finding cutting-edge design, trying on or purchasing unique pieces of clothing and objects, listening to a variety of music, etc. It has also become a place of curiosity, and one that helps people gather and allows them to interact socially and professionally.

These days, society is on a wild race to achieve perfection and specialization. We can find Doctors that specialize in treating hands and teachers with postgraduate degrees on “Recovering sub-tropical lands by growing eatable species”. In this unique place where a supermarket employee can learn by hand the perfect method of setting up a shelf with a large number of tampon boxes, this new movement emerges. Trying to mix, join and combine; Let’s get together! Together we are more! By these old saying they set the wheels in motion to escape from individualism.

Team-work is the way they work in these spaces, ideas are shared and exchanged. Team work? Sharing? Meaningless words in our everyday life. “Nice” and “good” do not have shares in the stock markets anymore. They were swept away by “productive”, “optimized”, “customized”, and by so many others. The result: our view becomes narrower; words concentrate, adjust, and finally make us look in only one direction.

What can be found in these fairs?
As you set foot in one of these fairs, you get the feeling that your vision of the world starts to expand. In this kind of places sensations start to prevail and you just relax and go with the flow. You can taste some wine and feel a delicate tingling running through your veins, which is accentuated by the images that start to arrive, invited by a permissive-calm look. Conventional colours are incorporated into unconventional objects or vice versa (a blue wig, green lips). It is like twilight zone or suffering from some kind of object-dyslexia. Printed fabrics become a mixture between what is retro and what is ultramodern; there are movements and smiles everywhere.

Unique pieces are at display, they may have an industrial birth but with some extra work they have become handcrafted. The graphic design of each of the pieces is specially taken care of. Clothing has a privileged role; ideas are at the service of fashion, to dress using pieces from these events it is always fun, different and satisfactory. There are also decorative objects, records, furniture, paintings and other objects of desire.

To be independent depends on what?
In Rosario new designers grow, they reproduce as bunnies would do; there are all kinds of them, for all kinds of tastes and also with different quality levels in their products. The key to stay alive in this jungle is working hard and being creative. This environment is still not polluted by interested relationships and favours or economic factors. Certainly, having capital to invest allows Designers to buy better materials and to have access to training which helps achieving a better product. However, sweat still counts and surprise always adds to the equation. On this scale what weights the most are will and strength to keep on going, generate new things and make them happen.

Rosario moves forward. From the inner fibre of people evolves an ascendant movement of independent designers. In this city, where everybody knows everybody, where we are all cousins, this group of relatives is always on something new. We met Emilio Grassino, from Design Market, who shared his ideas and hopes with us for his Design Space.

Design goes to the market
In front of the old Law School , a typical Rosario post card, there is a hallway that takes us to another world. Design plus fashion, design plus accessories, design plus art pieces, desig plus delicious drinks, design plus enjoying the view of a typical Argentine patio, the “patio chorizo”. In this old house where lights are strategically set in between infinite plants, you can count more stars than in any other place in Rosario´s downtown.

According to Emilio, Design Market´s founder, “independent design is part of a social quest against massiveness and stereotypes. This movement is not casual, it coincides with people’s need to feel different, show who they are and their skills to be selective and choose. When someone who wants to feel unique, dresses up and acts like most of people do, they feel they are loosing the battle.

He believes independent design in Rosario does not have enough strength so as to generate a trend; that is still a young city and it’s always behind Buenos Aires. A lot of people come to offer their creations, but many of them lack maturity. There are good ideas, but they don’t have the sources and the organization to produce them, they look unfinished and unprofessional.

What we are looking for is a place that generates ideas, a fertile soil that allows art, photography, music and design grow. We first started with one fair and then we kept adding activities; after that we took advantage of the patio and it became a bar. For the future ahead, we would like to organize some workshops. We’re also working on the environmentally friendly side of this movement by developing organic materials and ideas to improve our ways of interacting with the surrounding world and rebuild our bond with it.”

Kinky and smelling good
On the other side, independent designers struggle to find their place and make ends meet by selling in traditional shops. A good example of this is “Si supieras vida mía” (my life, if only you would know); where Designers from Rosario and Buenos Aires share the store window. They don´t only design the clothing but they also create a brand new fragrance with every collection. To open their new lingerie section they have organized a tango show to be performed by “Las Chirusas”. They also do art shows every month.

Breaking the pattern
Independent designers in Rosario are trying to break with traditions and structures. When this happens it generates a new movement: the wave carries along sea water and diverse foams and it erodes creating a new landscape. Sooner or later, society will absorb these particularities and make them massive. Previously these usually go through the mission of becoming symbols from a particular group, only later to get lost in the crowd.

Generating this unique wave or detecting it or speaking up for it or simply getting on it and enjoying it is part of what life is, it is part of the salt of life. A special salt that adds flavour and allows us to eat life up.

Some designers:
Cuatro Culonas
Bendito Closet
Malditas Ideas
Que Botarate!