ANA LORENZANA, PHOTOGRAPHER
Ana Lorenzana is a Colombian photographer living in Mexico City. She's one of my favorite people with a personality that is as vibrant, optimistic, engaging and intimate as her photos. I've been wanting to introduce her to you for a very long time, thrilled to have the opportunity to share her photos and interview today.
ISABELLA ROMO, RESTAURATEUR, ISSI RESTAURANTE
Isabella Romo is the owner of her namesake restaurant, Issi, in Mexico City (she also designed the menu but doesn't refer to herself as a chef). She's in the process of opening a second place next door, Crisis, with a totally different menu and concept. To say that Isabella is busy is an understatement—as all restauranteurs can attest (including me, having waitressed in New York City for 5 years of my life)—there are constantly things that need to be fixed, repaired, developed when you work in this industry. It is truly the business that does not sleep and attracts people with similar tireless attitudes. So when she agreed to talk to me I jumped—and what she shared, I think, is some of the best advice when it comes to fighting imposter syndrome (or stopping yourself from doing anything that feels like a calling at all). **Isabella and I chatted in Spanish during this interview but I'm doing my best at not just transcribing but also translating our conversation to English. God help me.
PAULINA, STORE DIRECTOR, CHAVA
Paulina Pliego is the director of Chava Tiendita, our newly opened shop in CDMX. She's originally from Queretaro and moved to Mexico City when we offered her the job (I was thrilled she accepted and was excited to live here). She's a trained designer, has designed her own line of clothing and is a self-professed extrovert, which is honestly ideal for running our very touch-heavy business. The Tiendita is a small space but it's filled with one-of-a-kind shirts, some hand-embroidered pieces by female-owned and employed Jauja and even a leather jacket we all love so much (store exclusives!). Get to know Pau, and come visit her at the Tiendita.
ISABEL MARTINEZ ABASCAL, FOUNDER LANZA ATELIER
Isabel is a Madrid-native who I often seen biking around my neighborhood of San Miguel Chapultepec. She's someone whose style I've always admired from afar and then I had the opportunity to meet her when she worked on the renovation of Adeline's stunning home in La Roma. The office she founded in 2015 with her partner, Alessandro Arienzo, is right down the street from our studio and it was a delight to visit it. Lanza is one of the few firms that still works with paper models and each of these felt like a piece of art in its own right, you'll see below.
ALAN GOBE, CREATIVE PRODUCER + STYLIST
I met Alan during my very first year working on Chava. Immediately I started following him on Instagram (although he really shines on TikTok, an outlet I just haven't been able to adopt). I love...
