From December 28 BarbarA’s Power changes its name to BarbarA’s. Located at No. 106 Prado Avenue, from 3 p.m. this Tuesday, the venture will hold an interactive event open to the public, with a fashion show where the models will do more than just parade.
This is the first Afro-Cuban clothing brand to emerge in the country, and the result of a conscious, anti-racist activism that emerged in the 1990s and which was promoted, according to its founder Deyni Terry, “when in 2014 the matriarch of my ‘tribe,’ Bárbara Abreu, who for years was an empirical designer and produced garments not only for her descendants, but also for neighbors in her local community, passed away.”
As she notes, “BarbarA’s emerged to make fashion a vehicle for change. It offers the possibility of Afro-Cuban activism, given the need to influence the right to image as one of the main rights of people, and with the specific purpose of vindicating the culture of Afro-Cubans in a context where we have been invisibilized.”
But why relaunch the brand?
“It is a necessity, because the brand has been around for five years and six months, and during this time it has experienced new challenges. There was a before and an after the pandemic that has hit us, and in our case, we learned a lot more. We now have our first shop. For the first time, and in the face of shortages, we made our own cloths and in a conscious, responsible, sustainable way, we were able to make new clothes using our own efforts and skills.
“In addition to all this, we have been approached by a young public, which is an important market segment for us and we are interested in reaching out to them in a different way. BarbarA’s believes that we have to change with the times. As long as the community and the public for whom we work continue to make demands of us, we have an obligation to continue our efforts. These and other reasons are driving us today to a relaunch where we are breaking the mould and, as always, designing with purpose.”
The event will feature performances by La Reyna y La Real, a duo that has become loyal to the products of this business. There will be music, raffles, themed drinks from different countries of the African continent, and the Color y Pasión collection will be presented, designed especially for young people.
BarbarA’s works to satisfy the needs of a population sector that has received little attention in the Cuban context. With a committment to fashion linked to Africa, but from Cuba, a country where, with the exception of religion, the African aspect does not have the presence it should. In this context, the brand has a lot to contribute and defend.
“For us it is important that this type of venture exists because we have been working on culture, identity and traditions without trying to limit the African aspects in our territory. We are Cuban and as such our expression speaks of Afro-Cuban culture. Moreover, linking what we do with the visual arts and other applied arts is something that makes BarbarA’s different. Afro-Cuban activism, solidarity and social work give this type of business project distinctive features that are important to link with other experiences.
“We are committed to human improvement, so that individuals have better possibilities when it comes to meeting needs such as the acquisition of raw materials. At the same time, we aspire to sorority, empathy and alliances ceasing to be mere words to become facts. As a brand we aspire to be a reference within Cuban fashion, and to raise people’s cultural awareness, maintaining adequate communication, involving them in the cultural and social aspects. With all this, we will achieve our purpose, and the rest will come too.”
