Houses / Mexico
Mexican fashion designers to know
Mexican fashion runs from Carla Fernández, Lydia Lavín and Francisco Cancino, who work with artisan communities, to Lorena Saravia’s ready-to-wear, eveningwear by Alexia Ulibarri and Benito Santos, menswear from CAMPILLO, Sánchez-Kane and Willy Chavarria, Barragán’s streetwear and accessories from Pineda Covalin and Daniela Villegas. Every milestone carries its source.
How this guide works
What counts, and what we leave out
This is an introduction, not a ranking. We chose twelve labels that between them cover Mexican ready-to-wear, eveningwear, menswear, streetwear, accessories and textile work with Indigenous artisans, and that have a public record we could check. Three built their labels outside Mexico: Víctor Barragán, who grew up in Mexico City, in New York; Daniela Villegas, raised in Mexico City, in Los Angeles; and Willy Chavarria, who is Mexican-American, in New York. Their profiles say so.
Calendar facts come from official sources we read ourselves: the CFDA’s New York schedules for September 2025, February 2026 and September 2026, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode’s Paris menswear calendar for June 2026, the LVMH Prize semi-finalist lists for 2024 to 2026, and Fashion Week México’s own release of its October 2026 calendar. Where a label works with artisans, we report only what the label, a museum or named press says about who made what; where the use of Indigenous design has been publicly disputed, we report what the parties said. Where sources disagree on a date, the profile says so.
Facts were checked on 22 October 2026. If you represent one of these labels and see something out of date, send us a correction.
At a glance
The labels at a glance
| Label | Designer | Since | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carla Fernández | Carla Fernández | 2000 | Textile heritage: contemporary clothes made with Indigenous and mestizo artisans, using traditional Mexican techniques |
| Lydia Lavín | Lydia Lavín, with Montserrat Messeguer | 2005 | Textile heritage: fashion built on research into Indigenous textile techniques, made with artisan communities |
| Francisco Cancino | Francisco Cancino | — | Ready-to-wear: restrained womenswear built on Mexican textile craft, first under the name Yakampot |
| Lorena Saravia | Lorena Saravia | 2010 | Ready-to-wear: timeless womenswear with a Western edge, including boots handmade in Mexico |
| Alexia Ulibarri | Alexia Ulibarri | 2009 | Couture and eveningwear: romantic eveningwear with hand embroidery in crystals and silk thread |
| Benito Santos | Benito Santos | — | Couture and eveningwear: bridal and evening gowns with hand embroidery |
| CAMPILLO | Patricio Campillo | 2016 | Menswear: tailoring built on the charro silhouette, finished with Mexican craft |
| Sánchez-Kane | Bárbara Sánchez-Kane | 2015 | Menswear: menswear that takes apart Mexican symbols of masculinity, on the runway and in galleries |
| WILLY CHAVARRIA | Willy Chavarria | — | Menswear: menswear rooted in Chicano style, such as the baggy trouser and the Chuco suit |
| Barragán | Víctor Barragán | — | Streetwear and contemporary: gender-fluid clothes mixing pop-culture graphics, scrap leather and metalwork |
| Pineda Covalin | Cristina Pineda and Ricardo Covalín | 1996 | Accessories: silk scarves and ties printed with pre-Hispanic and Mexican nature motifs, such as the monarch butterfly |
| Daniela Villegas | Daniela Villegas | 2008 | Accessories: fine jewellery shaped like insects, mixing natural materials with gold and gemstones |
Profiles
Who they are and what they make.
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Textile heritage · Mexico City
Carla Fernández
Photo: Carlos Didjazaá, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Born in Saltillo in 1973, Carla Fernández founded her Mexico City label in 2000 and works with artisans on design as well as production; her site counts more than 175 of them, from Indigenous and mestizo communities in 12 states, and the Denver Art Museum’s captions credited makers by name and town. The museum gave her a full career exhibition in 2022, designed by her husband, the artist Pedro Reyes. In 2026 the V&A in London added a hand-lettered ensemble from her Fashion as Resistance work to its collection, and in October 2026 she opened Volvo Fashion Week México.
- Since
- 2000
- Makes
- Clothing, sold from her own shops in Mexico City and Mérida
- Trained
- Art history in Mexico City, and fashion design at a small school run by a Spanish tailor
- 2000 Founds her label in Mexico City. Source ↗
- 17 April 2014 The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston opens The Barefoot Designer, its first fashion exhibition. Source ↗
- 2018 Receives the Design Miami/ Design Visionary Award with Pedro Reyes. Source ↗
- 1 May 2022 The Denver Art Museum opens Carla Fernández Casa de Moda: A Mexican Fashion Manifesto, running to 5 September 2022. Source ↗
- 12 October 2026 Opens Volvo Fashion Week México 2026 at Casa Club in Mexico City. Source ↗
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Textile heritage · Mexico City
Lydia Lavín
Lydia Lavín, with Montserrat Messeguer
Photo: Carlos Didjazaá, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Lydia Lavín, born in Mexico City in 1953, founded her label in 2005 out of research with the Instituto Indigenista and the Universidad Iberoamericana, where she has taught for more than four decades, into keeping Indigenous textile techniques alive. Forbes México reported in 2016 that its largest group of women artisans works in Puebla, with others in Guerrero, the State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Oaxaca and Chiapas. Her daughter, Montserrat Messeguer, joined as co-designer in 2012. The label says it pays artisans a fair price for their textile work.
- Since
- 2005
- Makes
- Womenswear, menswear, bridal and accessories
- 2005 Lydia Lavín founds the label. Source ↗
- 2012 Montserrat Messeguer joins as co-designer. Source ↗
- October 2018 Presents Bamba, for SS19, at the 25th-anniversary Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week México; its textiles were made with a cooperative in Ghana and finished by more than 3,000 Mexican women artisans, El Universal reports. Source ↗
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Ready-to-wear · Mexico City
Francisco Cancino
Born in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Francisco Cancino created Yakampot, a Mexico City label named after a community in San Juan Chamula; in 2013 Time Out described its work with the textile and dyeing traditions of the Tzeltal and Tzotzil peoples. For Yakampot’s ninth collection, in 2016, artisans from Chiapas made the fabrics by hand, including on the backstrap loom, Univision reported. He now shows under his own name: Plateros, his eleventh collection, was shown on the first day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week México in October 2024.
- Makes
- Womenswear, including huipiles, dresses and blouses
- April 2016 Yakampot closes the first day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week México with its ninth collection, for FW16. Source ↗
- October 2024 Shows Plateros, his eleventh collection, on the first day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week México. Source ↗
- May 2026 Presents El Aleph, for FW26, inspired by the Jorge Luis Borges story, in Mexico City. Source ↗
- 15 October 2026 Shows on the Volvo Fashion Week México calendar. Source ↗
-
Ready-to-wear · Mexico City
Lorena Saravia
Lorena Saravia studied fashion design in Barcelona and worked for G-Star Raw and the Mexican designer Macario Jiménez before launching her label in Mexico City in 2010; its first shop opened in 2014. She was one of the 18 designers on Netflix’s Next in Fashion in 2020. In October 2025 H&M released a 29-piece collaboration with her, which the retailer’s press material framed around her work with local artisans, and the label says its own cowboy boots are handcrafted in Mexico.
- Since
- 2010
- Makes
- Womenswear, shoes and accessories
- Trained
- Fashion design in Barcelona
- 2010 Launches her label in Mexico City. Source ↗
- 2014 Opens the label’s first shop, in Mexico City. Source ↗
- January 2020 Competes in the first season of Netflix’s Next in Fashion. Source ↗
- October 2023 Shows SS24 at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week México. Source ↗
- October 2025 H&M launches a 29-piece collaboration with her. Source ↗
-
Couture and eveningwear · Mexico City
Alexia Ulibarri
Alexia Ulibarri trained at Istituto Marangoni in London and founded her Mexico City label in 2009 with a debut collection called Dark Romance; the school counts more than 32 of her collections on the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week México runway. A designer with Greek and Mexican roots, she drew on Greek mythology for Olympia in 2022, finished with hand embroidery in crystals and silk thread. She showed Celestina, inspired by tales of witches, at Volvo Fashion Week México in October 2025 and returned to its calendar in October 2026.
- Since
- 2009
- Makes
- Womenswear and eveningwear
- Trained
- Istituto Marangoni, London (2005)
- 2009 Founds her label with the debut collection Dark Romance. Source ↗
- April 2022 Shows Olympia, for FW22, at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week México. Source ↗
- October 2025 Shows Celestina at Volvo Fashion Week México. Source ↗
- 14 October 2026 Shows on the Volvo Fashion Week México calendar at Estudios Maravilla. Source ↗
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Couture and eveningwear · Guadalajara and Mexico City
Benito Santos
Benito Santos, from Jalisco, studied medicine before turning to design and began his career at Intermoda in Guadalajara in 2007; he now has shops in Guadalajara and Mexico City. His made-to-measure bridal and evening gowns rely on hand embroidery, which he links to a grandmother who embroidered by hand. Ximena Navarrete wore his red gown when she was crowned Miss Universe in 2010, and in 2022 he designed a charro-inspired Día de Muertos Barbie for Mattel. In July 2026 he launched a ready-to-wear bridal line.
- Makes
- Made-to-measure bridal and eveningwear, and since 2026 a ready-to-wear bridal line
- Trained
- Studied medicine before turning to fashion
- 2007 Begins his career at Intermoda in Guadalajara. Source ↗
- 2010 Ximena Navarrete is crowned Miss Universe in his red gown. Source ↗
- October 2022 Mattel releases the Benito Santos x Barbie Día de Muertos doll, in a black charro-inspired dress and bolero jacket. Source ↗
- July 2026 Launches a ready-to-wear bridal line at the 85th Intermoda. Source ↗
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Menswear · Mexico City
CAMPILLO
Patricio Campillo
Patricio Campillo grew up around charro culture in Mexico City and launched his label as The Pack in 2016 (a 2020 profile dates it to 2015), renaming it CAMPILLO about a year later. In 2024 it was an LVMH Prize semi-finalist, the first edition to include a designer from Mexico. It now shows in New York: on the CFDA’s official schedule in February 2026, and in September 2026 at an East River heliport, for its fifth New York collection, with horsehair, onyx and silver details made by Mexican artisans, Hypebeast reported.
- Since
- 2016
- Makes
- Menswear-led collections that blur masculine and feminine dress
- Trained
- No formal fashion training; studied communications and luxury marketing in Milan and Paris
- 2016 Launches as The Pack, renamed CAMPILLO about a year later. Source ↗
- February 2024 Named an LVMH Prize semi-finalist, the first from Mexico. Source ↗
- 7 February 2025 Shows FW25, Fictions of Reality, at 180 Maiden Lane during New York Fashion Week. Source ↗
- 14 February 2026 Shows FW26 on the CFDA’s official New York Fashion Week schedule. Source ↗
- 13 September 2026 Shows SS27 at an East River heliport in Manhattan, its fifth New York Fashion Week collection. Source ↗
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Menswear · Mexico City
Sánchez-Kane
Bárbara Sánchez-Kane
Born in Mérida in 1987, Bárbara Sánchez-Kane launched the menswear label in 2015 and uses tailoring to question machismo and the symbols of Mexican masculinity. After a VFILES group show in 2016, the label held its first New York Fashion Week: Men’s show under its own name in July 2017, with a collection about the proposed border wall and water shortages. The work has since moved into galleries: Prêt-à-Patria, in which men perform the flag-guard ceremony in open-backed uniforms with lace lingerie, was shown at the 2024 Venice Biennale.
- Since
- 2015
- Makes
- Menswear, performances and installations
- Trained
- Industrial design, Universidad Anáhuac Mayab (2010); fashion design, Polimoda, Florence (2015)
- 2016 Shows in the VFILES group show at New York Fashion Week, for SS17. Source ↗
- 12 July 2017 First New York Fashion Week: Men’s show under the label’s own name. Source ↗
- 2019 Performs Macho Sentimental vol. II at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Source ↗
- 2024 Prêt-à-Patria is shown at the 60th Venice Biennale. Source ↗
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Menswear · New York
WILLY CHAVARRIA
Willy Chavarria
Photo: Steven Biccard, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Willy Chavarria is a Mexican-American designer from California’s San Joaquin Valley whose New York label draws on Chicano culture. The CFDA named him American Menswear Designer of the Year in 2023 and again in 2024. His first show outside New York was his Paris debut in January 2025, and he showed SS27 on the official Paris menswear calendar in June 2026. The Fédération gives 2010 as the label’s founding year, while the CFDA billed the Paris debut as a tenth-anniversary show. In August 2025 he and Adidas apologised after Oaxaca officials and artisans said the Oaxaca Slip-On, a sandal he designed for Adidas, copied huaraches made in the Zapotec town of Villa Hidalgo Yalálag without the community’s involvement, the Associated Press reported.
- Makes
- Menswear
- 6 November 2023 Named American Menswear Designer of the Year at the CFDA Fashion Awards. Source ↗
- October 2024 Wins American Menswear Designer of the Year for the second year running. Source ↗
- January 2025 Makes his Paris debut with Tarantula, for FW25, at the American Cathedral. Source ↗
- 26 June 2026 Shows SS27 on the official Paris menswear calendar. Source ↗
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Streetwear and contemporary · New York
Barragán
Víctor Barragán
Víctor Barragán grew up in Mexico City and started with internet-cult T-shirts under the name YtinifninfinitY while studying at UNAM, renaming the label Barragán in 2014 and later moving to New York. He first showed at New York Fashion Week in September 2016, mixing men’s, women’s and unisex pieces, and was a finalist for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2019. After a last official New York show in September 2022 and an off-schedule show in Mexico City in October 2023, the label returned to the runway in July 2026 at the Mexican Embassy in Berlin.
- Makes
- Menswear, womenswear and unisex pieces
- Trained
- Sewing and industrial design at UNAM, left before finishing
- 2014 Renames his label Barragán. Source ↗
- September 2016 First New York Fashion Week presentation, for SS17, with the MADE platform. Source ↗
- 17 June 2019 Named one of ten finalists for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. Source ↗
- July 2026 Returns to the runway with SS27, shown at the Mexican Embassy during Berlin Fashion Week. Source ↗
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Accessories · Mexico City
Pineda Covalin
Cristina Pineda and Ricardo Covalín
Cristina Pineda and Ricardo Covalín founded the brand in 1996, as they were finishing their studies at the Universidad Iberoamericana. Its first ties and scarves, with designs drawn from pre-Hispanic art, were sold on consignment in the museums of Mexico’s national institute of anthropology and history (INAH). It now sells clothing, bags and accessories from boutiques across Mexico City, including at the airport, with collections built on motifs such as the monarch butterfly and Quetzalcóatl, and it showed on the Volvo Fashion Week México calendar in October 2026.
- Since
- 1996
- Makes
- Scarves, ties, bags and accessories, plus clothing for women and men
- Trained
- Textile design (Pineda) and industrial design (Covalín) at the Universidad Iberoamericana
- 1996 Cristina Pineda and Ricardo Covalín found the brand. Source ↗
- April 2018 Announces its first boutique in Qatar while presenting, in Paris, a limited-edition fragrance line made with the perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain. Source ↗
- 13 October 2026 Shows on the Volvo Fashion Week México calendar. Source ↗
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Accessories · Los Angeles
Daniela Villegas
Mexican-born and raised in Mexico City, Daniela Villegas is based in Los Angeles, where she runs the jewellery label she founded in 2008. Her pieces often take the form of beetles, centipedes and scorpions, combining natural materials such as feathers, porcupine quills and shells with 18-carat gold and precious stones, and they are handmade by local artisans. In 2016 she designed an eight-piece silver jewellery capsule with Salvatore Ferragamo, and in 2017 Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum hosted an evening with her in New York.
- Since
- 2008
- Makes
- Fine jewellery, handmade by artisans
In person
Where to see Mexican design in person
Mexico City’s own week is the place to start: Volvo Fashion Week México ran 12–17 October 2026 at Casa Club and Estudios Maravilla, opening with Carla Fernández, with Pineda Covalin, Alexia Ulibarri and Francisco Cancino also on the calendar.
CAMPILLO shows in New York and Willy Chavarria in Paris during men’s fashion week; our fashion week calendar has the dates. In Mexico City, Carla Fernández and Lorena Saravia both have shops on Calle Marsella in Colonia Juárez, and Lydia Lavín has shops in San Ángel and Roma Norte.
For a museum piece, the V&A in London holds a Carla Fernández ensemble from her Fashion as Resistance work. For labels from other countries, browse our houses section.
More designer guides: South Korean fashion designers to know · Indonesian fashion designers to know · Malaysian fashion designers to know · Thai fashion designers to know · Vietnamese fashion designers to know · Japanese fashion designers to know · Brazilian fashion designers to know
Sources
Sources
Each milestone above links its own source. These are every page we relied on, checked on the date shown.
Represent one of these labels and spotted an error? Send a correction with a link to the record.
Quick answers
Mexican designers, answered
Which Mexican designers show at New York or Paris fashion week?
- CAMPILLO, Patricio Campillo’s label, was on the CFDA’s official New York schedule in February 2026 and showed its SS27 collection in New York in September 2026. Willy Chavarria, a Mexican-American designer based in New York, has shown in Paris since January 2025 and was on the official Paris menswear calendar in June 2026. Barragán last showed on the official New York schedule in September 2022.
Which Mexican fashion labels work with Indigenous artisans?
- Carla Fernández works with more than 175 artisans from Indigenous and mestizo communities in 12 states, according to her site. Lydia Lavín founded her label in 2005 out of research into Indigenous textile techniques and works with women artisans in Puebla, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas and other states. Yakampot, the Mexico City label Francisco Cancino created before showing under his own name, worked with Tzeltal and Tzotzil textile traditions from Chiapas.
Is Willy Chavarria Mexican?
- Willy Chavarria is a Mexican-American designer from California’s San Joaquin Valley, with a label based in New York. The CFDA named him American Menswear Designer of the Year in 2023 and 2024, and he has shown on the official Paris menswear calendar since 2025.
Has a Mexican designer been an LVMH Prize semi-finalist?
- Yes. Patricio Campillo’s label, CAMPILLO, was a semi-finalist in 2024, the first edition of the prize to include a designer from Mexico.
Which designers showed at Fashion Week México in 2026?
- Carla Fernández opened Volvo Fashion Week México at Casa Club in Mexico City on 12 October 2026. Pineda Covalin (13 October), Alexia Ulibarri (14 October) and Francisco Cancino (15 October) were also on the calendar.