Fashion Around the World: Fashion in Honduras: Fabi Pina

Fabi Pina lives in La Ceiba, Honduras. She has a blog about her own personal style; in it you can find patterns and instructions for making garments. Fabi constantly posts new looks and it’s very surprising how she has managed to survive in a country that looks like hell for a fashion lover.

Courtesy of Third World Fashionista

I contacted her through her blog and it didn’t take long for her to answer. I wanted her to share with me what fashion was like in Honduras:

“In my country the fashion industry doesn’t exist, but fashion is everywhere. I get inspired by town women with their well-ironed dresses, the colours in the market stalls, and my mother’s stories about growing up in banana fields.”

Flip flops, Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch are what boys usually wear, and girls match their accessories from head to toe. Trends are dictated by mannequins in the shop displays. You can only get Vogue in the capital, although Fabi said that she recently found Vogue Latin America in her town. And there are only a few bloggers that have managed to make some ‘noise’. “We are a million years away from getting free clothes and getting paid for advertising, hahaha!”

In case you are wondering, there is Fashion Week Honduras, but Fabi says that as a relatively successful fashion designer you’ll end up designing prom or wedding dresses.

The Internet is what has got her out of this situation. “There I’ve learnt how to pronounce names of recognized designers and even how to put a waistband to a skirt.”

Her dad pulled her out of school at 16 so her life wouldn’t depend on a title, and since then she learned how to sew and pattern-make in courses at government institutions were she confessed to learn very little. “I started a love-hate relationship with a sewing machine my grandma gave me, I bought books and I keep learning.”

Fabi certainly stands out as she makes most of her clothing and despite her being named ‘Lady Gaga’ she still wears high heels and short skirts. “Resources here are limited but that has forced me to be more creative and I love it, even though in the process I scare some compatriots,” she confessed.

There are like five textile shops in La Ceiba and they all sell practically the same things. So in order to make her clothes, she uses fabric for curtains or tablecloths, she takes apart old garments or buys remnants. “I foresee the day that I’ll get to a house and the furniture’s fabric and my skirt’s will be the same.”

Despite everything, Fabi admires her country so much and defines Honduras as “unique”, because she finds inspiration in the most daily things. “I love to see that where there is total ignorance for fashion, it is ironically where more fashion is! It is here where you have more creativity and freedom to express yourself without the preconception of what it’s supposed to be,” she affirmed.

Fashion caught her eye and she is not sure why. It was at 16 when she found a blog of girls in other countries that collected vintage clothing and they discussed that fashion could be a career. “That’s how it all started and even though I don’t regret it, being passionate for fashion in this country can make you often feel lonely. That’s why I’ve got the blog and you’ll see me around for a looooong time.”