Humans of Venice is an ongoing series that focuses on highlighting the exceptional personalities, wisdom, and stories of the Venice community. In this edition, Co-Managing Editor Ellie Zamir interviews senior Aiden Alvarez who makes and designs clothing in Eduardo Serna’s Graphic Arts facility. 

Ellie: What do you have in development? 

Aiden: As of now, there’s no specific name. Honestly, I’m working on whatever comes to mind, making clothes from scratch now, printing here, whatever it might be. 

Ellie: Are you selling? 

Aiden: Not exactly. If people want or are interested in something, I’ll obviously tell them and let them know. 

Ellie: So are you kind of just making things that inspire you or that you’re interested in and if it happens to appeal to somebody, is it more like that?

Aiden: Yeah, exactly.

Ellie: Where did your idea to start creating clothes come from?

Aiden: I started working, I had a bunch of money and I was like “I’m interested in this” so I put some money aside.

Ellie: So you had the money to invest in something, start something, so you were like why not?

Aiden: Yeah. 

Ellie: Is there someone or something that inspires you? Maybe a specific brand? I’m assuming you are somewhat interested in the fashion industry.

Aiden: I don’t think that it’s a specific person…just like you know on social media, you’re open to everything, seeing what everyone has. I feel like i’m pretty open to it all. 

Ellie: Is this something you are working on alone? Or is this something you are working on with other people? Have you ever done some sort of collab? Is there someone that’s helping you in the process?

Aiden: I mean, if there’s someone who’s helping me it would be Mr. Serna, He’s helped with the whole thing. People that I’ve worked with, Miguel Alonso (Rayology), Angel Bustamante. Recently I made a sweater and they printed on it…it was cohesive. 

Ellie: What do you mean by made? 

Aiden: Sewing it!

Ellie: Do you just sew or screenprint, or both?

Aiden: At first it was a lot of screen printing but as of recent I’ve been doing a lot of sewing, making stuff from scratch 

Ellie: Did you always know how to sew or is this something new? 

Aiden: This is fairly new. 

Ellie:  Okay, so this is the beginning! How has Mr. Serna helped you with your art? 

Aiden: He’s very encouraging. He’s always been open to help us. He’s never said “you can’t do this, you shouldn’t do that.” He’s always been open to our ideas. 

Ellie: Seems to be very supportive. Is there any message you are trying to send? Or are you just doing what you love..a little bit of both? 

Aiden:  Do what I love and also encourage people to do what they love. 

Ellie: So encourage people to wear what they want and find their own style. I know that this is fairly new and that you are still developing it all, but are there any challenges you have faced, or do you see any challenges you might encounter in the future?

Aiden: The only challenge I’ve encountered so far is my creative block, not knowing what to do, having to work around it. 

Ellie: Definitely. What are you working on right now?

Aiden: I would say just upcycling stuff, old clothes that don’t fit me…turning them into jackets, shorts, pants, bags, whatever it may be, and just doing whatever comes to mind. 

Ellie: You said you normally take your old clothes that don’t fit you anymore or you don’t like as much but do you ever go to second hand stores and upcycle those clothes or do you normally upcycle clothing items you already have? 

Aiden: As of now it’s mostly what I already have, but in the future I’ll probably do that too.