ON LOCATION_ CDMX

Many clothing items donated by US citizens find themselves in Mexico’s famedtianguis. See how a new generation repurposes these garments to shape their already-rich cultural identity.

PHOTOGRAPHY_ NICOLAS KANTOR

STYLING_ CHRIS LEE

TEXT_ALEX HEMINWAY

ON LOCATION_ CDMX

Tianguis, the famed street markets of Mexico, represent routine commerce on the one hand — fruit, tools, huaraches — and more transcendent concerns on the other; they function as weekly axes around which rotate “history, tradition, and community,” as investigative journalist Eileen Guo has noted.

“In my family we spend Sundays together. It’s essential to wake up tempranito to go to the tianguis...,” says model Samuel Coronado, who appears on the following pages together with four peers, all of whom have based their looks on key pieces sourced from the tianguis.

Linguistically derived from Classical Nahuatl, the lingua franca of the Aztec Empire, and literally derived from pre-Hispanic open-air markets of the period, tianguis remain a fundamental aspect of weekly life in Mexcio a half-millennium later. In rural areas, tianguis often serve as the principal place to shop, as Guo has noted; in cities they endure as popular, more affordable alternatives to retail stores.

The tianguis itself are language, structured systems of communication where goods and services are signs and symbols; countless queries and replies emanate from the stalls like a grand diction. Of the voices that weave in and out on any-given market day, the following five set a new tone in the vital, multi-directional conversation of global fashion.

ROMINA WEARS_ WHITE KNIT BEANIE_ LA ROMA THRIFT SALE / EARRINGS_ TUZA_ TUZA ARCHIVE / CUSTOMIZED TOP_ LA ROMA THRIFT SALE / SHORTS_ MODEL’S OWN / TIGHTS_ STYLIST’S OWN / PURSE_ MODEL’S OWN / SHOES_ NIKE_ MODEL’S OWN / @ERRRRRRRRRRRRREE

“In my family we spend Sundays together. It’s essential to wake up tempranito to go to the tianguis near my community. Searching at different puestos there, I found the jacket and my brother Miguel found the pants, so we put together the track suit. I found the pearls at a little puesto in the streets of Mexico City. I wear them because they symbolize my mother.” — Samuel Coronado / @ultr4papi

BRIAN WEARS_ MASK_ MODEL’S OWN / EARRINGS_ TUZA ARCHIVE / NECKLACE_ TUZA ARCHIVE / VINTAGE MOTOCROSS JERSEY_ RAVEN_ STYLIST’S OWN / PANTS_ SAMUEL ROSS X OAKLEY (WORN INSIDE OUT)_ STYLIST’S OWN / VINTAGE BIKER SHORTS_ STYLIST’S OWN / SHOES_ VINTAGE NIKE_ MODEL’S OWN

SAMUEL WEARS_ EARRINGS AND PEARL NECKLACE_ MODEL’S OWN / CHOKER_ TRIPP NYC DAANG GOODMAN_ STYLIST’S OWN / VINTAGE TRACK SUIT_ ADIDAS_ ATIZAPÁN DE ZARAGOZA STREET MARKET / T-SHIRT_ MODEL’S OWN

EDSON WEARS_ VINTAGE T-SHIRT CUSTOMIZED WITH BOOTLEG SONIC YOUTH GRAPHIC_ MODEL’S OWN / TURTLENECK_ COLONIA DOCTORES STREET MARKET / BELT_ MODEL’S OWN / TROUSERS_ GIFT OF THE MODEL’S FRIEND / SHOES_ MODEL’S OWN

“I found the white t-shirt at a tianguis for very little cost, wandering among lots and lots of clothes. I silk-screened the Sonic Youth graphic myself. It’s the same story with my red turtleneck. A friend gave me my pants about four years ago, and they are still in very good condition. And as for my makeup, I bought it in a store for magicians.” — Edson Munir Toral / @bvssett

VALERIA WEARS_ NECKLACE_ MODEL’S OWN / TOP_ FOREVER 21_ MODEL’S OWN

“I love silk pattern shirts, and I have a large collection. I bought this one a week ago from a woman who sold me clothes by the sack in a tianguis in Tlalnepantla. The purple bomber jacket was a gift from my paternal great-grandmother. It is one of my favorite pieces, and the one I take care of most because it reminds me of my great-grandmother and the beginning of my love for vintage.” — Charly Barrera / @charly_el_vagosaurio / @vagosaurio_clothes

CHARLY WEARS_ DROP EARRING_ MODEL’S OWN / PURPLE BOMBER JACKET_ RAINBOW WEST_ GIFT OF MODEL’S GRANDMOTHER / TOP_ BALI CHIC_ TLALNEPANTLA STREET MARKET

ANDREA WEARS_ 100% GUAPO T-SHIRT_ MODEL’S OWN / DENIM CORSET_ MODEL’S OWN / BUTTON-FRONT SHIRT (WORN AS SKIRT)_ BURBERRY_ GIFT OF MODEL’S FATHER / VINTAGE COWBOY BOOTS_ MODEL’S OWN

BRIAN WEARS_ MASK_ MODEL’S OWN / EARRINGS_ TUZA ARCHIVE / NECKLACE_ TUZA ARCHIVE / VINTAGE MOTOCROSS JERSEY_ RAVEN_ STYLIST’S OWN / PANTS_ SAMUEL ROSS X OAKLEY (WORN INSIDE OUT)_ STYLIST’S OWN / VINTAGE BIKER SHORTS_ STYLIST’S OWN / SHOES_ VINTAGE NIKE_ MODEL’S OWN

RAFAEL WEARS_ INDIGO BLOUSE_ BLUE DIAMOND PLUS_ GUADALAJARA STREET MARKET / VINTAGE STRIPED TROUSERS_ GERALDINO_ GIFT OF MODEL’S STEPFATHER / ROLLER SKATES_ CHICAGO SKATES_ FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE

MODELS_ EMILIANO CRUZ / SAMUEL CORONADO / EDSON MUNIR TORAL / CHARLY BARRERA / RAFAEL ENRIQUEZ

CASTING_ MARIA OSADO

SET DESIGN_ RODRIGO QUIÑONES REYES

Related Stories

  1. On Location_ Kantamanto

    The following photographs were taken by Umu, Fadila, and Rafatu, young kayayei working as porters in Accra’s Kantamanto second-hand market, the largest in West Africa. The three women began studying photography in February 2021 as part of The OR Foundation’s ongoing Storytelling Workshop.