On Location_ CDMX

“La Ciudad de México se transforma a cada instante, desde que la dejaste de ver, desde que yo nací y en este preciso momento. Lo poco que se mantiene aquí, es el cambio, y gracias al universo, siempre será de esa manera.”   ///   “Mexico City is transforming all the time, since you were here last, since I was born, and at this precise moment. What remains here is change, and thanks to the universe, it will always be that way.” -Maria Osado / @guerxs

PHOTOGRAPHY_ NICOLAS KANTOR

STYLING_ CHRIS LEE

MODELS_ EMILIANO CRUZ (GÜERXS) / SAMUEL coronado / EDSON MUNIR TORAL / Charly BARRERA / RAFAEL ENRIQUEZ

CASTING_ MARIA OSADo

SET DESIGN_ RODRIGO QUIÑONES REYES

EMILIANO WEARS_ SILVER CHAINS_ VARON_ 2017_ VARON ARCHIVE / T-SHIRT_ LA LAGUNILLA MARKET / @emiliano_cj

TEXT_ ALEX HEMINWAY

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

ROMINA WEARS_ SCARF (AS HEADPIECE)_ TIANGUIS_ LA ROMA, CDMX / SUNGLASSES_ STYLIST’S OWN / SPIRAL EARRING_ PANCONESI ARCHIVE / VIRGIN MARY EARRING_ TUZA ARCHIVE  / NECKLACE_ TUZA ARCHIVE  /  NECKLACE_ TRIPP NYC_ STYLIST’S OWN / JACKET_ BALENCIAGA_ STYLIST’S OWN_ / SWEATSHIRT_ HERON PRESTON X NYC DEPT OF SANITATION / BAG_ VINTAGE JANSPORT_ STYLIST’S OWN / @errrrrrrrrrrrree

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

“I’m originally from Atizapán de Zaragoza in the State of Mexico. 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.

My parents have dedicated their entire lives to building a home despite all the problems and rough times. They are very honrados and very humble. They may not have given me everything I wanted, but they are giving me everything they can. They taught me that life is hard, and that I need to be strong and very brave. My family is where I feel totally safe and purely loved.

I found the pearls at a little puesto in the streets of Mexico City. I wear them because they symbolize my mother. She borrowed pearl jewelry for her wedding. It’s not really common to see pearls at weddings because they’re believed to attract misfortune and are said to symbolize the tears of the bride. My mom was very young, and she didn’t have anything else to wear. For me tears are not necessarily misfortune. The most beautiful tears I remember are the ones I have seen falling from her cheeks. I think the most important thing my mother gave me was her emotional side; that fierce personality and the attitude to never give up. Wearing pearls is a way to have her always with me while I live this life.”

-Samuel Coronado / @ultr4papi

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

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

“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. She gave it to me three years ago when she saw that I was starting to wear vintage clothes. 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

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

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

“I found my Indigo shirt in a secondhand tianguis in my city, Guadalajara. The moment I saw it, I knew it would look beautiful on me. It was $100 MXN ($4.55 USD).

The trousers were my stepfather’s when he was young. I really love how short they are, and they are four sizes too big. They are gigantic.

I got my roller skates for a great deal on Facebook Marketplace. The idea of roller skating really describes me — flying all the time, fearless of hitting the ground.”

-Rafael Enríquez / @rephaele

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

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