“Casa93 is a free and engaged fashion education of a new kind, free and without diploma conditions for young creatives with academic difficulties”explains the school now based in Montreuil (after having been first in Saint-Ouen), and founded in 2017. And in the very Parisian, elitist and endogamous fashion sector, it is a small revolution that can have big effects, as its director, Nadine Gonzalez, explains to us..
Interview with Nadine Gonzalez, director of Casa93
When and why did you have the idea of founding Casa93? What was the panorama of French fashion schools like at the time?
After founding the ModaFusion association in 2005, which brought Casa Geração Vidigal, the first free fashion school set up in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, to Brazil, I made the decision, in 2016, to return to France to found Casa93. Saint-Denis, where the rate of young people between 18 and 25 who dropped out of school and the unemployment rate for this same age group are the highest in France.
Our professional training is intended for young talents who never thought they could enter the world of fashion, due to lack of trust, lack of legitimacy, lack of funds and lack of professional networks. The panorama of French fashion schools of the time is still today’s, that is to say institutes that provide training in the fashion industry are mostly private and costs are generally between €10,000 and €15,000 per year. Or it is very selective training/schools when they are public.
To date, there is no fashion school (private or public) in the favelas of Rio, in Seine-Saint Denis, or even in the Grand Mirail where we will settle in September 2022, nor preparatory classes specialized in fashion professions in the Île-de -France and even less specialized in upcycling. Our training is 12 months so short because our young people couldn’t afford the luxury of not working for 3 or 4 years attending fashion schools.
What are the specificities of Casa93 that promote more diversity and inclusion in fashion education?
The goal of our training is to restore confidence to young people without diplomas and without qualifications and who are going through very complex social and psychological situations. By offering them new employment prospects, we want to encourage them to reintegrate sectors and professions of fashion and design in which young people from privileged social classes remain over-represented. Furthermore, through our pedagogy based on upcycling, we want to make them aware of a more ethical and responsible fashion that does not require large investments but rather a collection and/or gleaning method.
Casa93 sports a particular pedagogy which, in addition to providing the technical tools to work in the fashion world, accompanies young talents to gain self-confidence, to discover their creative universe and above all to flourish! For this reason, trainees who are selected to participate in Casa93 are selected only because of their creativity. In addition, we provide non-Western fashion history modules each year based on the creativity of different continents depending on the origins of our young talent’s promotions.
Also, too, Casa93 being a social action, the young people furthest from the school, professional system and without economic means have the privilege of integrating our training. Diversity and inclusion in the fashion world allow it to broaden the fields of creation, to bring new visions and above all to make it less elitist.
Why is reclaiming the headquarters of a fashion school in the popular suburb of Paris important, and also a political act?
It is essential for us to allow everyone to have access to professional training, which is why we believe itit is important that there is a decentralization of training centers in the suburbs and regions, and not only within Paris.
Our main mission is to support our young talents in creative development and learning. But we also know the wealth of the department which is 93. The enhancement or re-evaluation of these spaces cannot be done alone.
For this we collaborate with numerous associations and institutes of the department. Through our actions, we participate in the wealth and life of 93. Like our young talents, we are very attached to these popular suburbs because despite the negative image that has been unjustly tacked on them, they are culturally and creatively rich spaces that have always inspired fashion without it in turn highlighting these talents.
Do you notice a gap around the vision of fashion, between Paris, its suburbs and the rest of France?
Today the visions of fashion are plural. Whether it’s upcycling, streetwear, handicrafts or haute couture, all these fashions intersect and are found in Paris as well as in the suburbs and everywhere.
At Casa93 we support the uniqueness of each talent! The comparison between different territories and therefore different cultures seems counterproductive to us.
Do you think Medina’s line “The suburbs influence Paname, Paname influence the world” in the song Grand Paris is true, especially today, in your opinion?
Paris, the fashion houses and companies in the fashion world are opening up more and more to profiles from all classes, and therefore also to young talents from the suburbs. It seems this saying is actually true with the development of Greater Paris in particular! Designers have been inspired by the streets and suburbs for several decades, but society and even less the too elitist fashion industry has not tried to highlight these young people, nor has it tried to listen or understand their claims through their way to express themselves.
Do you have talents from your school that you particularly recommend us to follow?
We recommend that you follow each of our talents! They are all different! Each of them has different skills and very varied creative universes.
Rubi Pigeon, of Promo 1, now known for her Rusmin brand, graced the cover of Causette magazine as the Queen of Upcycling in September 2021.
Gloria Despioch has a permanent contract in REC’s trends office.
Olga Pham from promo 2 (then valedictorian of the entrepreneur IFM) is developing an innovative pedagogical approach around gleaning and has just co-created with us a new online training PRECASA.
Sarah Mohssni, from promo 3, does a great job of street upcycling.
Or Florian Dalat, from class 4, deals with fashion and gym shoes thanks to the 3D software, in training today at the Nike Europe headquarters in Amsterdam.
The profiles of our young talents of each promotion can be found on our website casa93.org in the “Promotions” page.
A photo credit:
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
