Living & Arts

Featuring Most Fashionable Swattie of the Week

In print | September 17, 2009

Name: Diego Garcia-Montufar
Class Year: 2010
From: Lima, Peru
Residence: Hallowell

What He’s Wearing:

“I’ll start with the shoes. In Spanish, we call them ‘mocasines’ – they’re basically dress shoes. I got [them] in a family owned store in Peru. These pants are standard corduroy, and I got these in a more general store, similar to Target, in Lima. They’re 100% Pima cotton. Pima cotton is arguably the best cotton in the world, and it originated in Peru.

I’m wearing a sweater, which is made out of alpaca wool. The jacket is also made of alpaca wool and … it’s more casual, modern and trendy. I got it at a big Andean market in Lima. This scarf is inherited from my grandfather, and this is made out of baby alpaca [wool]. And the hat … is a non-Peruvian element in my outfit today,” Garcia-Montufar said.

With an abundance of alpaca and sheep wool in his wardrobe, Garcia-Montufar’s Peruvian roots influence his everyday style. The jacket’s intricate print livens up the traditional dark colors seen in winter wear and is perfect for the cold. While ethnic prints usually are seen during the spring or summer, Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci was inspired by the Peruvian use of color and texture for his fall and Resort 2008 collections.

Back to Basics:

It doesn’t take much observation to realize that most students at Swarthmore stick to neutral colors. Garcia-Montufar said that he also likes “to wear earthy colors … I’m more conservative in colors.” His clothes in “browns, gray scales and dark greens” are not the typical colors associated with Peruvian designs, since “a lot of the stuff coming from Peru is really colorful, drawing from our Andean tradition,” Garcia-Montufar said.

Peruvian Couture:

“I think I’ve been inspired by Andean culture,” Garcia-Montufar said. “But in a more specific case, I’ve been influenced by the work of Gerardo Privat. He’s one of the most promising designers in Peru right now,” Garcia-Montufar said. Garcia-Montufar credits Privat as being “one of the first to try to rescue things from our own cultural heritage, but also to try to internationalize it.”

Style Goes Green:

While being “green” may be a lifestyle for some, Garcia-Montufar feels that “eco-fashion” is a growing trend that is starting to be taken seriously in the fashion world. Last year, Vogue said that it’s a trend that’s here to stay; it’s not just a fad.”

The shop at the Andean market where he got his jacket promotes sustainable design, and the fact that designers are taking eco-fashion seriously makes him “really happy.”

Fashion at Swat:

Garcia-Montufar believes that students’ styles “evolve during their time at Swarthmore.” After students travel abroad, they start to “incorporate things from their experiences in other places into their style,” Garcia-Montufar said. He also feels that the tolerant environment at Swarthmore influences students to be more open in their styles.

Each time Garcia-Montufar is complimented on his outfits, it gives him “a lot of motivation to not only see my clothing as something that I use to protect me from the cold, but something that’s going to make other people happy and build style at Swarthmore and a community of clothing.”

Do you think you’ve got great style? Want everyone to know about it? Then submit a photo of yourself in your best outfit to The Phoenix at cryder1@ swarthmore.edu. Please include your name and contact information because you may be the next Most Fashionable Student of the Week!