Colombia's Vice President Wears Young Designer's Resistance Fashion
2022-09-29
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1Esteban Sinisterra is a young Black clothing designer from Colombia's largely poor Pacific area.
2He now designs clothes for Colombia's Vice-President Francia Marquez - the first Afro-Colombian woman to hold the position.
3Sinisterra calls it "resistance" fashion.
4And his colorful designs for Marquez have since drawn international attention.
5Sinisterra grew up in the town of Santa Barbara Iscuande, in the Narino area.
6He says many young people there have few opportunities to escape involvement in the ongoing conflict in the country.
7His background is not very different from that of Marquez.
8The Vice President is a former housekeeper and environmental activist.
9She grew up in the poor town of Suarez in Cauca. Because she opposed gold mining, she faced death threats.
10"In one way or another her history and my history are similar, so I think there was a very lovely spark there," said the 23-year-old Sinisterra.
11He now lives in the city of Cali and studies social work in addition to his job as a designer.
12Sinisterra learned to make clothes from his aunt and grandmother.
13Describing his similarities with the Vice President, he said,
14"First we accept and recognize that we have roots that connect us - which is Africa - but taking into account those roots we also express the territory where we're from, the Colombian Pacific."
15The clothes make you think of those roots, Sinisterra said.
16"It is being able to show that this is who we are...so for me fashion, my fashion, is resistance."
17I'm Jill Robbins.
1Esteban Sinisterra is a young Black clothing designer from Colombia's largely poor Pacific area. He now designs clothes for Colombia's Vice-President Francia Marquez - the first Afro-Colombian woman to hold the position. 2Sinisterra calls it "resistance" fashion. And his colorful designs for Marquez have since drawn international attention. 3Sinisterra grew up in the town of Santa Barbara Iscuande, in the Narino area. He says many young people there have few opportunities to escape involvement in the ongoing conflict in the country. 4His background is not very different from that of Marquez. The Vice President is a former housekeeper and environmental activist. She grew up in the poor town of Suarez in Cauca. Because she opposed gold mining, she faced death threats. 5"In one way or another her history and my history are similar, so I think there was a very lovely spark there," said the 23-year-old Sinisterra. He now lives in the city of Cali and studies social work in addition to his job as a designer. 6Sinisterra learned to make clothes from his aunt and grandmother. Describing his similarities with the Vice President, he said, "First we accept and recognize that we have roots that connect us - which is Africa - but taking into account those roots we also express the territory where we're from, the Colombian Pacific." 7The clothes make you think of those roots, Sinisterra said. "It is being able to show that this is who we are...so for me fashion, my fashion, is resistance." 8I'm Jill Robbins. 9Jair Fernando Coll reported on this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. 10_____________________________________________________________________________ 11Words in This Story 12fashion - n. the area of activity that involves styles of clothing and appearance 13opportunity - n. a situation in which it is possible for you to do something that you want to do 14background - n. the kind of family you come from and the kind of education you have had. 15spark - n. a small amount of a quality or feeling 16______________________________________________________________________ 17What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 18Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them.