Hallucinogenic hosiery: an acid trip like no other with Celia Calderon Asensio
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
NAME CELIA CALDERÓN ASENSIO
AGE 26
STAR SIGN Virgo
LOCKDOWN LOCATION London, England
LIFE MANTRA Food first, fashion second
If Willy Wonka’s multi-coloured candy land was melted down into a lucid mess and splashed across a mob of nylon tights, it would look like CSM Graduate and fanatic-for-anything-knitted, Celia Calderon Asensio’s, electrifying creations. Inspired by the zingy hues smeared across her Senegalese plastic pots, the designer’s hand-dyed tights make an undeniable case for clash-happy dressing. Pick from a melting pot of acidic greens, sunny yellows, Fanta oranges and bubblegum blues for an eye-popping look that’s bound to make your lengthy pins a fatal attraction.
With editorials in ELLE USA, Vogue and POP and a collaboration with Fyodor Golan (check out his SS20 collection) under her belt, Asensio has already proved she’s a designer to watch. Her word of advice for other young creatives starting out? “It’s a marathon – not a sprint,” she muses. Being able to work with her hands everyday means Asensio’s career-focused dreams have already been realised, but her hopes for the fashion industry ask for something more: an amplified focus on sustainability, DIY culture, and a push for namesake brands to provide increased support for young designers. Here’s hoping they’re listening…
Ella Bardsley: Who would you most like to see donning a pair of your tights?
Celia Calderón Asensio: So many people! But today, it’s the singer ARCA.
EB: What’s your current reoccurring late-night thought?
CCA: That even though we are living through such a traumatising time, and creative industries are being so badly affected by the pandemic, I hope we are taking this time to rethink old systems. I believe we are; I trust that there is a big creative storm brewing in people’s bedrooms right now.
EB: What’s your biggest deal-breaker in a date?
CCA: Apathy.
EB: What’s your biggest phobia?
CCA: Exercise.
EB: Biggest guilty pleasure?
CCA: The Real Housewives. I recently got hooked and there’s too many seasons.
EB: Three feeds you can’t stop stalking on Instagram at the moment?
CCA: @hoe_cakes, @batashoemuseum, @etageprojects.
EB: Album you have on repeat?
CCA: Violence by GRIMES. I love her new album. I listen to it all the time while I work.
EB: You’re hosting your dream dinner party. Only 5 guests, dead or alive, can come. Who have you invited?
CCA: Pedro Almodóvar, Chavela Vargas, Moira Orfei, Fran Lebowitz and Marsha P. Johnson. I feel like they would all get along!
EB: If COVID ended tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d do?
CCA: Go to a rave for sure.