First of all I fell in love with the collection, then the artist!
Bumping into Jose Karlo coming out of the men’s toilet at the Sheraton Hotel Panama, clutching a compact and a Chanel bag, it was my second successful attempt at a meeting with him and was where the sparks started to FLY.
With an architect father and graphic designer mother, you can start to prepare the backdrop for a perfectionist who vowed to only show his graduate collection at Macrofest with pieces he had sewn himself!
Inspiration comes in various guises – early McQueen, Comme des Garçons, Balenciaga, Maison Martin Margiela, Givenchy, modernist architecture, painting, travel and of course Chanel. He uses materials that feel good to the skin in both touch and drape and with his forthcoming label Société Secrète, he hopes to bring the true meaning of fashion to a larger Panamanian audience. Minimalism, androgyny, and fragility shine through his collection. I am mad about his jersey slashed tops with the silk see through layering…and I just can’t bare to let him go before securing an invitation to his atelier…HEAVEN!