The Argentine designer who brought local craftsmanship to the global stage

The name Mauro Pessoa is beginning to appear strongly in the Latin American fashion scene. The Argentine designer was recently nominated for the Latin American Fashion Awards, one of the region’s most prestigious awards, which celebrates creatives who promote authentic and sustainable fashion. The ceremony was held a few days ago in the Dominican Republic in the presence of Donatella Versace and Italian editor Anna Dello Russo.

The Pesoa brand, known for fusing craftsmanship with contemporary design, has been selected as a finalist in the Artisanal Project of the Year category, being the only Argentinean representative on this shortlist. This achievement not only confirms the international expectations for his work, But it also maintains a path built from the roots, with pieces that connect the ancestors with a modern look.

Far from haute couture ateliers and large urban centres, the Argentine creative grew up in Formosa, in an environment where everyday life and craftsmanship shaped his pulse. “I grew up surrounded by the craft of wicker making, where craft and materials were intertwined with stories of tradition,” he recalls. This universe, which may go unnoticed by many, For him, it was the seed of what, years later, would become his own language in the world of fashion.

His childhood was characterized by the smoke of reeds and the smell of wet wickerwork emanating from his grandfather’s workshop, which served as a refuge for him. There, playing with the rods, he fashions improvised puppets, not knowing that he is weaving the future of his creative identity.

“Without realizing it, I was weaving my first ideas. Years later, I turned them into my first collection, ‘Umbilical’, with my mother. There I realized that design could be a bridge between memory and the present“.

That collection, born in collusion with his mother, was Pessoa’s first great gesture to transform intimacy into aesthetic discourse, which would later be reflected in his brand.

The thing is that his goal was never to look outside for distant references, but what he did was appreciate his surroundings. “My greatest sources of inspiration have always been close by: my family, my land, and my history.”

Formosa, with its mountains, rivers, wild plants and ancestral knowledge, was the sensory school that shaped it. This interior landscape, nourished by textures and silence, became the foundation of his artistic sensibility. But there was also a historical event that marked him strongly: the crisis of 2001. “Poverty forced us to migrate, to leave what we knew behind. He taught me to appreciate what you have, to look inward and build from memory, imperfection, and resilience.“.

Pessoa talks about that phase with abstract honesty, without drama, but with the clarity of someone who understands that pain can also be a creative engine. “My inspiration was and remains a mixture of beauty and pain, of roots and ruptures. I had no famous references; my guide was always to transform what was my own into an authentic expression that spoke from truth and memory.”

Their brand DNA emerged from that chemistry between personal experience and handcraftsmanship. Pessoa defines it as “slow, sustainable design with identity, working with noble materials such as wicker and with respect for the land, memory and what is handmade.” Their clothes are not just consumer goods, but pieces that seek to communicate authenticity. In times when global fashion tends towards homogeneity, her proposal is presented as a reminder that the local, the artisanal and the intimate have irreplaceable value.

In this sense, for him, Latin American identity is not a simple aesthetic resource, but rather a way of thinking. “Latin American identity is everything to me. In my collections, craftsmanship coexists with noble materials and knowledge that come from other places and that transform upon contact with this land. This inspires me, how Latin American crafts are never static, but alive, in constant movement.“.

His words resonate with a truth that goes beyond his personal experience, which is that Latin American fashion is built on assimilation, mixing, and cultural mixing. In each designer’s clothes there are echoes of memory, but it is also a gesture that challenges the idea that craftsmanship is static.

The road to internationalism

His fashion career was not marked by coups or aggressive marketing strategies. It was a slow, organic, almost silent road. He never sought to fit the mold.

“It was difficult for me to understand that there was room for a proposal that did not respond to the traditional rhythms or templates of fashion. I was building from small things, from cohesion, from doing meaningful things.”

This process led him to find resonance locally first and, over time, internationally as well. The nomination for the Latin American Fashion Awards was confirmation that her voice, born from this very personal place, can also dialogue with the world. “It is a gesture of affirmation, but above all emotion. It made me feel that this language that was born so intimate can also communicate with the world.“

“It’s a great embrace of the path we’ve been on for years. And to be the only brand chosen in the Artisan Project of the Year category has tremendous symbolic value. It’s a way of saying that what is born from small, from craft and roots, can resonate globally as well.”

Mauro confirms that what distinguishes the region’s designers on the global stage is the ability to create stories. “We are not imitating, we are rewriting the narrative from our roots.

Design is a cultural and sustainable act, a way to connect with memory and the land where we grew up. “We work with noble materials, the crafts of our ancestors and a contemporary look that seeks to be authentic and vibrant.”

This approach connects with a generation of Latin American designers who are rethinking fashion beyond subject matter, as story, as living memory and as resistance against a globalized system that often prioritizes speed over meaning.

Three groups define this

For the initial selection of the Latin American Fashion Awards, he presented three collections that work together as a statement of identity. DNA (2023) It was an intimate journey towards his roots, a reflection of personal struggles and the search for balance between ancestors and modernity.

Tradición (2024) celebrated wicker basketmaking and Latin American cultural diversity, through reclaimed fabrics and a clear message of sustainability: caring for the planet is part of the design. Popular, Pagano e Argentino (2025) set out to honor folk mythology and spirituality, blending them with a contemporary aesthetic language. Together, these collections demonstrate what Pessoa described as “a living identity, made of memory, craftsmanship and a deep love for the individual.”

The Argentine designer realizes that his creative process does not follow a linear formula. “It neither begins nor ends in a fixed place, because my mind is imagining all the time, linking memories, emotions, and images.”

Their collections are born from vital moments, from feelings that must be translated into pieces. Sometimes the starting point is a common landscape, word or symbol; Others, an intimate question insists.

“What happens to me, what hurts me, inspires me or transforms me, becomes shapes, colors and textures,” he explains. Although everything he creates is for sharing, he always keeps something, a piece of clothing, a gesture, a detail. “Because every collection is also an exercise in memory and a refuge. Design for me is to say out of silence what I still have to say.“P.”

In a world where trends are constantly changing, Mauro Pessoa reminds us that fashion can also be a refuge. His work is a testament that intimacy and craftsmanship have the power to resonate globally.Without ever losing the value of its roots.