Castro–just Castro–a 34-year-old clothing and jewelry designer, came to Chicago from Ohio in 2003. Though he prefers to take custom orders, you can find some of his designs at Robin Richman and Art Effect.
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Castro: Originally I made the applique and put it on a shirt and I decided that was cool. Then I had an appointment with Barneys and they said they loved it but it was too literal and could I make it more abstract? My feelings was hurt. But I cut out the applique and sewed it sideways on a shirt. And I was dyeing fabric one day and threw the shirt in too and made it all black. Then I understood what Barneys was trying to tell me. You can’t really tell what it is, but you’re interested in asking the person what’s really going on there.
C: I was going to Filter and I was thinking, I need to be inspired by something. I saw this girl with a book of African masks, kinds I’ve never seen before, and I was like, bang, I got it. It’s just an African mask. I thought he was interesting ’cause he had buckteeth. You know they’re carving them from people in the village. They must’ve seen this goofy lookin’ dude and thought, I’m gonna carve that motherfucker.
