Have you ever been threatened with a chancleta? Gotten pau pau? If you know that a Cuba Libre is a mixed drink, then you must check out the tees from Ropa Vieja. The fashion forward clothing line captures bits of Latino life on its graphic tees. Ropa Vieja was started from the premise of a conversation between designer Alejandro Medina and his wife, as he explained to her the meaning of a pin pan pun. After recapping the conversation to partner Adrian Perez, the idea to make a shirt expressing the Cuban slang phrase for a fold out bed was born.
One shirt grew into an entire t-shirt line. The motivation behind the line came from the void of well designed tees that spoke to the Latin culture and language. There was nothing out there that truly represented Latinos and our everyday lives. So designers Adrian Perez and Alejandro Medina sought out to capture pieces of our identity in graphic tees. Subject matter includes everything from political statements (Che ain’t my hero tee), to humorous phrases (pau pau shorts). There is so much detail in every tee that make it unique. Our favorites include the Cuba Libre Tee, equipped with drink recipe on the sleeve and spanglish tags: esmall, meedeeung, larch, esstra larch. Inspiration comes in every form for both Alejandro and Adrian, whether it is a conversation with another Latino, music, or the subway ride home.
The line was just established July of this year and already has men’s and women’s tees. Moving forward Ropa Vieja hopes to grow from printed tees to a fashion line with a broader catalog including jackets, accessories, guayaveras and more. The vision is also to become more “Latino” as a whole. Right now many of the phrases are Cuban influenced, but in the future the line would like to incorporate universal “Latino” phrases.
Ropa Vieja stands out as a clothing line because it combines good messages with good designs. Very rarely can you get both in a clothing line. Alejandro explains: "This line is different because it is insightful, humorous, political messages you cant find anywhere else”. Oh yeah, did we mention, it’s hot.
Visit the bodega online at www.miropavieja.com.
