Behind La P.M.: Testino and Juana Burga Cervera – Session 6
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): La Petite Mort
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2016/07/01
Scott Douglas Jacobsen works with various labs and groups, and part-time in landscaping
(lifting, mowing, and raking) and gardening (digging, planting, and weeding). He founded In-
Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal and In-Sight Publishing.
Who are some people that are exemplars of this? With respect to some aspects of fashion in terms of Peru, and what makes it unique, there are also some aspects that make it unique. Who is, then, exporting Peruvian culture well? Who stands out to you?
When it comes to exporting Peruvian culture, I think Peru has a lot of ambassadors. They are not known internationally, but they do the work and get known abroad. They do it right. To mention a few, Meche Correa is a designer. One of the first designers that does the whole Peruvian from the Andes style with the colors and make it more classy and elegant and creative. She’s been working on that for 20 years. Now, she’s a well-respected designer, very well-known in Peru.
Internationally, I know her work has made it abroad and been appreciated. Her name is not internationally known. She has not made a super-breakthrough, but her work is good. For her, there are a lot of designers that with their work they are getting to be in in that position in places abroad.
For those people that have made that breakthrough in major houses and magazines that known them, they are not really designers, but photographers like Testino and Juana Burga. Testino is the main photographer for Vogue in the US. He has collaborated with a lot of major publications internationally. He was worked with Princess Diana, the royal engagement. He has made it big time internationally. He gives us this influence he has to push the image of Peru. He brought Vogue to do a special edition on Peruvian style. He did a shooting in Cusco and in Lima. He attracted international interest to the country. He even opened a museum with his work like a collection of all of his work.
For the opening, he brought Naomi Campbell. He invited his famous friends to come and see a bit of Lima. In his way, he is contributing to get the image of Peru better. On the other side, not as famous, but also way younger, there’s this model called Juana Burga. She must be 25 or 24. She is interesting.
Five year ago, ten years ago, models were the white kind of look – the beauty canon is towards white European type. The thing with Juana Burga is that she has the typical Peruvian face and style. Of course, she is tall and skinny as any model seen on the runway, but she has Peruvian features like dark skin and dark hair. The girl next door type; the girl next door in Peru type. (Laughs)
(Laughs)
She got selected and started doing runways in Spain, and then in New York, and then in France. She has participated in major runways for super-important fashion luxury houses, internationally.
Here there are other models, they have made it, of course, into some luxury runways, but she’s the one that has made it through. You will see her modelling for the major companies.
I think it is interesting because in Peru she would not have been appreciated, but, abroad, her type worked out. That also helps to better the vision people have of Peru abroad. Of course, there are a lot of ambassadors in the country. The more influence you have, or the more you’re known abroad, and if you use it to bring attention to the country, then so much the better.
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