Clothing in Vero Ivaldi’s work becomes a medium for processing experiences of loss and expressing what is difficult to put into words. Emerging from the late-1990s alternative scene in Buenos Aires, she found in the Bond Street gallery and others a space where fashion and music linked to nightlife culture converged. She designed the costumes for the ‘beatcore’ band Los Brujos [The Warlocks] and was one of the driving forces behind the late-1990s ‘Diseñadores del Bajo’ [Waterfront Designers] collective. In that setting, material research was integrated with character-building, imbuing the garments with a performative edge.
In her 2021 collection ‘Bitácora del duelo’ [‘Grief Logbook’], Ivaldi salvages, transforms and re-interprets garments to process her grief following the death of Ricky Rúa, a member of Los Brujos, her life partner and B-side. The progression from darkness to light and back, the removal of parts of the garment, the broken hearts and messages addressed to Ricky turn these pieces into sensitive records of loss as a means of coming to terms with absence and transforming indescribable pain into something beautiful.