Peru Moda Journal — Day Three

Ah, day three, the third and final! At this point I have become so accustomed to fresh fish that when I think of my impending homecoming, my mind starts to simmer with a mild anxiety. My local supermarket has no fresh fish, so I’m texting New Yorkers I know (apparently Chinatown has the best fresh fish in the city, but I live in Harlem), and while a Whole Foods is set to open on Lenox and 125th Street this summer, a trip to their Columbus Circle spot is a bitter discovery: the dreaded words ‘from frozen’ are scrawled (in suspiciously so small as to be almost eligible type) on a considerable number of the labels across the iced seafood section. Beyond the fish, I’m also plotting my Pisco smuggling, and purchasing every poncho I pass by.

Also, on the show floor, I discover the model from our April issue cover is here too. Clearly Peru is the place to be.

I also discover that underwear, from a number of brands I know well, are manfactured piecemeal. It makes sense when you think about it, but to see those reels of elastic waistband was quite surprising.

We spent most of the afternoon of the third day at a company called Creditex. As we drove to the main headquarters, we passed a few different outlet stores that sold the clothing made at the company: brands like Armani, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Psycho Bunny, Tommy Bahama, Robert Graham. When we arrived we saw a presentation on what the company could offer: “full package” products, guaranteed from the crop of the cotton to the manufacture of the garments. We learnt about various innovations and technological optimizations, Trans Dry, Storm Cotton, Natural Stretch, UV Protection, Easy Care, Cool Comfort. The list was mind boggling. We toured their plant where they spin some of the finest Pima cotton in the world, print rolls and rolls of fabric and manufacture garments for some of the biggest apparel companies in the world. We toured the design lab, where mood boards and folders from trend forecasting companies like WGSN and StyleCaster cover almost all surfaces, and with an annual net revenue of $80 to $100 million, it was easy to see why the people working there were such a happy bunch.

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Finally, I’ll leave you with a collection of sundry items I collected across the course of the fair. Watch out for the favorite find, a couple of spools of alpaca wool, with a pair of knitting needles. Catch me creating my next sweater on the 2/3 train sometime soon.

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