A Take on Fashion: Tiffany Briseno
Even though the pre-Covid era feels long in the rearview mirror, you may recall the 2020 Grammy Awards—one of the last major awards events to occur before pandemic lockdowns. At that show, international superstar Shawn Mendes arrived on the red carpet in a cranberry red three-piece suit designed by Louis Vuitton’s Virgil Abloh, replete with an unbuttoned Louis Vuitton shirt, a malachite-and-gold Bulgari necklace, and a vest chain. The look was equal parts contemporary sartorial and throwback cool, and it was the handiwork of Mendes’s stylist, the Los Angeles and Toronto-based Tiffany Briseno. For years, Briseno has helped to fashion Mendes’s distinct contemporary-classic wardrobe, yet her other clients include Schitt’s Creek’s Catherine O’Hara, the English actor Dominic Sherwoord, and more. The image-maker has also been featured in Vogue, GQ, Esquire, and others. Here, her take on fashion in 2021.
In what ways are you seeing fashion adapt to—or be transformed by—the ongoing global and industry challenges?
It’s safe to say the pandemic has not only had a profound impact on the global economy, but our individual behavior, as well. As a direct result, the way that we shop and navigate content now holds different meaning. I think the fashion industry understands this, and has adapted many of these necessary changes into its current campaigns, virtual showcases, and, in some cases, showing fewer collections. My takeaway is that there is much more emphasis on the way fashion makes you feel, and not so much on just the product itself. We all want to feel connected again, and it’s going to take a while.
What is one trend or article of clothing that will define the coming year?
Wearing vintage, buying sustainable clothing, and a focus on purchasing better while keeping things longer!
What is something you’d love to see in fashion’s future, even if it’s the stuff of fantasy?
I think fixed seasons need to go away. We’re in a global economy after all. If it’s winter in Canada, it’s summer in Peru, so why should we continue to define when the seasons are. Besides, you should wear what you want to wear, whenever and wherever! As long as you feel good. I always say, “fashion you can buy, but style stars with the wearer.”