100% creation

Cipango or the multicultural creativity of Paola Pimentel

Audio 03:24

Paola Pimentel, founder of Cipango © Cipango

By: Maria Afonso

3 mins

Cipango a brand inspired by different mobile or stationary journeys and different cultures.

Paola Pimentel's outfits come from a method of "mixing" two opposing cultures.

The designer traces in her collections the discovery and complementary differences through atmosphere, time, memory, history and imagination. 

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Creation is absolutely everything for me.

Nothing else is more important than creation in my life.

Paola Pimentel, creator of Cipango  

Cipango is the old Chinese name for Japan brought back by Marco Polo.

It is also a tribute to my grandfather, he was the one who chose this name.

We thought a lot together, it's a name that could underline this passion for cultures.

It's obvious and it traces the journey of a character who participated in multiculturalism in general and also the basis of my first collection which was inspired by Japan.

»

The Franco-Dominican designer, Paola Pimentel, spent her early childhood in the Dominican Republic.

She arrived in France at the age of six.

As far back as she can remember, she has always wanted to work in fashion.

She therefore directed her studies towards this objective.

She has built her career to be able to launch her Cipango brand in October 2021. 

Cipango Collection © Cipango

Fashion and cultural explorations

Paola Pimentel likes to dress women and men every day with a new breath.   

All my collections are very different.

We combine cultures that have nothing to do with each other, for example the first collection was Japan and the United States.

The second, we are in Africa with French futuristic inspirations from the 1960s. Every six months, there is something new to wear, with new colors, new creative clothes that are a little out of the ordinary.

I noticed that men want to wear my women's clothes and women want to wear my men's clothes, I think it's beautiful because we don't have to put a label on a man's or a woman's garment , everyone can do whatever they want.

That's why we decided to show a couple at the same time with the same dress to show that the garment is suitable for both genders, in a different way, of course.

The man who wore it was not extravagant but he had charisma in his dress and his presence.

»

Cipango Collection © Cipango

Eco-responsible and Parisian manufacturing

Paola Pimentel follows a multicultural creative direction where clothing is a journey through foreign cultures, with production made in Paris and eco-responsible. 

For this last collection, I wanted to do some upcycling, so we used materials from major fashion houses.

There is a law which has been passed and which prohibits throwing away fabric scraps from raw materials, so I bought these raw materials in large quantities to make my production.

For the moment these are limited series but if I have a certain demand for a shirt and I have no more fabric, it will be a different fabric but we will always try to renew the model we have.

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  • Culture