Circe Henestrosa

A fashion curator and academic, Circe Henestrosa is passionate about using heritage to develop cultural fashion enterprises. Henestrosa is the Head of the School of Fashion at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore, where she uses her expertise to explore how garments and material culture inform and reflect sociocultural aspects of fashion through her curatorial practice.

The fashion academic has long regarded late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo as her muse, and curated acclaimed exhibitions on Kahlo, including Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up (2018) at London’s V&A Museum.

Another milestone is her collaboration with Dior for its Cruise 2024 show in Mexico. “When [Dior creative director] Maria Grazia Chiuri asked if I could help her with the collection, I said yes because she wanted to include Mexican traditional techniques,” shares Henestrosa, who saw this as an opportunity to ensure fair collaboration between indigenous artisans and Dior’s ateliers. She also stresses the importance of local designers drawing inspiration from their heritage to tell stories with global appeal. “We have to find our own visual vocabulary.”