Feminine and Masculine

Everything from the creative process to production in this venture was developed with Mexican hands and materials. www.feminineandmasculine.com

Feminine & Masculine, a brand that started in México in the year of 2008, that is created by Mexican American designer Francisco Rodriguez, has seen shoes as nothing less than a bridge to communicate the work, and specially the delicate craftsmanship, implied in the process of making footwear, with good quality. He has found his inspirations in varied sources of movements in art, music, photograph

y and video, and transforms the emotions they give him, into objects of refined design, (focusing on footwear) as the prime instruments of communication. Born in California (1985), Francisco got training at The Art Institute of Design in San Diego, where he studied Graphic Design. Immediately after graduating, he moved to Spain (Barcelona) and studied Shoe Design, and Pattern Making. It was there that he learned how to trace patterns and how to cut, treat, and manage all sorts of leathers and materials used in the elaboration of shoes. However it was, leather itself what got his attention and started researching about new ways of treating leather, among other materials, for the elaboration of footwear, leather goods, and other forms of applications such as tailored jackets and clothes made out from leather. After that time he joined the flow of elected students at the school of Museo del Calzado at ELDA. There he was steering his attention away from the edicts of trends and fashion. From there that Francisco’s attention to technical detail, structure and construction, is exceptional, and the use of exuberant, clashing colors , in particular, has helped develop his distinctive language, but more than that, his identity. The leathers are treated in varied and different versions, to get the most of them by experimenting with their own qualities and characteristics. In Feminine & Masculine can be found a varied catalog of shoes, developed in all sorts of leathers, skins, fabrics, and other materials. Those range from the traditional and humble cow leather, to the extravagant and exuberant of buffalo, ostrich, or anaconda. All this is done in different treatments to the materials, and also in worked in other applications. Feminine & Masculine is known for its interpretations of everyday classic designs that derive from men and women, at a high point where they are as conceptual as functional, and his exuberant clashing colors , in particular, have helped develop his distinctive identity in an eclectic vision of both, femininity and masculinity.