Juan José Saenz-Ferreyros to bring flamenco to Fashion Week Columbus
When guests walk into the Columbus home of fashion designer Juan José Saenz-Ferreyros, they are greeted by colorful artwork, smiling hosts and two poodles, Gucci and Coco Chanel.
The Peruvian-born designer welcomes models into his home, which doubles as the home studio for his brand, FerreyrosLife , for fittings. There, he often works late into the night as creativity strikes him.
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Most recently, he worked with models to finalize his two collections for Fashion Week Columbus. The week of fashion shows and events begins with a High Fashion Tea runway show from 1-4 p.m. Sept. 14 showcasing a collection of cocktail dresses designed by Saenz-Ferreyros.
Bookending the week, Saenz-Ferreyros designed a collection of evening gowns for the Fashion Week Columbus Finale Runway Show from 6-10 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Hilton Columbus Downtown.
Atop these two collections, the designer will participate in upcoming shows in Peru and Chile this fall.
"It's my profession. It's my work, but for me, it's not work," he said.
The fabric of Fashion Week Columbus
During this reporter's visit, Saenz-Ferreyros pulled out the gowns for Fashion Week Columbus gowns one by one. Preparing for his eighth time participating in Ohio's largest fashion platform , Saenz-Ferreyros found inspiration this year through his July travels to Spain and Portugal.
While he did not want to give too much away prior to the collections' reveals, he said attendees could expect the fringe, flowers and ruffles often associated with the traditional flamenco style in the Andalusia region of Spain.
Coming from a prominent family in Lima, Peru, Saenz-Ferreyros said he loved the drama of the evening gowns worn by his mother and other women, likening them to the style of old Hollywood and Jackie Onassis but more colorful.
He has incorporated this essence of classic fashion in his modern designs. Each of these pieces is one-of-a-kind, whether a runway look or a design sold in his store in Lima, Juanjo Ferreyros Atelier.
If someone sees something they like that isn't for sale, Saenz-Ferreyros will design something similar and use different colors. He never makes the same design twice.
"People ask me and say, 'Oh, my God, look at this. You made this?'" he said. "Yes, I made it, but I'm only making one design. I do not repeat."
Building a beautiful 'FerreyrosLife'
Saenz-Ferreyros said he finds inspiration in each of his travels, from perusing museums to visiting fabric stores.
Continuing a fashion design career in the United States that he began as a teenager in Lima, the designer created fashions for clients in Boston, Washington, D.C. and New York, where he met his husband and general manager, William Bartolini.
When the pair first met 20 years ago, Bartolini couldn't speak Spanish, and Saenz-Ferreyros was still working on his English. After nightly phone calls relying on Spanish-English dictionaries, their story began.
They moved to Columbus nearly 11 years ago when Bartolini needed to relocate for a fundraising job with Ohio State.
Saenz-Ferreyros said he was nervous at first about the fashion scene in central Ohio before. But then he he discovered Easton Town Center and Columbus' prominence as a fashion hub.
Soon after arriving, he cemented his place in the local fashion scene with a Highball Halloween collection stylized as ornate chandeliers.
Saenz-Ferreyros sells most his designs after runway shows, but keeps some pieces that he can't bear to part with.
The Highball chandeliers are now tucked away in his basement vault, along with racks and racks of former fashions.
Bolts of ornate fabric line the wall, and the archive of the designer's evening gowns fill the center of the room.
Surrounded by the racks of exquisite gowns preserved in his home collection, the Peruvian-born designer lights up as he pulls out a dress he designed for Miss El Salvador 18 years ago. Complete with thousands of hand-sewn diamonds, it's still one of his favorite designs.
Sophia Veneziano is a Columbus Dispatch reporter supported by the Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation. She may be reached at sveneziano@dispatch.com . The Dispatch retains full editorial independence for all content.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Juan José Saenz-Ferreyros to bring flamenco to Fashion Week Columbus
