Whether it’s repurposing old coffee cans as flower planters or using a bathtub as an altar for the Virgen de Guadalupe, the Chicano concept of rasquachismo can be defined by a unique resourcefulness.
The term was first coined by San Antonio scholar Tomás Ybarra Frausto in his 1989 essay, "Rasquachismo: A Chicano Sensibility.”
Rasquachismo has now crept its way into fashion with a style called “rasquachic.”
Award-winning San Antonio-based designer Agosto Cuellar recently launched his collective, the Haus of Augustine.
“Rasquache means being able to do something and create something out of what is discarded. I’m almost like an alchemist,” he said. “I find different pieces from textiles to fabric (and make) things that are not meant to be fashion.”
Cuellar and his creative partner Dr. Puente Para La Gente recently hosted Runway Rasquachic with the Esperanza Peace and Justice. The event closed down a street on San Antonio’s historically Latino Westside to highlight repurposed fashion of emerging and established designers.
Dr. Puente said working with Cuellar reimagined what fashion meant for her.
“At first I had an idea that fashion had to last for a long time. The beauty about making things the way to do it is that it’s not meant to,” Puente said. “It was something that was going to end up in the trash, so if it breaks when you’re walking down the runway, just go with it and love it.”
