Sexy, Futuristic, and Risk-Taking: Those are three words fashion designer Jose Gaucin expressed that encapsulated the aura of his brand GAUCIN COUTURE. From launching the brand from inside his bedroom to partaking in El Paso Fashion Weeks, the ‘GAUCIN effect’ has taken the Sun City by storm.
Starting his career as a designer at the ripe age of 16, Jose Gaucin began to pursue a fashion-filled life during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
“It all started in quarantine, I remember at the time I wanted to make these pants and I loved how it looked,” said Jose Gaucin. “From there, I started making pieces that not everybody had.”
He says that initial love for fashion had always been there, but by pushing his creativity into real pieces changed his life forever.
GAUCIN COUTURE made its debut in 2021 with the Autumn/Winter collection. His first line consisted of custom coats, pants, balaclavas, and even a cushioned purse inspired by traditional bandanas. As a designer, Gaucin has found himself drawn to create both Couture and Ready-To-Wear lines that find a sweet spot between his unique sense of personal style and his Mexican heritage.
“I love to the risk in everything I do clothing wise,” said Gaucin. “For sure it has helped me within my culture, like bringing Mexicans to high fashion.”
Now at 19 years old, Gaucin’s passion has permitted him to build relationships that have helped him further grow his brand.
“I started becoming friends with people on and off, then we started dressing together, and I just became really close to them.” Gaucin said. “We all love fashion, we live our fashion.”
Presently his team is made up of a second seamster, two stylists, his female and male muses, and some trusted models. Even though his creative mind is the motor of the brand, his team has fused into the DNA that runs the machine of Casa GAUCIN Couture.
Female muse and model, Claudia ‘Clouds’ Nieves has witnessed the growth of the brand since he first began to sell his original pieces on the website ‘Depop.’ She described how their relationship began when they used to model together for the local agency Bazaar.
“We were both assigned models, practiced our walks, and we became friends randomly one day,” said Nieves. “We began discussing our future goals for us getting involved in the fashion industry.”
Nieves mentioned how they felt an instant bond as they had similar desire to become a part of the business side of the fashion industry. She described how in their four years of friendship the trust gradually grew through their creative drive.
The designer’s muses have helped him blur the lines between male and female silhouettes, cultivating a style that transcends the concept of gender. GAUCIN COUTURE has shed a spotlight and a fresh outlook that pays homage to punk and grungy culture.
“He was selling clothes (on Depop) and he told me he wanted to make clothes for me, and I was like I really want to see how I look in his stuff because his aesthetic was very new for me,” Nieves said. “I really saw something in his work that was really special to me, after that he would take photos of me every Sunday and it got to a point where all that I would wear, even now, I at least have to have one piece that’s his.”
Jose Gaucin says that when he was sketching out and building designs, he maintained his essence by trying to create something he would personally wear.
The stylist, seamster, and model for the brand, Alexis Aleman, has collaborated with the designer since 2021 after also meeting each other through modeling. He mentioned how their natural bond for fashion was born through common tastes.
“A year into meeting each other, we had the same ideas, aesthetic, and kind of style in fashion,” Aleman said. “When I started buying pieces off of him, I was straight up and asked him if I could be a stylist and ever since I’ve been working for Jose.”
Aleman mentioned that at the beginning of their professional relationship, Jose Gaucin became a figure of mentorship that solidified a congruent creative eye for the brand.
“I would go over to his house for like two weeks straight and stay very late creating pieces,” Aleman said. “He would teach me some hack he does for sewing and easier ways on how to do everything.”
Aleman expressed the ‘GAUCIN effect’ opened a new renaissance for the fashion scene in El Paso. Since the brand’s recent growth in popularity, the pieces are now managed solely through online sales on their website, or physically in the downtown shop ‘IM NOVELTIES.’ He mentioned that they have been allowed bigger opportunities because of the influence of Jose Gaucin.
Nieves stated the designer has dedicated himself to building an atmosphere that feels authentic to the fashion world by operating heavily on the front lines and behind the scenes. She described Jose Gaucin as the glue of the brand, creating an environment that mutually generated opportunities for each other.
“We’re being led by a 19-year-old and it’s insane that we have managed to pull this much attraction in the time frame that we did, we get enough attention from very important people as a couple of kids from El Paso,” Nieves said.
The GAUCIN Couture designer expressed endless gratitude for the team that he watched flourish from his bedroom to ruling the local fashion scene.
“I believe that I contributed to help people express themselves within modeling and designers,” Jose Gaucin said. “But I thank my team so much for always being there and the passion they have.”
As of the brand’s launch in 2020, Jose Gaucin has four runway events under his belt throughout El Paso and has collaborated with businesses such as IM NOVELTIES and Church Bar to display his designs to audiences. The designer also plans to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York to strengthen his talent as a designer.
En breve
Traducido por Yoali Rodriguez
Jose Gaucin diseñador de El Paso, tomo la decisión de crear su propia marca durante la pandemia. En el 2020, el diseñador contaba con 16 anos y tuvo el acierto de crear GAUCIN Couture.
El menciona que se encontró inspirado en crear piezas que reflejen su estilo provocador, alternativo y que honre su patrimonio mexicano. Actualmente a los 19 anos, la pasión del diseñador lo ha llevado crear amistades que lo han ayudado a crecer su marca. Gaucin expresa que ellos aman y viven su moda.
La familia GAUCIN Couture está conformada por un segundo costurero, dos estilistas, su musa femenina y masculina y algunos modelos confiables. Aunque el genio del diseñador se clasificaría como el motor de esta marca, su equipo se vuelto parte del ADN que impulsa la máquina de GAUCIN Couture.
Alexis Alemán, segundo costurero de la marca expresa que el diseñador introdujo un nuevo estilo en El Paso. Claudia Nieves, musa del diseñador, menciona como Gaucin se ha dedicado a crear una atmosfera autentica al mundo de la moda estando al frente de la marca, así como tras bambalinas. También se dedica a generar oportunidades para todo su equipo.
