Hallucinogenic hosiery: an acid trip like no other with Celia Calderon Asensio

This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…

Courtesy of @c.c.asensio

NAME CELIA CALDERÓN ASENSIO
AGE 26
STAR SIGN Virgo
LOCKDOWN LOCATION London, England
LIFE MANTRA Food first, fashion second

If Willy Wonka’s multi-coloured candy land was melted down into a lucid mess and splashed across a mob of nylon tights, it would look like CSM Graduate and fanatic-for-anything-knitted, Celia Calderon Asensio’s, electrifying creations. Inspired by the zingy hues smeared across her Senegalese plastic pots, the designer’s hand-dyed tights make an undeniable case for clash-happy dressing. Pick from a melting pot of acidic greens, sunny yellows, Fanta oranges and bubblegum blues for an eye-popping look that’s bound to make your lengthy pins a fatal attraction. 

With editorials in ELLE USA, Vogue and POP and a collaboration with Fyodor Golan (check out his SS20 collection) under her belt, Asensio has already proved she’s a designer to watch. Her word of advice for other young creatives starting out? “It’s a marathon – not a sprint,” she muses. Being able to work with her hands everyday means Asensio’s career-focused dreams have already been realised, but her hopes for the fashion industry ask for something more: an amplified focus on sustainability, DIY culture, and a push for namesake brands to provide increased support for young designers. Here’s hoping they’re listening…

Ella Bardsley: Who would you most like to see donning a pair of your tights? 

Celia Calderón Asensio: So many people! But today, it’s the singer ARCA.

EB: What’s your current reoccurring late-night thought? 

CCA: That even though we are living through such a traumatising time, and creative industries are being so badly affected by the pandemic, I hope we are taking this time to rethink old systems. I believe we are; I trust that there is a big creative storm brewing in people’s bedrooms right now.

Courtesy of @c.c.asensio

EB: What’s your biggest deal-breaker in a date? 

CCA: Apathy.

EB: What’s your biggest phobia?

CCA: Exercise. 

EB: Biggest guilty pleasure?

CCA: The Real Housewives. I recently got hooked and there’s too many seasons.

EB: Three feeds you can’t stop stalking on Instagram at the moment?

CCA: @hoe_cakes, @batashoemuseum, @etageprojects.

EB: Album you have on repeat?

CCA: Violence by GRIMES. I love her new album. I listen to it all the time while I work.

EB: You’re hosting your dream dinner party. Only 5 guests, dead or alive, can come. Who have you invited?

CCA: Pedro Almodóvar, Chavela Vargas, Moira Orfei, Fran Lebowitz and Marsha P. Johnson. I feel like they would all get along!

EB: If COVID ended tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d do?

CCA: Go to a rave for sure.

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