In the midst of the solemnity that characterized the deputies in their attire on this past May 1st – most of whom attended the Costa Rican Congress in black suits – there was a dress that drew attention for two particularities.
The official deputy Paola Vega arrived at the solemn session with a dress made of hemp and other recyclable materials. Paola Vega said that, true to her tradition of wearing a garment made in Costa Rica at this time, she took on the task of looking for a textile enterprise to make her dress. And that’s how she found Nicole Madriz, a young woman from Turrialba who owns Selfmade. It is a SME that designs and manufactures garments through manual and natural processes.
Nicole Madriz national designer
She is Nicole Madriz, the national designer who made the hemp dress that Deputy Vega wore. Madriz’s workshop is located in Aserrí and employs women in the area, the legislator said.
From this undertaking came the dress, whose textile fibers are obtained from the stem of this plant. It is a garment that, in addition, has embroidery that was made with pieces of recycled plastic. “It is the idea of generating fashion that does not pollute,” she explained.
Femicides
The other peculiarity of this dark dress is that it had the initials of the women victims of femicides in our country printed on flowers in the last two years. Paola Vega expressed that she wanted to call attention to a reality that only last year took the lives of 19 women.
Femicide is not a common homicide. It is the most serious of gender violence and occurs when a woman is murdered usually at the hands of her current or past partner, or another man with whom she does not have or had a relationship.
Unique garment
Regarding the care that should be given to the dress, Vega indicated that it should be washed – ideally – with detergents or organic products or those certified that do not harm the environment. Deputy Vega said she was delighted with the garment and, above all, with the process involved in making it.
