Creative Spotlight - Falma Fashion

Gather
May 26, 2020
3 min read

By Isabel Beatriz

.Today's blog post is focused on a DMV local Latina who makes and designs earrings by hand Valeria Falon Machi. Enjoy this interview we had with her.

My name is Valeria Falcon Machi and I am the owner and designer for Falma! Falma is my greatest little accomplishment at the moment, its where I pour every ounce of my heart, soul, creativity, and not to mention my passion for fashion, especially during these tough times where its getting harder and harder to find jobs in the fashion industry every day. Falma is my window into the industry right now, and also where I get the chance to proudly represent my Latin culture! Having been born in Venezuela, and being heavily immersed in my culture through my Vene-Colombian family, I found Falma to be the perfect place to incorporate all the sensations and

vibrancy I've witnessed and experienced through my family.

Where does the name Falma come from?

The name Falma is actually an homage to my family! I can remember creating the name when I was around 10, while thinking about all the love and support I've received from my family, my parents and grandma Elida especially, so I kind of just mashed my two last names together: FALcon, my dad's last name, and MAchi, my mom's last name;FalMa, and I've stuck with it ever since!

What are some of the messages you want your brand to spread and stand for?

From the very beginning, I had the understanding that Latinos are, without a doubt, under-represented in the fashion industry right now, and my goal is to produce a label and make a name for myself that when other Latin American women hear it they can see that they too can make it in an industry like fashion in the US, I want to provide other women the confidence that no matter how society may label us, we have everything it takes to make it, and that all we have to do is 'ponernos las pilas' and just go for it

How has COVID19 affected your work?

I think the only good that's come from this terrifying pandemic is that I've had more time than usual to make more earrings and to relaunch my shop, because prior to the pandemic I had also been getting my fashion degree in college so my senior year sort of became my priority, but I've recently graduated and I can finally continue to do what I love!

What is your process with coming up with new designs?

Well at the moment, I'm using a material called Polymer clay, a type of hardenable modeling clay

based on the polymer polyvinyl chloride (sounds so 'scientificy', but really I just got that off of google lol), basically its a really cool modeling clay that you can cook in your home oven. The most amazing thing about polymer clay is that they come in all sorts of colors, and when you mix them, if you mix them well enough, you can get any specific color you want, just like paint. I personally obsess over this one technique I've learned over the years of mixing certain colors to create this vibrant colored marble look, which I feel gives the earrings a certain level of elegance, and the colors help me to express the vibrancy I'm always seeking to materialize. So a lot of the process comes with just playing with different colors and mixing them in different variations and then fusing them into different minimalistic shapes.

What is one of your goals for the future of your brand?

As a fashion designer, I'd love to expand Falma into the world of apparel and maybe even handbags!