DALLAS — At 15, Angela Mercado has already staged her first fashion show, turning her fascination with painting, sculpture and sewing into a collection she describes as “wearable art.”
Mercado presented 15 looks at the Texas Theatre in Dallas in a show inspired by circus imagery, surrealism and the sensation of entering a hallucination.
Her collection featured oversized jackets, fringes and multicolored polka dots. Models portrayed characters including ballerina fairies and a medicated clown as Mercado used clothing, visuals and performance to create a dreamlike presentation.
“I would label it like wearable art,” Mercado said. “Just kind of like a painting you can wear almost.”
Mercado discovered fashion when she was about 7 years old. She already enjoyed painting and sculpting, and sewing gave her another way to combine those interests.
“It was like … bringing a story to life,” she said.
Her grandmother taught her how to use a sewing machine. Mercado then taught herself how to create patterns, construct garments and work with different fabrics.
She often experimented on her own before researching techniques online to learn how to improve her work.
Producing a fashion show presented a different challenge. Mercado had never organized one before, so she had to learn how to conduct a casting call, schedule fittings and coordinate rehearsals while developing the show’s creative direction.
Her older sister, Caroline “Carrie” Mercado, helped produce the event and assemble the production team. The team included videographer Aaron Lucas, casting coordinator Alex Pancorvo and other collaborators who handled production, sound and visuals.
Mercado cast 17 models from around Dallas and worked with them as she prepared the collection for the runway.
“A lot of things would kind of come up,” she said. “Oh, we need to have more fittings, more rehearsal.”
Caroline said she has watched her younger sister maintain her creativity and curiosity as she has grown.
“She’s never lost that, like, childlike creativity and wonder and whimsy,” Caroline said.
The Mercado family also encourages artistic pursuits. Angela has seven siblings, and several family members work in creative fields. One sister works as a filmmaker, another is a musician and Caroline is a chef.
“It’s fun to work together,” Caroline said, “because the different art forms can overlap.”
Mercado designed the show to feel more like entering a dream than attending a traditional runway presentation. Visuals accompanied the looks and helped create the atmosphere she wanted for the audience.
The show ended with models wearing pieces featuring large hand and eye imagery, which Mercado drew from artwork she created when she was younger.
“I wanted it to look like it came to life out of the world,” she said.
Mercado said her favorite look featured a brown outfit with trim, horns and a mask.
The 25-minute presentation took months to prepare. Her sister Cristina, a filmmaker, documented the process, initially intending to create a keepsake that Mercado could revisit years later.
The project eventually expanded into a documentary showing the work behind the production and the contributions of the people who helped bring the show together.
“I just am happy that we’ll see the whole process,” Mercado said. “So people will see how much work and time went into this.”
For Mercado, the show served as both a creative project and a lesson in fashion production. She said she wanted to learn how to create clothing, work with models and build a team she could collaborate with on future shows.
She also wants audiences to interpret her designs in their own ways.
“I want them to do whatever they want with it and think whatever they want with it,” she said.