Silvia Argüello

my ecletic background
inspired me to create
Rosa Clandestino...

I was born in the U.S. to exiled parents, a Nicaraguan father and a Cuban mother, and raised in Honduras. After completing high school, I went back to the U.S. where I graduated with degrees both in Marketing and Languages.

My fashion journey started after college when I moved to Paris to study Fashion Design at Esmod. In 1999, I landed a job at Emanuel Ungaro. Mr. Ungaro's savoir-faire and Giambattista Valli's new ideas were the best "finishing school" I could have ever attended. Four years later, I moved to Milano to pursue a masters degree in Fashion Accessories at the Marangoni Institute.

This is how Rosa Clandestino was born, inspired by the different cultures I've lived in, the contrast of far-away and sophisticated places, the sensibility towards social issues. Fashion linked to art, people and evolution that I like to translate into wearable art.

Rosa? The beauty within, the feminine side of the band, the European experience in my life. Clandestino? My eclectic roots. I feel my sophisticated side belongs to Europe, my heart to Latin America. The inspiration is a combination of both.

Contemporary art has influenced my life. I try to create weareable art collections focused on the details, the selection of materials, the quality of the tailoring and handcrafting. For me, the perfect piece of clothing is stylish and glamorous yet functional and comfortable.

My love of art is cultivated through special collaborations with young promising artists from all over the world. The idea is to promote talent and embrace art.

The first official recognition arrived in 2010: Vogue Italia and Alta Roma chose me as one of the seven designers finalists of the Who's on Next? fashion contest with Rosa Clandestino. An unforgettable experience was winning Fashion Freedom for Africa, a charity project for the emancipation of African women that gave me the opportunity to travel to Kenya to create a capsule collection of t-shirts in collaboration with the United Nations, Vogue Italia, Alta Roma and Coop stores.

I like to think of Rosa Clandestino as an experience not a destination!!!