About Virginia
Travel has a way of enriching our lives, insisting that we throw out old ideas and entertain new ones.
2002 found me in Buenos Aires for a brief vacation. Fashionable, elegant women were everywhere, looking their age, feeling confident about it. The women had retained their dignity and confidence while having an air of sexiness and allure about them.
I was transfixed!!
North American fashion tends to embrace the 20 year old, declaring women past their “best by” date as they hit the prime of their lives. Most clothing available for women is either navel baring, too tight in some places and not forgiving enough in others, or dowdy enough to make a grown woman scream!
Buenos Aires is a city that loves design, creates top fashion and respects people of all ages and stages. I knew that if I looked hard enough, I would be able to find creative, dynamic people to work with. I had confidence that if I searched alleys and main streets, walked enough kilometers, talked to enough people, and never gave up, I would be able to find people who could understand my dreams, and help me make them a reality.
And guess what? I did! I now have a brilliant team behind me and they are true artisans.
There was a minor glitch. Argentina happens to be a Spanish country and, prior to my epiphany, I didn’t speak a word of Spanish!! Pretty tough to communicate when you can only point! After intensely listening to countless hours of translation tapes, it was off to immersion school in Guatemala. I still butcher a lot of verbs and need a many more lessons, but I can now interact on a “real” basis and feel a part of everyday life in Buenos Aires.
People often ask me why I love Argentina and the word that keeps coming to mind is “passion”. There is a passion for life, a passion for creativity, a passion for people that is uniquely Argentine. The Argentines have had a conflicted, chaotic past, with more coupes, military dictatorships and attempts at democracy than we can imagine. Because of this, the relish and embrace every relationship and focus on today. Every interaction has a heightened intensity.
Come share my passion. I cannot do it without you!
