Equihua’s sleepwear line goes deeper than pajamas. This is ‘Dreamware’

Years ago, there was a recurring dream that fashion designer Brenda Equiva could not break. In the dream, there was always a flood. Sometimes, she was the one who got lost; Other times, he looks down from above as his friends and family are caught in the floodwaters. No matter what she did, the drops of water choked her and everything she knew.

The dreams surprised and somewhat frightened Equihua, who did not know what they meant. Until his mother appeared. Equihua’s mother died in 2013 but she appears in his dreams, often with a message. This time, she was swimming in the floodwaters, eyes closed and calm despite the chaos.

“I felt like she was telling me, SurrenderEquihua says.Do not attempt to block. Even if you are afraid, you cannot stop it. Let life flood you and be at peace with it“

She knew that the floods represented her greatest desire to control the uncontrollable aspects of her life. By listening to his mother and letting go, he can manage his life better. She then thought, “What would happen if I listened more to my dreams and let them guide me?” Ever since her mother’s visit, the floodwaters have stopped in Equiva’s dreams. But that hasn’t stopped her dreams from influencing her life and work.

“I wasn’t thinking about designing pajamas. I was thinking about creating dreams.”

Equihua founded her own fashion label in 2015. Her brand rose to fame for her innovative Kubija jackets that use culturally-inspired San Marcos blankets as material. The result was a comfortable yet daring intersection of Mexican heritage, nostalgia and streetwear. Her work has been worn by the likes of Bad Bunny, Kehlani and Rao Alejandro, among many other stars.

Often steeped in memory and craftsmanship, Equihua’s story-rich design begins with a vision. Past designs came to her spontaneously and vividly, from car rides to conversations, usually resulting in her working for hours to implement that particular imagination. The Santa Barbara native says that in her 10 years with the brand, she’s gotten better at “embracing her craziness.”

“The lessons my mother taught me growing up influenced my work and how I interacted with the world,” says Equihua. “Because now these visions, these ideas, I’m learning to believe that they come to me because they are. for the I and it is my job to be the translator of this thing.

I meet Equihua next to the waterfall, in the lush courtyard of Jackson’s Market and Deli, a home-turned-shop in the Culver City neighborhood. Equihua’s thoughts flowed like a river beside us, from watery memories of her past to her wildest dreams of where her dreams lead her future.

She had just finished teaching art to teenagers at Culver Park High School, a pursuit she chose alongside her design work. Young people notice her very inspiring and personal designs. Her childhood is an endless gold mine from which to draw and create, and in her work, she strives to connect people with childlike joy.

Zariya wears Dreamware by Equihua Amethyst Crystal sleep cami bias dress and Rebeca Equihua hoop earrings. Katherine wears a Dreamwear by Equihua Malachite crystal pajama shorts set, a vintage necklace, and her own earrings and bracelet.

Armor Wear Dreamwear by Equihua Red Garnet Crystal Pajama Set.

“Something that feels really important to me in my designs is that people feel close to themselves,” says Equihua. “I think feeling so close to myself is an act of remembering childhood for me. When we’re kids, we just believe in ourselves. You’ll draw a picture when you’re a kid and you’re like, ‘I’m an amazing artist.’ I want to reconnect people with that belief.”

Equihua’s belief in herself is what led her from a scholarship at the Parsons School of Design to an in-house designer for luxury women’s clothing brands to first run her own label. That’s what made her lay in bed and dream of her ideal pajamas, making a pair for herself.

At one point, Equihua laughed at the idea of ​​designing pajamas. She also came under the umbrella of believing that they are simple and formless. Her disappointment began when, fresh out of college, she interviewed for a pajama company.

“All the pajamas were awful,” she says. “I started thinking, ‘I don’t want to design pajamas if they’re like that.’ But now that I have my own brand and I can do whatever I want, I’m like, ‘I can design the kind of pajamas that I want to see in the world.’

Equihua reimagines the ridiculous image of adult pajamas, followed by cotton shirts and worn-out lover shorts that will never see the light of day. He wants to create a world with his designs where pajamas have a purpose, bringing comfort and focus to the wearer as they engage in the most important part of their day – sleep. In sensitivity and comfort, Equihua creates pajamas for sleep and sleep.

“I started thinking a lot about how the world is focused on productivity. We’re focused on the waking world. It’s all about the morning routine. But we’re not really talking about wind down,” says Equihua. “I am inspired by this moment to create: clearing our energy, clearing our mind and leveling up our appreciation for life. Tomorrow is a new day where you can dream something new.”

During dreams, Equihua makes connections and sees things like never before. He has hundreds of journal entries of his dreams, which he returns to and often refers to. In creative work, dreams are her muse and her lens through which her visions are clearly seen.

“It comes to life subconsciously because it’s not limited,” says Equihua. “A lot of things push us to the back of our brain. We don’t want to think about it. We break a lot of things. In the dream world, we can’t do that. We’re not responsible anymore.”

On the surface, sleepwear seems like a drastic turn from where Equihua has built its niche as a brand. But look closer, and you’ll see that Equihua’s work always has a theme of relaxation.

The morning of a photo shoot for her new dreamwear line, Dreamware, Equihua was in her apartment, surrounded by colorful organized chaos. Papers and fabrics were laid out on the tables as she and her sister examined a pair of fully handmade wings they had fashioned from tubes, feathers and even car parts.

They are talking about how to avoid shoulder straps like clothes when her sister notices the car magnet she has on the back of her truck. The wings were born, tied with a wide elastic belt that Equihua had from a previous project.

Equihua’s inspiration for Wings was once again rooted in childhood, drawing on the darkly feminine fantasy portraits of artist Amy Brown, the queen of the early 2000s.

“Although most of the work is from my memories, I also think about creating my future memories. Because when we dream, we are also trying to create future memories.” Equihua says.

In the dining room, makeup artist Gabriel Alvarez delighted in thoughtfully placed pops of color and galactic shimmer.

Crystals, in spirituality, help direct energy to their user. What if pajamas do the same? What if we could sleep with more purpose and use fashion to direct our dreams?

“Can we make it a little more alien? I want them to see from this world,” Aqua instructed her.

We met again in the greenery of Griffith Park, crossing paths and beds of fallen leaves and drooping branches. The crew of the Equihua was easily recognized because the large, colorful wings were visible through the trees.

Dreamwear by Equihua consists of three silhouettes, a cami bias dress, a short-sleeved pajama set and a long-sleeved pajama set, inspired by amethyst, malachite, and red garnet crystals and featuring three unique prints for each crystal, which Equihua envisions as three distinct personalities.

Crystals, in spirituality, help direct energy to their user. At Dreamware, Equihua asks: What if Pajamas did the same? What if we could dream with more purpose and use fashion to direct our dreams?

Out there in the wild, the models looked like fairies at home in pajama gowns with bold prints and pops of light. Their wings, in shades of lavender, green and red, represent certain crystals and qualities: amethyst as a solace and purity, malachite as a protection and rose garnet for healing and love.

“I didn’t think I could design pajamas,” Equihua said of the line. “I thought about making dreams come true.”

As she watched the models in the lounge in broad daylight, jumping and twirling their pajamas, Equiva thought she felt like she was in a dream.