"ENTRE MEMORIAS": INSIDE 1999 ESTUDIO WORLD

novaissues222
1 day ago
9 min read

An interview with Ileana León on femininity, nostalgia, intuition, and building a fashion universe where emotion becomes strength.

(Gloriana, Cassandra and Lua wearing 1999 Estudio, photo by Tanya García)

For Ileana León, founder and creative director of estudio 1999, clothing has never been just about garments, it is about memory, emotion, longing, and the invisible threads that connect people to themselves. Through silhouettes that feel dreamlike and collections rooted in vulnerability, she has created a universe where femininity is neither delicate nor performative; it is instinctive, powerful, and deeply human.

What began as an independent project born from intuition has grown into one of Mexico City’s most distinctive emerging fashion labels, with a community that extends far beyond borders. Behind every collection lies an intimate dialogue between technique and emotion, nostalgia and possibility.

We spoke with Ileana about the origins of estudio 1999, the emotional language of fashion, creative independence, and the beauty of allowing yourself to feel.

Below, you can read the full interview.

Tell us a little about yourself. Who is Ileana León?

I’m a girl living in a tiny apartment in Mexico City with my boyfriend and our two cats, working every day on something that genuinely nourishes me. I think that’s still surreal to me sometimes.

I was born in Guadalajara on February 14th, so maybe that explains my obsession with romance, emotions, and sentimentality. Surrounded by stories, memories and a deep appreciation for beauty, not beauty as something superficial, but as something capable of making life feel richer and more meaningful.

I’m deeply inspired by the intensity of emotion, especially the kind that exists so naturally within Mexican culture. I love observing, remembering, and listening to people’s stories.

Since I was little, one of my favorite things in the world was getting dressed and admiring clothing.

Textures, silhouettes, colors, the smallest details, I was fascinated by the way objects could hold emotion. Looking back, I think I always knew this was what I wanted to dedicate my life to, creating beautiful things that could emotionally accompany people through everyday life.

Building estudio 1999 has never been easy, but seeing it grow into a community of people who genuinely connect with what we create has been one of the greatest privileges of my life.

I try very hard to protect the purity of that intention, even within an industry and a world that constantly pressures creation to become only commercial.

I feel deeply grateful to every person who listens, supports or wears estudio 1999.

Truly.

How did your relationship with design begin?

Although I formally studied Fashion Design, my relationship with fashion began much earlier.

As a child, I saved my allowance to buy fashion magazines and spent hours discovering runway collections and editorials online. I became fascinated not only by clothing itself, but by the worlds designers created around it, I could spend hours discovering runway collections, editorials, and images that completely expanded my imagination. I remember being deeply inspired by Miu Miu’s collections from Spring/Summer 2010 through Fall/Winter 2011. The cat prints, crystal embellishments, awkward femininity, the colors, the silhouettes, every detail fascinated me.

Over time, I fell in love with that process too, the patience behind construction, pattern making, fittings, proportions, the way fabric behaves, and the constant problem-solving. I think there’s something incredibly human about slowly mastering a technique and then using it to create something emotional or unexpected. Those are the pieces that move me the most, the kind that make you stop and wonder, How did someone even make this?

And I think fashion has to go beyond being visually beautiful, of course, beauty matters deeply to me, but clothing also has to function, move with the body, feel good to wear, and exist within real life, otherwise, it stops being clothing and becomes just an image.

What inspired you to create estudio 1999?

It was born from a mixture of emotional urgency, intuition, and, honestly... a little bit of desperation too.

There came a moment in my life when I felt completely emotionally exhausted, and something inside me simply said, “Enough, just try. Even if it’s uncertain. Even if it’s terrifying”.

At the time, I kept motivating myself through small signs, tiny moments that made me believe I really could build something meaningful from my ideas. I had already been designing dresses for clients, and seeing people respond to my work with genuine emotion slowly gave me the confidence to keep going.

But beyond that, I simply couldn’t stop creating. I could spend entire days sketching garments, imagining silhouettes, fabrics, textures, and the worlds surrounding them without even noticing time passing. Once I entered that creative state, it became addictive in the most beautiful way.

Starting independently with very limited resources also shaped me deeply. It was me, becoming everything at once: designer, creative director, producer, accountant and problem solver, all while hoping the investment somehow returns.

There was fear every step of the way, but there was also the excitement of seeing an idea become real.

Little by little, estudio 1999 became more than just an idea. It evolved into a space where memory, femininity, experimentation, emotion, and technique could coexist. I've always wanted the project to come from a place of honesty, to create emotionally, consciously, and with intention.

Beyond clothing, how would you describe the universe of estudio 1999?

Through emotion, estudio 1999 exists as a universe where feelings are not seen as a burden, but as the driving force behind everything. It is a space where femininity is never perceived as weakness, where pink does not symbolize fragility, but strength.

The world of estudio 1999 is shaped by a feminine force that differs from traditional masculine notions of power. One that is intimate, introspective, intuitive, and mystical. It is a place where nature and the experience of being a woman intertwine, where unexpected shapes, textures, and colors evoke emotions rather than simply aesthetics.

Beyond clothing, estudio 1999 explores nostalgia, sensitivity, and beauty as sources of strength, creating pieces and experiences that invite people to feel deeply and reconnect with themselves.

What has building an independent fashion brand taught you?

That creativity is only one part of the process.

Running an independent label means constantly balancing art with survival. One moment you’re designing a collection, the next you’re solving production problems or carrying inventory yourself.

But I also think there’s something beautiful about growing slowly and organically. Every step has felt deeply human.

Opening our physical store in Mexico City changed everything for me. Suddenly, the brand stopped existing only online and became a tangible space where people could physically connect with the universe we were creating.

Seeing someone enter the store and emotionally respond to the pieces still feels unreal to me.

How do you build the narrative behind each collection or drop? What inspired

your latest collection?

There is never one formula.

Sometimes it starts with music, other times with a painting, a dream, a sentence or simply a feeling I can’t let go of.

The collection I am currently developing is one I’m especially excited about. It is still in the final sampling stage before production, and honestly, it’s difficult not to reveal it already because it feels deeply personal to me. I want to talk about it all the time.

Its origins are difficult to trace back to a single moment, but I remember being fascinated by the feeling of sunlight at dawn, the mystical atmosphere in Leonora Carrington’s paintings, and the complexity of the feminine mind: the way women interpret life, transform pain into meaning, and continuously seek growth through their experiences.

Music also played an important role. Songs like “Dazzle” by Siouxsie and the Banshees stayed with me for months. I became fascinated by the idea that beauty, visibility, and brilliance can sometimes exist alongside vulnerability. That to shine is also to risk being hurt.

I think it also reflects the stage of life I am currently in, a desire to begin again. To keep moving forward after heartbreak, disappointment, and uncertainty. To become a stronger and more confident woman while learning to trust my intuition.

More than anything, it is a celebration of feeling. I love being a woman, and I love the emotional depth that so many women carry. I think we’ve been taught for far too long to see sensitivity as a weakness, when in reality, it can be one of our greatest sources of strength.

That idea is at the heart of this collection.

Has your personal evolution shaped the brand?

Completely.

estudio 1999 was born as a way for me to express things I don’t always know how to put into words. Creating has always been my way of processing life, emotions, and experiences. I think I would continue creating even if nobody saw it, because making things is simply part of who I am.

What feels magical is sharing it, the moment an idea, feeling, or memory becomes a garment, and someone else connects with it, it takes on a life of its own.

The philosophy of the brand has evolved alongside me because estudio 1999 is an extension of myself, as I change, the collections change too. My personal vision and the brand are deeply intertwined, allowing me to build a world that feels honest to who I am while creating space for others to find a connection within it.

If estudio 1999 were a feeling, what would it be?

If estudio 1999 were a feeling, it would be a complicated one. The kind that feels beautiful at first, but carries a quiet sense of longing underneath. Happiness mixed with sadness, comfort mixed with uncertainty, something slightly bittersweet.

I’ve always been drawn to emotions that don’t fit into a single category, the moments that feel beautiful precisely because they are fleeting, imperfect, or impossible to fully hold onto.

If it were a moment, it would be dawn, that brief threshold between darkness and light, when the world is still quiet, and you are alone with your thoughts, dreams, memories, and hopes. Nothing is fully clear yet, but something new is beginning.

I think that’s where estudio 1999 exists, in the space between nostalgia and possibility.

What are you currently exploring in your personal life?

Lately, I’ve been trying to understand intuition and femininity on a deeper level.

One thing I’ve been reflecting on is the menstrual cycle. For a long time, I saw it as something inconvenient, something I wished I didn’t have to experience, over time, I realized that rejecting it felt, in some way, like rejecting my own body and my own nature.

Now, instead of fighting it, I’m learning to understand it, the more I pay attention to it, the more I recognize cycles everywhere, in nature, creativity, relationships, grief, healing, and life itself. Not everything is meant to remain constant, things bloom, fade, rest, and begin again.

Beyond that, I’m learning to understand myself more deeply: my fears, my insecurities, and the ways I sometimes stand in my own way. I’m learning to trust myself, be kinder to myself, and believe in my intuition.

Ultimately, I think what I’m exploring is acceptance: of cycles, change, being human, and being a woman.

What impact do you hope estudio 1999 leaves?

I hope the garments become part of people’s lives and memories. Fashion is often associated with trends and seasons, but what interests me most is the emotional connection we create with the things we wear. I love the idea that a piece can accompany someone through an important chapter of their life and continue carrying those memories years later.

I’m also constantly amazed by how fashion can transcend language and geography, even without sharing the same language, we can still connect through images, emotions, and silhouettes.

Over the years, women from places I never expected, Japan, Singapore, Poland, Austria, and many others, have connected with estudio 1999. Every time it happens, the world feels a little smaller and more connected.

Ultimately, I hope to create pieces that make people feel something and remind them that sensitivity, emotion, and femininity can be sources of strength. The fact that those ideas can travel across cultures and reach someone on the other side of the world will never stop feeling magical to me.

What’s next for you?

Honestly, I don’t fully know yet, and I think I’m okay with that.

I’ve never been someone with a rigid five-year plan. The most meaningful things in my life and in estudio 1999 have happened organically, through curiosity, intuition, and saying yes to opportunities that felt right.

Right now, I’m excited about continuing to expand the world of estudio 1999, launching new collections, developing new pieces, growing our workshop, and creating experiences beyond clothing through collaborations, pop-ups, and hopefully another runway show.

More than anything, I want to keep creating and following ideas that make me feel curious, emotional, and alive. estudio 1999 has always been a conversation between who I was, who I am, and who I’m becoming, and I’m excited to see where it leads.

What advice would you give to emerging creatives?

Make sure you’re doing it because you genuinely love creating, not because you want to be called an artist, or because of recognition, likes, status, or ego; the world already has enough things created for those reasons.

Create because you’re curious, because you care about the process, because you’re willing to spend years learning, researching, failing, trying again, and becoming better at what you do.

Creative work isn’t easy. There are sacrifices, disappointments, and moments when you want to give up. I still have those moments.

But if it’s something you truly love, keep going. Sometimes I think about that image of someone digging for diamonds who gives up right before finding them. Whenever I feel like stopping, I remind myself: what if I’m actually closer than I think?

estudio 1999 proposes that sensitivity is not a weakness, but a creative force. Every collection becomes an invitation to slow down, to notice beauty in the everyday, and to embrace the contradictions that make us human. Between nostalgia and hope, darkness and dawn, the brand reminds us that fashion can still be intimate, and that sometimes, the most powerful stories are the ones we choose to wear.