SAN JOSÉ IN A FASHION+COFFEE TOUR WITH SUBCULTOURS

Setembro 28, 2016

The travel continues along Costa Rica and the next stop was San José. I almost skipped San José but when Katja invited me to discover the culture in San José, I just decide, I had to go. I was missing a bit of culture in Central America.

Katja developed the Subcultours in San José connecting the creative ticos and tourists. The tourists have the possibility to meet the creative soul of San José emerging an alternative journey around the most artistic neighborhoods. Fashion designers, musicians, street artists and local coffee baristas are the first creatives to enroll this new platform. “SUBCULTOURS combines all branches of the tree I call life, my life” says Katja. Katja developed this original concept as an extension of her life. SUBCULTOURS is a result of her passion about travel, art, surf, coffee and Costa Rica.

We started the FASHION+COFFEE subcultour Saturday morning. A beautiful sunny morning at CafeOteca, a lovely restaurant and coffee bar in a 50’s old house in barrio Escalante. Marco is the resident barista and presented us the restaurant, the gallery and the design fashion store. But we were there for much more… We wanted to hear Marco talking about CafeOteca and his passion for coffee. Starting the talk show with the story of coffee in Costa Rica, the different processes to get a good and special roasted coffee, finishing on his true coffee love story. We could smell the different types of coffee but we also could taste the different falvors in a few coups of coffees prepared slowly and in a meticulous technique. We could spend there a few hours just talking about coffee. It’s such a huge and fascinating world…

Marco the barista of CafeOteca

But Eric was waiting for us… At the door of his house we couldn’t imagine what we could find inside. A fashion designer but also an artist, yoga teacher and a spiritual person. He puts all this feelings in his collections and the results are amazing. AMO Y SEÑOR first collection, República Bananera was a reflex of his origins, the El viaje del Héroe was a transcendent voyage to get off his owns fears. The colors, the animal prints, spiritual eyes, masks and the details of every tissue inspire to a colorful life. Elegant but practical and comfortable clothes. Shirts and dresses combined with sportive shoes. Suits with shorts. A mixture of distinct glamours transmitting a sense of a powerful self-esteem. Eric is a transparent and sensitive person living his own passion. We had the pleasure to see his lasted progresses in El regreso collection and connect a bit of his personal life philosophy and get in love with his two fellow mates, Caimito and Jovita.

Amo y Señor with Eric

The journey around Escalante continued and the next time was to talk about the new UNDER GROUND BREW CAFE. Juan belongs to a new coffee generation, his boutique coffee is a combination of his culinary dots and his love discovery about coffee. At house 5530, Juan combines an original coffee with spaces for photography exhibitions, an architec office and a dj school with a dj lab where he and new djs of San José can produce and stream online the electronic music. He transmitted simplicity but also a confident smile in an harmonious and alternative atmosphere. Furthermore, surrounded by good music vibes, he showed us how to produce a cappuccino with a delicate heart. The challenge wasn’t as simple as it looked like. We tried a few times! The result was just a few contemporary and abstract hearts.

UNDER GROUND BREW CAFE a secret in Barrio Escalante

Going out we had a new surprise… Christian appeared at the door with his new entrepreneurship project, Nomadaboutiquecr. Fashion at the door, at the office, for parties and other events. For people who do not have time and patience to go shopping. This is the solution for practical, elegant and glamorous women. And it’s possible for every wallet. Nomadaboutiquecr has space to a great amount of clothes, shoes, wallets and jewelry. It’s possible to try out clothes and have the personal and sincere opinion of Christian. He is a specialist in fashion consultation, in just a look he could give me his professional opinion. I wish I could have him in my own town.

Fashion on the road with NomadaBoutiquecr

The last but not the least was Oscar. A young award fashion designer and founder of ObraGris. His multicultural background and international experience can be seen and felt in his amazing work. He has a brilliant mind! At the basement of his artist house, he designs and produces clothes in a zero waste model. His collection has always some base model designs that can be re-invented in different collections. We got in love with a dress made with 2 meters of organza that has more than 6 ways of dressing. We observed carefully the magic of the dress, changing in a few steps giving a completely different style.