SHOP ASHLEY TODAY PROJECT COMMUNITY COVERAGE. TONIGHT AS WISN 12 CELEBRATES HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH. TONIGHT, GERRON JORDAN INTRODUCES US TO THE DESIGNER STITCHING TO HER ROOTS. THIS IS THE LAST PIECE OF THE COLLECTION, SO I’M EXCITED TO FINISH IT FOR MILWAUKEE FASHION DESIGNER NOEMI CHAVEZ CONTRERAS. WITH EVERY STITCH SHE SEWS, I TAKE PIECES OF LIKE, TRADITIONAL MEXICAN TEXTILES OR CLOTHING. SHE’S WEAVING TOGETHER PIECES OF HER HERITAGE. AND THEN RECONSTRUCT IT IN A MORE MODERN WAY AS A WAY TO PRESERVE OUR ROOTS AND OUR CULTURE. INSIDE HER SMALL STUDIO, YOU CAN SEE TOUCHES OF THAT CULTURE. I WANTED TO TOUCH ON, LIKE, DIFFERENT GENERATIONS OF MEXICAN PEOPLE, FROM THE IMPORTED LEATHER HANGING FROM THE CEILING TO OTHER MEXICAN TEXTILES SHE USES TO CREATE SOME OF HER MOST UNIQUE LOOKS. I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING YOU DON’T NORMALLY SEE IN A TRADITIONAL FASHION SHOW. SHE’S PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON HER NEW LINE, TITLED SANTO Y SOMBRA. YES, SANTO SANTO. SANTO Y SOMBRA. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU? WITHIN THE COLLECTION, WHEN I TALK ABOUT, LIKE, YOU KNOW, THIS FIGHT BETWEEN LIKE, GOOD AND EVIL, IT’S REALLY, LIKE, BEHIND EVERYTHING THAT’S LIKE, BEAUTIFUL. LIKE THERE’S LIKE A DARK HISTORY BEHIND IT THAT SOMETIMES PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE OR DIG THAT DEEP TO REALLY, LIKE, LOOK INTO THROUGH FAMILY STORIES AND TONS OF RESEARCH. NOEMI HAS SPENT YEARS LEARNING ABOUT HER HISTORY. THIS PIECE IS REALLY ROOTED IN REVOLUTION, AND IN THAT, LIKE SOLDIER UNIFORM AND THE IMPACT IT’S HAD ON FASHION, PARTS OF THIS ENTIRE PIECE ARE MADE FROM MERCADO BAGS, WHICH ARE LITERALLY JUST LIKE COMMON, LIKE SHOPPING BAGS THAT A LOT OF WOMEN WILL USE. NOW SHE’S ON A MISSION TO HELP EDUCATE THROUGH HER ART. THE BEST WAY TO CELEBRATE YOURSELF, OR LIKE YOU KNOW YOUR OWN CULTURE, IS FOR YOU TO SEE YOU. KNOW, RECENTLY, NOEMI WAS ONE OF A FEW SELECT DESIGNERS FEATURED AT MILWAUKEE FASHION WEEK, BRINGING MORE THAN JUST FLAIR TO THE RUNWAY. I ALWAYS FELT LIKE MEXICAN ARTISANS NEVER GOT THE CREDIT THAT THEY DESERVED, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IT DIDN’T ALWAYS LOOK LIKE WHAT WE THINK OF AS FINE ART, WHICH IS LIKE HIGHLY EUROPEAN, HIGHLY WHITE. I FELT LIKE THESE PARTS OF MY CULTURE AND THESE PARTS OF WHERE I’M FROM, LIKE THEY DESERVE TO BE SEEN AND THEY DESERVE TO BE HEARD AND LIKE, APPRECIATED AND RECKONED WITH. CELEBRATING HER HISPANIC HERITAGE. ONE STITCH AT A TIME. IN MILWAUKEE I’M GERRON JORDAN WISN 12 NEWS. CELEBRATING LOCAL TALENT AND LOCAL HISTORY AS WELL. LOVE THAT AND HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH RUNS THROUGH OCTOBER 15TH. YOU CAN WATCH OUR STORI
Milwaukee fashion designer celebrates Hispanic heritage through authentic designs
Nohemi Chavez Contreras, a Milwaukee fashion designer, uses traditional Mexican textiles to create modern pieces that honor her Hispanic heritage.
Updated: 6:31 PM CDT Oct 1, 2025
Nohemi Chavez-Contreras is a Milwaukee fashion designer who often taps into her heritage by incorporating traditional Mexican textiles into her modern designs. “I take pieces of traditional Mexican textiles or clothing and again reconstruct it in a more modern way as a way to preserve our roots and our culture,” Chavez-Contreras said.Inside her Bay View studio, touches of Mexican culture are evident, from imported leather hanging from the ceiling to various textiles used in her unique fashions. Photos of key moments and figures in Mexican history surround her as she completes her new line titled “Santos y Sombra,” which translates to “Saint and Shadow.” “If you look throughout Mexican history, there’s been so much that has happened,” she said. “There’s been this battle of, you know, light and dark… within the collection, when I talk about this fight between good and evil, it’s really like behind everything that is beautiful, there is a dark history behind it that sometimes people don’t really realize or dig that deep to look into.”Through family stories and extensive research, Chavez-Contreras has spent years learning about her history and its impact on fashion. Celebrating Hispanic heritage, she said, means “having pride in oneself and where one comes from and finding value in our traditions… and having that be enough… the best way to celebrate yourself, or like, you know, your own culture is for you to see you.”Recently, Chavez-Contreras was one of a few select designers featured at Milwaukee Fashion Week, where she brought more than just flair to the runway.”I always felt like Mexican artisans never got the credit that they deserved because it didn’t always look like what we think of as fine art, which is like highly European, highly white… these parts of my culture, these parts of where I’m from, like, they deserve to be seen and they deserve to be heard and like appreciated and reckoned with,” she said.Top HeadlinesDriver arrested after fatal moped crash, Milwaukee police investigatingAscension Wisconsin exits UnitedHealthcare network as contract expiresWoman jailed for killing dog arrested again in SussexWATCH Neighbors sue West Bend wildlife sanctuary
Nohemi Chavez-Contreras is a Milwaukee fashion designer who often taps into her heritage by incorporating traditional Mexican textiles into her modern designs.
“I take pieces of traditional Mexican textiles or clothing and again reconstruct it in a more modern way as a way to preserve our roots and our culture,” Chavez-Contreras said.
Inside her Bay View studio, touches of Mexican culture are evident, from imported leather hanging from the ceiling to various textiles used in her unique fashions.
Photos of key moments and figures in Mexican history surround her as she completes her new line titled “Santos y Sombra,” which translates to “Saint and Shadow.”
“If you look throughout Mexican history, there’s been so much that has happened,” she said. “There’s been this battle of, you know, light and dark… within the collection, when I talk about this fight between good and evil, it’s really like behind everything that is beautiful, there is a dark history behind it that sometimes people don’t really realize or dig that deep to look into.”
Through family stories and extensive research, Chavez-Contreras has spent years learning about her history and its impact on fashion.
Celebrating Hispanic heritage, she said, means “having pride in oneself and where one comes from and finding value in our traditions… and having that be enough… the best way to celebrate yourself, or like, you know, your own culture is for you to see you.”
Recently, Chavez-Contreras was one of a few select designers featured at Milwaukee Fashion Week, where she brought more than just flair to the runway.
“I always felt like Mexican artisans never got the credit that they deserved because it didn’t always look like what we think of as fine art, which is like highly European, highly white… these parts of my culture, these parts of where I’m from, like, they deserve to be seen and they deserve to be heard and like appreciated and reckoned with,” she said.
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