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At 35, the Mexican fashion house is entering a new chapter. Quintaesencia will mark Cuadra’s first fully developed runway show and its first total look for women and men, with a collection built around leather, time, fire, memory, and the hands that shape each piece.
Some brands become recognizable through a single piece. For Cuadra, boots, footwear, and leather craftsmanship have shaped much of that identity for decades. Now, the Mexican house is taking that language further.
On October 5, Cuadra will present Quintaesencia in Paris, marking two firsts for the brand: its first fully independent runway show and its first total look, introducing womenswear and menswear into a universe primarily known for footwear and accessories.
The show will take place at La Maison des Métallos during Paris Fashion Week and will mark Cuadra’s sixth international Fashion Week appearance, following presentations in New York, Milan, Paris, and London.
This time, there is a difference: Cuadra is no longer arriving simply to complete a look. It wants to build it from beginning to end.
From accessories to total look
In its previous international appearances, Cuadra primarily contributed footwear and accessories in collaboration with other designers. Quintaesencia changes that dynamic: for the first time, the runway belongs entirely to the brand’s own creative universe.
“We are presenting our total look for the first time. We’re very excited, and being able to introduce womenswear is what makes us most proud,” Daniela Arrieta Cuadra, Cuadra’s Director of Image and Advertising, told us when we asked what the statement behind this moment was for her.
The move coincides with the brand’s 35th anniversary and raises a simple question: can the codes that made Cuadra recognizable now sustain a complete silhouette?
Leather, time, fire, memory, and hands
The answer begins with five elements: leather, time, fire, memory, and hands.
Emma Castañeda, a Cuadra designer and part of the creative team behind Quintaesencia, describes them as a sequence that begins with the material and ends with those who transform it.
Leather represents the origin; time gives it character; fire transforms it; memory preserves it and allows it to transcend. Finally, there are the hands: those of the artisans who work on each piece.
“Behind an idea there may be a product, but behind a product there are hundreds of Mexican hands working every day to leave their own essence on the pieces that ultimately reach our clients,” Castañeda explained.
For Edgar Carrillo, director of Cuadra, the idea can be distilled even further. When we asked him for the statement behind the new collection, his answer was concise:
“Luxury in leather and luxury in craftsmanship.”
Mexico without resorting to the obvious
Quintaesencia looks to Mexican architecture, the depth of Oaxaca’s black clay, and the artisanal processes associated with leather, translating those references rather than reproducing them literally.
“We don’t want to be so literal,” Castañeda explained. “We want to give it its own language and identity, so we don’t have to follow anyone else, but instead truly show who we are.”
That is where one of the collection’s most interesting ideas emerges: bringing a Mexican identity to Paris without having to explain it through immediately recognizable symbols.
The palette retains black, brown, and honey tones while introducing accents of blue, green, ochre, and camel. Leather remains the fundamental material, but it will now coexist with garments, footwear, and accessories within a single proposition.
A first in a journey that already knows Paris
Quintaesencia will mark Cuadra’s sixth international appearance on the Fashion Week circuit, but its first with a runway show entirely of its own.
For Emma Castañeda, that step also carries an international dimension.
“For me, the statement behind what we are presenting is being able to position a company like Cuadra abroad, alongside other international brands on a platform as important as Fashion Week. For me, that is already a major achievement, and the goal has been completely fulfilled.”
The difference this time will be on the runway. It is no longer simply about integrating Cuadra accessories into a shared proposal, but about making garments, footwear, and accessories speak the same language.
And perhaps that is why hands are the last of Quintaesencia’s five elements.
Leather may be the origin and fire may transform it. Time may leave its mark and memory preserve it. But it is the hands that turn all of them into a piece.
On October 5, Cuadra will take that idea to Paris.
For the first time, the complete look will be Cuadra.
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