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TURTLEHORN BY MARIA VOTH VELASCO

María Voth Velasco is the designer behind streetwear brand Turtlehorn.
Sustainably minded, she integrates and supports social projects within her work. In addition to designing annual collections, she offers integrative and culture-promoting workshops to improve social and environmentally conscious behavior.
She was born and raised in Spain, spent part of her youth in Germany, and completed her studies in fashion design at the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and Design in the Netherlands in January 2020. Through internships in graphics, fashion, and textile crafts, she combines these experiences with an artistic gesture in her work. For her, fashion and art have many overlapping and symbiotic threads. Her concepts are often implemented via performances, illustrated, or represented in form, color, and pattern in clothing. In her work she emphasizes research and experimentation, examining materials in particular. She often collaborates with craftsmen, technicians, or material researchers for specific projects.

"You can be both, artistic and working sustainable, if the research in the right materials and the implementation is well thought through. "

Maria Voth Velasco, TURTLEHORN

Mini Interview with Maria Voth Velasco

What inspired you to create fashion brand that is following a Circular Business Model?
First of all, I wanted to become a fashion designer with the purpose of making the world a bit better, integrating social projects inside my work and working towards sustainability in the fashion branch. I have an artsy relationship with fashion; it inspires me, I’m inspired by the style of others or diverse cultures (mostly from my own cultural background), - fashion is a tool of expression and making visual statements.
And making sustainable fashion also means making integrative fashion, that is wearable for all bodies in every season. It also means for me to follow my own circular business model, to complete the whole story. Every piece of the collection contains some recycled materials, either from the textile industry, rests from the past production, from prototypes or old stock, or from restore, textile recycling centers, etc. Concluding, if I make fashion it has to be useful.

How do you integrate social processes in your work?
Sometimes, I integrate social projects inside my work, for example in the making process of the Turtlehorn collections or by giving workshops as a docent, that have a social –integrative and sometimes educational background. For some collections or the reproduction of some items, I collaborate with local artisans supporting their small businesses, or I work with sewers from the big slum (3mil viviendas) from my home-city Seville in Spain. They learn to sew and work out their abilities for a good purpose.

How do you find balance between artistic and sustainable? 
You can be both, artistic and working sustainable, if the research in the right materials and the implementation is well thought through. 

What cause is particularly important for you?
To reduce our consumption and make better choices in buying and making it last. 

Describe yourself in a hashtag 
#artivism

What is your spirit animal?
A turtle. You’re clever, everyone expects you to be slow, but you aren’t, you can hide and feel safe, hard and strong. 

What is the biggest learning experience you have had?
Learning by doing and commitment, because ‘everything you want, is on the other side of fear.

When are you the most inspired? 
When I’m drawing or writing texts after intense days of work or in between, mostly at night. Sometimes when I’m on trips visiting diverse places and interesting people.

 How would you describe your artistic style?
Some people say that it is like a skating Vivienne Westwood. It is somehow punky and edgy, with graphical statements in wearable clothes for the street and special occasions.