Claudia Rivera, a Peruvian-Parisian creative director and photographer, is known for creating colorful, communal worlds in Paris, events that feel like a home away from home for the Latin community there. Rivera stops by Holy Grounds Coffee & Tea in El Sereno for our interview between meetings in Los Angeles. She's wearing shorts, a subversive basic tee, and freshly done nails encrusted with jewels made by @leslyloshizo With rings on every finger. Her thick, waist-length hair, an emblematic feature of her Peruvian identity, flows freely. Rivera’s projects and photographs are also an intersection of her cultures, with details inspired by her family or community, who are often her main subjects and audience, infused with the energy and street style of her hometown, Paris.
Rivera organized the first month-long Latin festival in Paris, Sabor Latino Month, raising thousands of euros through other young Latin people in the city who were craving something like that, and eventually securing sponsorship from Adidas Paris. Her annual event, Ñañaykuna, which began in 2021, celebrates the community of Latin women in Paris by highlighting their work with music, dance, and food. One year, Rivera took portraits of all the participants in her signature warm style. Now, Rivera, who just launched her new creative agency Amaru, is working on a pop-up event inspired by a market you’d find in a Latin American country, and will bring a collection of Latin brands from around the world, including Los Angeles-based Amor Prohibido, Kids of Immigrants, and Equihua, to Paris on September 14 and 15, just before Fashion Week. “As a Franco-Peruvian girl, I grew up without clothes that represented me,” Rivera says. “Clothes are something that can help you represent yourself.” “It’s part of your personality.” The idea behind the event, called Lo Nuestro, is to showcase the diversity among Latino-owned fashion brands.
Claudia wears an animal print suit by Roberto Sanchez, Tabi shoes by Maison Margiela and jewelry by Shilita Créations.
“I was always following the events in Los Angeles and my dream was to be there and see [that]“I think that being Latino here is very complicated because of everything. But there is also the privilege of being able to live in a country where you exist, where your community is present. That is what I want to do in my life: I want to create the space that I dreamed of when I was a child. And I want this for the next generation. I want to show that we exist in Paris. To share our culture with other communities.”
This is what creating images means to me: Since I was little, I have understood the power and importance of images. My parents were among the first Peruvians to have papers in France. They came to France in the 1990s. In 2003, my father returned to Peru for the first time in 10 years after leaving for France. My father went to visit the families of all our Peruvian friends in France to film their homes, their families' greetings. When he returned, my mother prepared a big meal and everyone came to our house. In 2005, I went to Peru for the first time, I was 5 years old. I started carrying the camera as a child. and I was also starting to want to filmIt's not just the images, it's the process. To make the images, you also need to connect, to take the time. It is a memory of careful Also. Images help you connect the world, connect your community, your familyI know that my family, seeing me always taking pictures of our culture, started to say, “Well, maybe this is something beautiful.” By taking the photos, I helped them appreciate their everyday life. I feel that Files are very important.
Claudia is wearing her own Adidas jacket.
What is the common denominator or feeling that all my works share? The common point is to show Latin America and Highlighting Latin American cultures. Telling our stories from our point of view.
My approach to personal style looks and feels like this: I am very inspired by my family's culture, but in the details. I started with photography by taking very colorful photos, with a lot of pink, a lot of orange, yellow, because these are the colors that are very present in traditional skirts in Peru. I include flowers in my work because flowers are present in my family's culture. Hair is also very important to us.
What is my Paris like? I love Paris because it is a city where there is so much diversity. It invites us to mix with people from all cultures. I feel very rich to have friends from all over the world. Growing up in Paris helped me understand Islam, other religions, other cultures from North Africa, South Africa, Bangladesh. I have friends who come from all over the world. We share a lot.
My work reveals about the city: Reveals that the Latin community exists [in Paris]My projects are not only of interest to people in the community, although of course they like them too. Why is it an expression that? We've always wanted to have it, but there are also people from other communities who want to understand it. And I think that's a beautiful part of it: We all want to open up and understand other cultures.
Make up Jade Benaim
Hair Saint Mary Joanna
Nails Alicia Faucher
Special thanks Cecile Armand, Hélène Tchen, Manon Guerby, Laboratorio Santa Mari Juanna
Claudia wears a crochet dress by Gypsy Sport, Tabi shoes by Maison Margiela and jewelry by Shilita Créations.
