In 2016 Gabriel Rivera-Barraza launched El nuevo New York, a book with which he pays tribute to the trajectory of Latinos living in the United States, and who are related to the world of art, fashion and philanthropy.
The work, he says, is a reference and inspiration for all those who are coming to that country with the American dream. “Latinos are 50 or 60 million inhabitants, a new community, which has a lot to offer the world.”
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His literary project caused admiration among creators in the fashion field, such as Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera, Peter Copping, creative director of Oscar de la Renta, and Nina García, editor-in-chief of Marie Claire magazine, among others.
“The book presents very interesting stories and portraits of Latino characters who tell their story; They range from Carolina Herrera to Carlos Campos, a designer originally from Honduras who crossed the border and arrived in New York at the age of 13. They are interviews that show the meaning that New York has for them”.
The success of the play was such that The New York Times reviewed it in which it was described as “an interesting experience for the Hispanic community.”
Currently, the public relations man, philanthropist and writer originally from Durango, Mexico, is fulfilling the promise he made if The New New York was successful: to launch another book, but with a different meaning and without neglecting the subject of fashion, although still cannot reveal the title for editorial reasons.
“The first project was quite an experience with which I realized that I really liked the subject of publishing books, and what is coming is a children’s story that has to do with Spanish culture, the pre-Hispanic and the conquest of Mexico. . It will be launched on October 12, which is Hispanic Heritage Day, and the official presentation will be on November 28 at Casa de México, in Madrid,” said Gabriel in an exclusive interview from New York, the city where he has lived for 23 years.
On this occasion, it is the story of a child, in which its author sees himself reflected in that stage of his beginnings in New York.
“Living in the United States since I was very young, I realized that there was no reference or element that would remind me of where I come from. I did not want to lose my essence, my life in Durango. This book is inspired by the new generations that live and settle here, so that they do not forget where they come from, and it carries with it the theme of fashion in history”.
He says that his protagonist “is a heterosexual child, who knows malice, knows someone who hurts him a lot… but there comes a time when he becomes his own hero because he can’t stand the abuse anymore. It can be read by any child who is going through a terrible situation, such as racism, discrimination, sexual or mental abuse. Through this story, the little ones can arm themselves with courage to communicate with their parents and tell them what they are going through, ”he says.
The renowned designer Carolina Herrera wrote the prologue and the journalist María Elena Salinas also had an important part in the development of the content.
“I wanted two empowered women from different fields to participate, in this case, one from fashion and the other from international journalism,” she says.
Gabriel confesses that one of his biggest challenges in this new adventure was finding someone who believed in his project, from the publisher to the designer and others with whom he could work together.
“Finding someone who believed in me was quite a challenge. I wanted to find a different publisher than El Nuevo New York, which was the entrance to this world. But telling someone that you are going to do something new was quite a challenge; Above all, to know who could believe in this project, which was a dream that I wanted to make come true since I was a child… When I wrote it, I remembered the stories my grandmother used to write, they were wonderful”.
That is how he decided to share his idea with one of the great figures of international design, who has lived in New York for years and who has imposed a whole lifestyle on contemporary women, Carolina Herrera.
“One day I told Carolina Herrera the story and she told me, “why don’t you send me the whole thing so I can read it and give you the data?” She was the first person who met her, she studied her, analyzed her and sent me a note from her fist and her handwriting saying “she fascinates me” and she ended up writing the prologue”.
After a long search during a trip to Madrid, Spain, he met John Conner, the owner of Breaking the Barrier publishing house.
“He has a publishing company in Boston, they introduced him to me in Madrid, on the Gran Vía, I told him the story and it caught his attention, he told me that it was perfect, but that he needed someone very strong editorially behind it. Then I looked for high-end intellectuals, then all the publishers turned to me, but in the end I stayed with John Conner, who has invested a lot of energy in this project and I went with him because he was the one who was most involved and the other publishers they offered less in terms of creativity.”
In this topic, Gabriel had the opportunity to meet the renowned Mexican illustrator Héctor Valdivia, creator of books such as the adaptations to graphic novels of Dracula, by Bram Stoker and The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupery.
“It was wonderful that Héctor Valdivia agreed to create the illustrations for the book, and he did a spectacular job, especially on the theme of the history of fashion that is reflected in the pages of the story; I think that in many book stories they forget about glamour, the importance of clothing, which is why I spoke with Tanya Meléndez, current curator in chief of Education and Public Programs at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York.
“I told him that there are moments in the book where the character moves to a gala and falls in love with a girl from an aristocratic family, that is how we picked up the period of the 19th century, we passed it on to Héctor Valdivia and he did a wonder. Tanya knows all about fashion eras and when people get their hands on the book she will learn how important clothing is in a story. And this is that of a humble child who suddenly becomes glamorous, a fashion designer of the time also appears, counts appear… And suddenly, the child, through a dream, discovers his true origin, which is the world pre-Hispanic”, says the author.
Gabriel confesses that the final objective is to take this work to the cinema, “we have permission to take it to Salma Hayek and Guillermo del Toro, in fact we have spoken with the director’s people so that it arrives signed just like Salma. In addition, the actor Mario Hernández will turn it into an audiobook as he did with the work of The Lion King in Spain ”.
On the subject of Latino participation in the cultural sphere of New York, and the cases of discrimination that in some cases Mexican creatives have suffered, the public relations specialist expresses: “Racism will always exist, and the only way to defend ourselves as Latinos or Hispanics is through education, like this book, which will help to understand and respect our culture more.
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If you present something to the community or give something nice to this country, to which I personally owe a lot, things will be very different, they will respect our culture more because they will discover it”.
2023-09-07 08:03:27
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