Maria Cornejo Talks About How Her Hispanic Heritage and Identity Have Shaped Her Work

From a very early age, Maria Cornejo started to develop the independent point of view that’s been a hallmark of her brand Zero + Maria Cornejo. Leaving Chile for the U.K. at age 11 with her family as political refugees and then living in Japan, France and England as a young adult would ultimately shape her eponymous brand’s aesthetic.

“I’m a little bit of a mutt of a New York designer, because I’ve had influences from everywhere,” said the 61-year-old designer. “It’s all in the hard drive somewhere — a sponge taking things in. Whether it’s Chile or Japan or France or England. It’s all in there somehow.”

While her Chilean heritage has influenced her creative work to some degree — geometric shapes, ponchos and colors inspired by the Mapuche tribe of South America — she said she doesn’t really look at references. “When you are an immigrant, when you have no real country, then you are not tied to the rules of behavior or expectations,” she said.

And like many immigrants, she’s often felt caught between worlds. “I sort of have this conversation all the time with my sister. When you’re with the Latins, you’re too English. When you’re with the English, you feel too Latin. You’re sort of never quite in the right spot, because you’re always feeling like you’re a little bit of everything.”

And that’s why, she said, New York, where she’s lived since 1996, feels like home. “One of the things that I love about New York is because it’s the only place I can speak Spanish, hear Latin music and feel a little bit connected to it without actually being there,” she said. “I love that.”

After finding success in London in the 1980s working with John Richmond to create the collection Richmond Cornejo and serving as a consultant for major retailers including Joseph, Tehen and Jigsaw, she moved to New York and founded her label Zero + Maria Cornejo in 1998, creating garments from upcycled materials. Sustainability has been a key tenet since then, as she quickly became known for designing timeless, wearable luxury for women.

The simplicity and ease of her looks have earned her major celebrity fans, including former First Lady Michelle Obama, Tilda Swinton, Christy Turlington Burns and more. “I never wanted to be ‘in,’ because I never want to be ‘out.’ I just want to be constantly there,” she said.

In fact, it’s being a female designer that has informed her designs the most. “We don’t design for a muse. We design for real women, so we’re less about the fantasy,” she said. “I would never put anything on the runway that I wouldn’t wear myself.”

After nearly four decades in the fashion industry, Cornejo, a Council of Fashion Designers of America Board member and founder of its sustainability committee, is just still enjoying it all. She also sits on the board of Women.nyc, a program by the NYC Economic Development Corporation that supports, empowers and connects women in the city with career opportunities and business development resources.

And as for being part of this campaign by WWD and Outfront to celebrate Hispanic pioneers in fashion, she said, “For me to see Hispanics doing well in any field is amazing.…It is like an interesting time because there are a lot of young designers, New York designers who are Latin. And that is great,” she said, citing Willy Chavarria, Raul Lopez of Luar, Gabriela Hearst and more. “I hope that it’s not a moment. I hope that it’s longer lasting. I hope that it’s something that is building up on something solid.”

On this particular day in early September, she woke up to being featured in Vogue México, next to a story about filmmaker Alfonso Cuáron, and to do this interview for WWD’s Hispanic Heritage Month series. “For me, when it’s validated is when it’s outside of fashion,” she said, adding that she spends most of her time with creatives outside the industry.

Over the years, Cornejo has won the fashion prize of the Cooper Hewitt Design Awards, the CFDA Lexus Eco Fashion Challenge, the CFDA’s Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Honor and the Fashion Group International’s sustainability award.

Transcending fields is what she values most. “I remember winning the Cooper Hewitt, and I just felt really embarrassed that I was a fashion designer for winning it,” she says of winning a National Design Award in 2006 for making a garment out of a single piece of cloth with no seams. “I always feel quite humble in fashion, because it’s a big world out there.”

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, WWD chose 10 Latino designers who are shaping the world of fashion today to photograph and profile. The images from this series will be featured in a national billboard campaign run by Outfront.