LEBLANCSTUDIOS on SS25 Collection ‘Salon De Belleza’
Co-founders and creative directors Yamil Arbaje and Angelo Beato tapped into their Dominican roots.
Photography by Phi Vũ
“The collection opens a space for women to embrace their natural aesthetic sensibilities. It's devoid of any judgment or prejudice, say LEBLANCSTUDIOS creative directors and co-founders Yamil Arbaje and Angelo Beato. “Every piece builds a universe where the wearer can feel free to be their most authentic selves. Instead of adhering to a certain standard of beauty, our materials, prints, and tailoring all work to elevate the concept of beauty in its truest form. It's comfortable and playful because it doesn’t focus on selling you any one idea: it focuses on making you comfortable with ideas of your own.”
Founded in 2014, LEBLANCSTUDIOS is Arbaje’s and Beato’s homage to their home, the Dominican Republic. They galvanize the country’s rich history and influence to create each piece. They aspire to redefine the idea of identity, both masculine and feminine, and culture in the Global South. They play on the conventional ideas of youth using unconventional techniques and the culture of graphical production. Beyond their heritage’s influence, Arbaje and Beato are Bode and Connor McKnight alums, consistently expanding their knowledge in fashion, leading LEBLANCSTUDIOS to become a Fashion Trust U.S. Fund 24 Graduate Award recipient.
For their latest Spring/Summer 2025 collection, Salon de Belleza, which directly translates to “beauty salon” in Spanish, Arbaje and Beato looked back on their time spent in Dominican barber shops and beauty parlors. They were loud and extravagant spaces filled with many people with different stories. The collection features relaxed-fit garments dyed in rare colors and fabrics. Embroidered insects and experimented textiles embody their culture’s vibrant and unparalleled traditions through style and personality. Unlike much denim, LEBLANCSTUDIOS creates theirs in a sustainable washhouse, making never-before-seen denim colors with yellows, oranges, and maroons.
While embracing their upbringings, Arbaje and Beato aim to create a new perspective and unaltered lens of designs through dynamic reinterpretations. Continue reading the interview below to learn more about how they achieved LEBLANCSTUDIOS’ most recent collection, Salon De Belleza, and what sustainability and culture preservation mean to them.
When did you start designing, and what inspired you to start?
We started designing for the brand when Yamil was 14 and Angelo was 19. We got our hands on pen, paper, and illustrator software after understanding that fashion did not really exist in the Dominican Republic. It was almost impossible to find designs similar to our references from abroad. We saw a need for quality and fashion-forward products, and we supplied them.
Talk about your latest collection, Salon De Belleza, what it means, and what people can expect to see.
The collection opens a space for women to embrace their natural aesthetic sensibilities. It's devoid of any judgment or prejudice. Every piece builds a universe where the wearer can feel free to be their most authentic selves; instead of adhering to a certain standard of beauty, our materials, prints, and tailoring all work to elevate the concept of beauty in its truest form. It's comfortable and playful because it doesn’t focus on selling you any one idea; it focuses on making you comfortable with ideas of your own.
Photography by Phi Vũ
How did you tap your Dominican roots in this collection and within the brand?
Our direct inspiration for this collection is Dominican beauty parlors. Loud, open, and flamboyant spaces of female aesthetic production. That can be represented through colors, shapes, graphics, and fabric treatments. Our brand is perpetually tied to the Dominican Republic and its idiosyncrasies. Fashion as a conceptual offering must be backed by extensive research and purposeful tailoring. Hence, the multicultural nature of the Dominican Republic works so well for us, as it constantly provides new material to work with. It's a mix of races, cultures, religion, and politics: a purely chameleonic society.
You incorporate dyed and embroidered fabrics. What does that creative process look like when making pieces?
We first look at our collection’s themes and references, writing a complete character and setting for any given look. After organizing all the information pertaining to the look, we print out our references, test and compare dyeing techniques, and talk to our local artisans. These conversations are crucial for the development of our craft. We average about 8-10 samples a piece before putting anything out. This long, flowing, and engaging style of collaboration is what assures an end result with global impact.
How is this collection sustainable?
Aside from our material choices, which are recycled fibers and organic cotton, this collection stands the test of time. We also work with Portuguese factories that reuse 60% of the water in their factory. I also worked with the only BSCI washhouse in the Dominican Republic that reuses the water used in their dyeing processes. Additionally, by working with small ateliers in the Dominican Republic, we can ensure a safe environment for workers and good use of textile waste.
What makes this collection different from previous ones, and how do you think you've evolved as artists since you first started?
It's a big switch from our more cerebral approach to fashion. It's still a collection that deconstructs social phenomena critically and profoundly, but it does so in a way that's less invasive. It's a collection that draws you in through shape, color, and feeling rather than through rhetoric pushed by graphics. It's about creating a space of ease and community instead of isolating ideas or opinions through clothes. Our past collections have all been about delivering specific, poignant messages. This one is about giving you a space to deliver your own. In terms of clothes, there is more color, more experimentation with dyeing processes, and more focus on womenswear.
