Living Heritage at Panama Fashion Week 2026
- September 29, 2026
By Esther Pang Velasco
Photos: Yassell Chapman
Make up & hair: Fuzion
Styling: Carolina Tarté
Production: Physical Modelos
Living Heritage is an initiative that celebrates the craftsmanship of Panama’s Indigenous communities and the country’s artisanal traditions. This collective of Panamanian designers gives fashion with identity a new dimension by showcasing Latin American designer fashion while highlighting the human stories behind each creation.
Panama Fashion Week: Roots Transformed into Design
How do traditions transcend time? They flourish when new generations recognize the value of their ancestors, honor their stories, and transform their legacies into a living part of the present.
As part of the upcoming Panama Fashion Week (PFW 2026), Living Heritage emerges as a showcase that, with the support of Panorama of the Americas and Panama’s Ministry of Culture, celebrates the meeting of artisanal heritage and contemporary identity. Tradition and design converge in the collections of CHIHÖO Panamá, Ángel González, Originaria, and VLCK.
Together, they embody a new generation of Panamanian designers who place traditions and artisanal techniques at the heart of their inspiration, making pride in their roots the centerpiece of every creation.
CHIHÖO Panamá
The Runway as New Wounaan Territory
CHIHÖO was founded in 2022 with the purpose of preserving and reinterpreting the ancestral art of the Wounaan people and bringing it into the world of contemporary fashion. In the Woun Meu language, CHIHÖO refers to the union of accessories and clothing as a single creative language. Linen, cotton, natural fibers, beads, and seeds bring to life pieces bearing the distinctive imprint of its designer, Eliciano Membache. “My greatest inspiration has been my Wounaan people. I grew up surrounded by artisans who transform natural materials into true works of art, and I came to understand that every weave, every symbol, and every color conveyed a story.” For its first time officially participating in PFW, CHIHÖO will present Herencia Trazada (Traced Heritage), a collection inspired by traditional Wounaan body painting and the symbolism of the X serpent, an ancestral figure associated with protection, transformation, and connection with nature.
Ángel González
A Love Story Told in Thread
A finalist in Panama Fashion Week 2025’s Punto Crea competition, Ángel González—originally from Perales, Guararé—will make his PFW debut this year with Cartas de Hilo (Letters in Thread). The collection was born from nostalgia, family memories, and most especially, from a traditional wedding his grandparents were never able to celebrate. “It was a dream wedding in which the bride would have worn the traditional Panamanian pollera in shades of white, a symbol of purity and tradition. Inspired by that wedding that never took place, I decided to create an offering that reinterprets that dream through bridal attire and celebratory pieces.” Thread, ruffles, cotton, and organza dominate his creations. He uses these materials to build clean yet dramatic and voluminous pieces that also serve as a canvas capable of carrying the weight and delicacy of his handcrafted details. In Ángel’s words, “At its heart, this is a hand-stitched love letter intended to settle an emotional debt with my own history.”
Originaria
Women’s Empowerment
Established in 2020, Originaria was created to renew appreciation for Panama’s cultural heritage and the artisanal knowledge of the country’s interior. Its mission also translates into opportunities: through training programs in Santiago de Veraguas, the central provinces, and Chiriquí, it promotes employment while strengthening the craft and sewing techniques of its artisans. In 2026, the brand returns to the PFW runway for the third time and, for the first time, does so as part of a designers’ collective. “I admire each designer’s ability to interpret our culture, observing and expressing it from different perspectives. By coming together as a collective, we can appreciate and understand Panamanian heritage,” says Darlenys del Río, the brand’s director. Its collection, Fragmentos (Fragments), draws inspiration from natural materials such as linen, cotton, and fibers found in textiles inspired by the chácara. The collection is born from the memory of those small details that reconnect us with our origins and evoke ancestral wisdom and creativity.
VLCK
The Mola as a Global Vision
The heritage of her mother—who is originally from Corazón de Jesús, Guna Yala—together with deep personal discipline led Velkys Montenegro Soo, the designer behind VLCK, to teach herself the ancestral technique of mola-making.
The brand’s design language combines linen, cotton denim, and selected cotton-polyester blends, with a clear preference for natural or lightweight materials suited to Panama’s climate and everyday life.
In her fifth appearance at Fashion Week, VLCK will present Enigma, a collection born from confusion, uncertainty, and the inner dialogue that arises when we ask ourselves if everything is all right or if we are doing things the right way.
These questions take shape through a Japandi aesthetic: an eclectic combination of Japanese and Scandinavian silhouettes interwoven with distinctly Panamanian elements.
The diverse influences and journeys of the designers who make up Living Heritage come together to shape a promising future for Panamanian fashion, both within and beyond our borders. The collective demonstrates that collaboration, creativity, and talent—combined with a renewed perspective on our native heritage and traditions—can transform Panamanian design into an expression of cultural values, timeless appeal, and export-quality craftsmanship.
Pioneers like Hélène Breebaart and Melina Typaldos, inspired by panamanian artisanal techniques and identity, paved the way for this new generation of designers.
Panamá Fashion Week 2026 will take place at Ciudad de las Artes. Its schedule will include charity fashion shows, talks, and contests.
For more information, visit: @fashionweekpty
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