Armando Valdés Peza

Armando Valdés Peza (May 24, 1907 - July 1, 1970) was a fashion designer, actor and writer with a long list on IMDB of credits.  Armando was the son of Pedro Valdes Fraga, violinist, and María Peza Echegaray, daughter of the poet Juan de Dios Peza. Between 1944 and 1946 he returned from Hollywood. Before he went to Hollywood, he lived in Piedmont, California with Elsie Whitaker Martinez (ex wife of artist Xavier Martinez at 816 Scenic Ave) and her long term partner, Harriet Dean at their home at 747 Scenic Avenue.

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Micaelea Martinez Oral History Interview:

pg 325

THE EDUCATION AND DEVOTED LIFE WORK OF A CATHOLIC ARTIST

[Interview date: March 27, 1984]

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Riess:    You were saying that your mother gave so much to everyone.

DuCasse:          Oh, yes, to Marian. Marian said that she learned so much, just by listening to Pal and Pellie. Also, at that time, our household included Armando Valdes Peza, who was a talented young Mexican who came to this country after the 1927 revolution. His family were aristocrats, and they were completely put down and their money and everything was taken away from them. But the family scraped enough together to send him up here for his education. He arrived in the Bay Area and someone sent him to Piedmont High School because there was a very fine art teacher, Mrs. Sonnenschein, there at the time. She found that this poor boy, very sensitive with very little English, was so talented, and she got in touch with my father and said, "Here's somebody that you can help. He really needs your help."

He came up to the studio, and I'll never forget the day he came. He was a few years older than me, perhaps three or four, but still a youngster. And, oh, so proper. He was so thrilled when he met Marty and Marty spoke to him in Spanish, and then they just had a wonderful time. He began coming to see us, and then finally--he didn't really need the high school training, he

needed art school--Marty got him a scholarship at Arts and Crafts, and he lived with us for two years (at 747 Scenic Avenue Piedmont, California). So he was like a brother to me. It was wonderful. And he said that that experience of living in our home and being educated, mentally, by my mother and Pal, was the greatest thing that had ever happened in his life.

He was an extraordinary artist. He went back to Mexico eventually, and got lost in the world of the faded aristocrat--many of them had come from Spain, and they lived this crazy kind of life. [brief tape interruption after phone rings] He loved, of course, that world, couldn't help himself, and he loved luxury, and instead of being willing to have starved to become the great painter that he could have been, he took the easier path and he became very well known as a dress designer. He had a very up-to-date column in one of the best of the Mexican papers which kept track of all the fancy people and their activities.
 

He had a wonderful life, but there was always, I think, a dichotomy within him; he knew that he had sacrificed something, a great capacity he had which he had never fulfilled. So this was very hard for him. He came to see us several times, and there was always this tragic kind of turmoil within him. Of course, you could do nothing for him because he had chosen and there was nothing to be done.

culturasdemoda.com (Originally in Spanish):

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From Mexico to Mexico: Armando Valdés Peza
April 12, 2022

By Jaqueline Quesada Contreras

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Armando Valdés Peza, the most influential designer in Mexican cinema, worked on at least ninety-seven films, leaving a significant mark on the national and Latin American style. The 1942 film, I danced with Don Porfirio , was one of his first steps to establish himself as the most important costume designer of the decade. His participation in films such as El monje blanco , La mujer de todos and Vértigo led to his designs being nominated three times for the Ariel award, an award that the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences awards annually to professionals in the film industry. cinema in Mexico.

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Analyzing the life and work of Armando Valdés Peza we find two determining factors in his career: the first was the way of presenting clothes to the public through film illustrations and the other was his friendship with film artists such as Columba Domínguez, Gloria Marin, Maria Felix and Dolores del Rio.

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All of them are currently recognized worldwide as fashion icons, thanks to the fact that Valdés Peza was always behind them with his impeccable styling skills .

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Armando Valdés Peza was known for being a great admirer of the Greek aesthetic and the great European fashion houses. His designs quickly distinguished themselves for being elegant, fine and for constantly using different materials that added shine to the garments. One of his most well-known and emblematic designs was the wedding dress he created for María Félix at her wedding to Jorge Negrete. 

Valdés Peza was also a chronicler and had several controversies in his professional life, due to his controversial opinion of high fashion in the country. He assured that luxury brands would not be as successful in Mexico, compared to the trajectory of other European designers. His main argument was that the country did not have the capacity to create fashion, due to the industry, the manufacture of fabrics and talent.

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Armando Valdés Peza continued to show his ability to design glamorous and innovative outfits for different periods until his sudden death in 1970. His legacy left us the foundations to continue building the identity of fashion in Mexico. As we continue along this path, it is worth taking up the premises that this great designer left us: is Mexico currently prepared to create and consume high fashion? Who have the innovative minds and hands that will take Mexico to the next level?