The Low Down № 80 – Celebratin’ Old-School Magic in Chile
Traveling to Santiago to work on the RAD AND HUNGRY x La Mano Ediciones notebooks pre-Covid-19 seems like a lifetime ago. Back then it never crossed my mind that booking an international flight would no longer be a few clicks away. Or that I could be denied entry into many countries because of a US passport! WHAT THE WAT?
The STMT Kit x Chile, Issue 80, kicks off our 10th RAH World Tour (10 years? Holy cow, how?!). I’ve got mad love for each release, but this Chile Kit is super duper special because it features our 2nd collab with Dani of La Mano Ediciones, a small design studio based in Santiago.
Santiago feels like home. Not like Rome where the corner coffee bar staff greet me with big grins when I return, or NYC where the corner bodega staff yell out when I pop through their door. I navigate my hood like an OG Chilena, but I’m an outsider-turned-insider thanks to locals who’ve invited me into their world.
Drinking the moment in at a cafe, in awe of Santiago and all its rad – amazing galleries and independent shops, tasty food and drinks, and OMG the friendliest and most gracious people – I was present. I thought of the 100+-year-old talabartería that I discovered during my last trip. The saddlery shop is weathered by time yet still turning out the best Huaso gear from saddles and spurs to ponchos and sashes. It reminded me to create magic instead of frantically trying for the impossible, to beat time. The pressure to gallop through life is real, but in Chile I chose to go slow, allowing us to not cut corners while literally cutting corners!
I found an old notebook with “Fab Chilena” printed on its cover. It’s the Chilean Spanish abbreviation for fabricated in Chile. Suddenly, I noticed it everywhere – from notebooks stacked on papelería shelves to cardboard boxes lining streets. Every time I spied it on something new it reinforced that I was surrounded by FABULOUS CHILEANS!
Dani and I share a love of vintage office supplies and our similar design aesthetic – clean and bold graphics featuring simple typography – inspired our collab. I explained the Chile concept being born out of my fascination with spying Fab Chilena EVERYWHERE, and how I love the play on words depending on the English or Spanish translation. Dani loved it. She shared her latest work and I was instantly drawn to notebooks rockin’ faux-leather covers. Copper remains Chile’s biggest export so we again chose copper-colored staples. And once I saw the faux-leather paper in emerald green… I knew it would look dope as hell with Fab Chilena stamped in copper foil on the cover! YESSSSS.
Ten years later and we’re still doing what we love – supporting small businesses that turn out lo-fi goods, the old school way. Collabin’ with a local designer busting out dope-ass shit with our hands?! Yes, we be makin’ magic. My fab Chilenas.
oxxo, Hen
