BALTIMORE — One clothing boutique in Fells Point is offering its finest designs but with some Peruvian touches.
Every morning, Luis Medina starts the day with some Latin rhythms as he opens the doors of his clothing boutique LA MESA at 813 South Baltimore St in Fells Point.
Inside the boutique are quality garments made out of natural cotton and alpaca fur. It’s a way for Luis to bring his Peruvian roots to American fashion.
“We want to take those colors and those designs and not put it everywhere but just in a few pieces,” Luis said. “So, it will tell you I’m Peruvian. I’m from the Incas. I’m from the Andes.”
His love for fashion started when he was 10 years old.
“My cousins had better clothes than me and I used to get those pants and make it for myself,” Luis said. In my mother’s [sewing] machine.”
But it wasn’t until 1987 that he opened up his boutique in Philadelphia—just three years after he arrived in the United States.
A few years later, he took a trip to Inner Harbor and fell in love with Baltimore.
Although Luis runs the shop, his family helps design and make the clothes at their small manufacturing plant in Peru.
His sister-in-law, Olga Medina, went to design school to help bring more visions to life to satisfy stylish customers.
“When I went to study, I felt really happy to learn and to do something for us,” Olga said in Spanish. “The clothing, the final walk, and the end results, too.”
Though the creative process may require a bit of fun bickering, Luis said it’s just a sign of the passion they have to make their looks stand out.
“We fight when we are making the clothes,” Luis said. “We fight right and left because she have one idea and I have one idea.”
Luis’s brother, Elber Medina, runs the plant in Peru and envies the moment when the clothing comes off the mannequin and onto a customer.
“I would like to be there too,” Elber said in Spanish. “Luis gets to be present when people buy clothes and sees them leave the store happily.”
It’s the customer’s confident strut and the admiration in the mirror that makes Luis and his family proud.
“On the lady’s body, it’s a different story,” Luis said. “The smile comes up, and when they start touching themselves, it’s just, just amazing.”
