With DEIV/BASSEN, Paraguayan designer Sandra González presents a proposal that dismantles traditional clothing conventions through a profound reflection on gender, history, identity, and production. With a critical eye and a firm stance, her brand operates at the intersection of the personal and the political, the local and the global.
Paraguay is a country marked by deeply conservative social structures, where non-normative expressions of identity are often met with repression or symbolic violence. In this context, González positions her design practice as a form of resistance. “In Paraguay, gender stereotypes are deeply ingrained,” she explains. “Clothing, as a form of non-verbal expression, is heavily criticized when presented ambiguously or taken out of its traditional context.” Her brand was born from the desire to create a space where the nonconforming and the marginalized could find representation and belonging under her gaze.
DEIV/BASSEN defines itself as HUMANSWEAR: a type of clothing that resists classification under traditional gender categories.
This label is not just conceptual—it informs every design decision: relaxed silhouettes, layered materials, a neutral color palette, and tailoring choices that defy binary codes. Yet González is clear: neutrality does not mean austerity or the erasure of the body. “I don’t want to fall into the idea that neutrality should erase the silhouette or the body’s curves. Often, genderless garments are imagined as plain or detail-free, without lace or ornamentation. I want to break that idea.”
For DEIV/BASSEN, fashion design is a language that communicates political, identity-based, and emotional messages: “It’s restrictive to label garments with simplistic concepts,” she says. “The act of dressing is itself a form of expression.”
This notion is powerfully embodied in the collection Human X Vol. 2, inspired by Lois Gould’s X: A Fabulous Child’s Story. From the tale of a child raised without an assigned gender, González imagines that character as an adult living in 19th-century Paraguay. From this perspective, Human X observes, analyzes, and reinterprets Paraguayan dress codes—particularly the textile practices and neutral palettes of that era.
The designer draws on historical sources, archival images, and foreign travelers’ accounts of 19th-century Paraguay to construct a visual and symbolic map of the past.
“I recovered details like the way handmade textiles were tied to the body, or the use of neutral colors, which I translated into formal choices for the garments,” she explains. “This gesture is not about replicating or romanticizing tradition but rather deconstructing the idealized narratives we’re taught from an early age.”
This critical approach also extends to her work with traditional techniques, particularly through collaborations with Paraguayan weavers. Through the CO/LAB line, DEIV/BASSEN works closely with craftswomen, respecting their timelines and relationship with the materials.
“They are heavily dependent on the weather,” González explains. “On wet or rainy days, they can’t weave because cotton threads behave differently.” Beyond the technical dimension, she also critiques dominant narratives that link craft with nationalism: “There are very few real records of the origins of these techniques. Romanticized narratives are often used to construct a false discourse of national identity.”
From a conscious and deliberate stance, DEIV/BASSEN distances itself from both local fashion codes and global expectations of Latin America. “It doesn’t fit into the imaginary of the Latin brand, neither regionally nor internationally,” González states. “And I know the use of neutral colors plays a role in that.” Instead of embracing folkloric or vibrant aesthetics—often expected of the Global South—the brand opts for a sober visual language where sci-fi, urban, and tailoring references coexist. In doing so, it challenges the notion that there’s only one valid way to represent the Latinidad.
From a production standpoint, DEIV/BASSEN also critiques the fashion industry’s fast pace. González releases one collection per year, developed with time, reflection, and coherence.
“Today we’re saturated with information, and making more doesn’t always mean making better,” she says. Everything is made to order, across four lines ranging from upcycled pieces to custom designs. This model not only reduces waste—it also reflects an ethos in which time, context, and people matter.
In this sense, the brand embraces its role as a political agent: “The simple act of continuing to exist as a small-scale brand is already a political stance within the fashion industry,” González affirms. “It’s about asking the hard questions and taking responsibility for the choices you make as a designer.”
For González, talking about fashion also means talking about rights, access, and visibility. “Clothes don’t have a fixed or immutable gender. Many of the definitions we carry were taught to us as children—they’re learned, inherited. But not all of us feel comfortable within those categories.” From this position, each garment becomes a tool for expression and identity.
As the designer concludes: “Fashion can be a prison, but it can also be a space for creative freedom. I choose to make it my space of expression.”
Written by Matias Irala