1987 | Childhood
birth name | Christina Alexandria Najaf-Pir
short name | Alix Vasquez
Born in San Francisco, California to Iranian and Puerto Rican parents. Growing up, she wore her mother's clothes for emotional security. This later influenced her perspective on clothing having emotional significance aside from aesthetics and social communication.
2013 | Home/body
Purchases vintage Viking Husqvarna sewing machine while in her first year doctoral studies in sociology. Begins collaborating with an architect on empathic healing interior design.
prior education to date:
Oxbow School of Art
The New School | BA
Virginia Commonwealth Uni. | MS
photo | 2013-2015, Cambridge Apartment in graduate school
2015 | Kodama Light
Michigan Avenue Magazine "Let There be Lights: A Chicago architect and San Francisco sociologist illuminate the windy city with Kodama 'Lights for the Soul'
photo | Kodama Light (mini)
2016 | Research / Design
Conducts dissertation research while having her studio practice in Chicago.
Misfit: The Impact of Mismatched Jobs on Creative Workers and the Organizations that Employ Them
photo | Alix in her Edgar Miller Chicago Apartment
2016 | A World Without Mirrors
A world without mirrors was a four year experiment of how to create clothing without the visual feedback of mirrors.
How does one feel in clothing when relying on the sensual experience before the visual interpretation?
2016 | da.to.da studio
Established da.to.da studio while living in a rural cabin in The White Mountains of New Hampshire. Clothing without size limitation and sourcing organic fibers became a dual focus in line with empathic design. Plant dye was fun and experimental - especially in the snow.
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"We believe that as humans we are no different than any other species in that we evolve as a result of our environments. For us, having our atelier in the rural beauty of the White Mountains is essential for our evolution as artists." - Alix Vasquez
photo | Marta Saskinowska
2017 | Purveyours
Alix changed da.to.da to Purveyours in 2017 after relocating to the rural Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
This life shift made her more attracted to purveying a multiplicity of artisanal objects and clothing that were imbued with the harmony of nature, design and intentional craftsmanship. Purveyours dissolved in 2018 when Alix became exclusively focused on her clothing practice.
Alix in her Vermont home.
photo | Marta Saskinowska
2018 | Herderin
The name Herderin was conjured from the grief of moving back home to California, and processing the environmental damage and social inequalities of this Western region.
Herderin stands for the essence and knowledge of caring for and living off the land with respect for all the features, forces and processes that exist or happen independently of people, transmuted into a beauty-way spiritual practice in giving love to humankind through clothing. Clothing should heal, not harm.
Photo | Maria Gelsomini
2019 | Unrealistic
Herderin's designs were created from empathic design rather than traditional pattern-making. People understood how to wear our clothing, but pattern-makers and sewers believed it broke all the rules of clothing design. If everything in the stores fit well, why are so many people dissatisfied with the fit of their clothing - and especially as their bodies change over time?
Photo | Abigail Noyes (artist + talent), photographed by Jess More
2020 | Ombia Studio
Collaboration between sculptor Cristina Moreno and Herderin.
The designers wanted to communicate the harmony of hard and soft objects, and the solitude they both enjoy as artists in their studios.
Photo | Justine Vivien photographed by Alix Vasquez
2021 | Sense of Place
Collaboration between Claire Harper of Harper The Label and Herderin.
The designers sought to communicate a sense of place for where their collections are made.
Clothing with a sense of place is an essential element to Herderin's objective. We want people to feel and know where the clothing comes from. Alix's focus on bioregional health became clear when she moved back to California.
As regional as possible is the goal, like a chef highlighting the ingredients and flavors of their region.
Photo | Josh Soyombo
2022 | Dream States
Focusing on a regional sensuality, Dream States focused on the softness of the San Pablo Bay / San Francisco Bay. This recessed coastal body of water matters deeply for the relationship between land and sea, and the people who fish, admire, and float upon it. The San Pablo Bay evokes memories of childhood, a kind of somatic sensuality of being held by the ancestral love of generations of caregivers. Connecting with this body of water feels like an attunement to the dream world where clarity can be found.
Photo | Brynna Levine
2023 | Liis + Herderin
As two brands focused on sense of place and sensuality, Leslie Hendin and Alix Vasquez captured the beauty of Point Reyes with photographer, Simrah Farrukh. The natural textures of the clothing matched the landscape, and the scent of Liis brought olfactory memory of Hendin's childhood growing up in Marin.
Photo | Simrah Farrukh
2023 | Herderin Begins With the Body and Soul
"Alix’s body primacy and thoughtfulness resurrect the priorities that drove the creation of humanity’s first garments: what a particular body needed based on a person’s activities and lived experience, their local climate, land context, and available fibers. It is why we see wool caftans in North Africa, sheepskin coats in Eastern Europe, and why women in many cultures wrap their hips and abdomens tightly after giving birth."
- Stephany Wilkes for Fibershed
Photo | Paige Green
2024 | Borrowed From the Soil Exhibition
"Alexandria Vasquez is developing a socio-emotional framework for designing clothing. Her goal is to add longevity to the human wardrobe, starting with the design process, and supported by textiles that honor our bodies, planet, and labor. She earned her PhD in sociology and started her clothing research and design studio, Herderin, in 2018 after experimenting with clothing and
interiors designed for the nervous system. She is currently working on the publication, “Clothing The Self” which applies sociological theory to the design process.
photo | Paige Green (pictured with Leticia Corona of The Fibers Fund)
2024 | Intertwining: A story of the living world through material form
“I want people to feel comforted. I want you to feel like you don’t
always need to look in the mirror; I want you to feel esteemed and
dignified in a deeper way that doesn’t mean you have to jeopardize your sense of self or identity. I want you to feel dignified because you feel good in your skin and know that is what truly matters.” - Alix Vasquez
Story by Alexis Fujii
photo | Jessa Carta
2024 | Climate Beneficial Shoe Collaboration with Stella Lee Harry
A collaboration between Stella Harry Lee and Herderin.
Special thank you to Helene Jones
Sourcing of materials came from a regional tour of Climate Beneficial farms in the San Francisco Bay Area.
photo | Josh Soyombo