Carla Fernández Bio: Height, Ethnicity, Age, Net Worth, Siblings, Parents, Awards, Books, Email Address, Designs

Carla Fernández is a renowned Mexican fashion designer and social entrepreneur celebrated for her innovative approach to preserving and revitalizing Indigenous and mestizo textile traditions.  

Born on January 29, 1973, in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, she founded her eponymous fashion label in Mexico City in 2000, blending ancient artisanal techniques with contemporary design.

Profile

• Full Name: Carla Fernández Tena
• Date of Birth: January 29, 1973
• Age: 52 years old
• Gender: Female
• Place of Birth: Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
• Nationality: Mexican
• Profession: Fashion designer, entrepreneur, social activist
• Height: 1.62 meters (5 feet 4 inches)
• Parents: Miguel Ángel Fernández (father), Olga Tena Flores (mother)
• Siblings: One sister, Isabella Fernández
• Spouse: Pedro Reyes
• Children: Two children, Laima Fernández and Cristóbal Reyes Fernández
• Relationship status: Married
• Weight: 54 kg (119 lbs)
• Ethnicity: Mexican
• Net Worth: Estimated between $1 million and $6 million

Early Life and Education

Now at the age of 52, Carla Fernández Tena was born on January 29, 1973. Raised in a culturally rich environment, Carla Fernández was influenced by her father, Miguel Ángel Fernández, a Cuban historian who later served as director of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico, and her mother, Olga Tena Flores, a Mexican historian educated at the Catholic University of Louvain.

This exposure sparked her interest in Mexican textile traditions. She is one of two daughters, her younger sister being Isabella Fernández. She pursued studies in art history and fashion design at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, combining academic learning with field research to document traditional garments from a design perspective.

Personal Life

Carla Fernández is married to renowned Mexican artist Pedro Reyes, whom she met while both were students at Universidad Iberoamericana in the 1990s.

Together, they have two children, Laima and Cristóbal, and reside in Mexico City, where she oversees her design studio and Taller Flora, her travelling workshop laboratory.

Career

In 2000, Carla Fernández launched her fashion label, emphasizing the geometric systems inherent in indigenous Mexican dress. She founded Taller Flora A.C., a mobile workshop laboratory that collaborates with artisan communities, especially women-run cooperatives specializing in weaving, embroidery, and dyeing.

  Through partnerships with over 180 artisans across 16 Mexican states, Fernández integrates traditional techniques into contemporary collections, benefiting up to 1,000 artisans per cycle.

Her design philosophy, “tradition is not static fashion,” has been showcased in solo exhibitions at institutions like the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Museo Jumex in Mexico City, and Heath Ceramics in San Francisco. She has also participated in group exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Denver Art Museum.  

In 2020, she collaborated with artisans to produce ecological face masks incorporating traditional motifs. Beyond her brand, she has lectured at institutions such as Harvard, MIT, and FIT, advocating for decolonized, intersectional fashion practices.

Awards

• Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year – British Fashion Council (2008)
• ID’s “40 Best Designers of the Moment” – 2009
• Prince Claus Fund Award – 2013
• Design Visionary Award – Design Miami (2018)
• Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year – British Council (year unspecified)
• Beazley Designs of the Year nomination – 2019

Social Media

• Instagram: @carlafernandezmx
• Facebook: @carlafernandezMX

Books

• Taller Flora
• The Barefoot Designer: A Passion for Radical Design and Community
• Manifesto of Fashion as Resistance