At 15, Angela Mercado already knows what she wants her clothes to do. She doesn't just want people to wear them. She wants them to experience them.
Angela recently hosted her first fashion show at the Texas Theatre in Dallas, presenting a collection inspired by circus imagery, surrealism and the feeling of entering a hallucination. Angela’s designs consist of oversized jackets, fringes and multicolored polkadots all portrayed by models acting as characters like ballerina fairies and a medicated clown. For the young designer, the show offered more than a runway. It gave her a chance to test her creative vision and learn what it takes to produce a fashion show.
“I would label it like wearable art,” Angela said. “Just kind of like a painting you can wear almost.”
Angela discovered fashion when she was about seven years old. She already loved painting and sculpting, and sewing gave her a way to combine those interests.
“It was like ... bringing a story to life,” she said.
Her grandmother taught her how to use a sewing machine. From there, Angela taught herself how to create patterns, construct garments and work with different fabrics. She would sew one piece the way she thought it should go, then Google the correct way and play with different techniques and ideas.
Experimenting with a sewing machine was just fun and games, but organizing a fashion show presented a different challenge. Angela designed 15 looks and shaped the show's creative direction. She had never produced a fashion show before, so her next challenge was to learn how to conduct a casting call, schedule fittings and organize rehearsals.
Her older sister, Caroline “Carrie” Mercado, helped produce the show and assemble the team. That team included videographer Aaron Lucas, casting coordinator Alex Pancorvo and other collaborators who worked on production, sound and visuals.
For Angela, bringing the team together became one of the show's biggest learning experiences.
“A lot of things would kind of come up,” she said. “Oh, we need to have more fittings, more rehearsal.” Angela cast 17 models from around Dallas. She showed her confidence, explaining her idea and working with the models, while her sister Caroline made sure everything from practices, fittings and the show ran smoothly.
Her family encouraged her to keep going. Caroline said she has watched her younger sister's creativity develop throughout her life.
“She’s never lost that, like, childlike creativity and wonder and whimsy,” Caroline said.
The Mercado family encourages creativity. Angela has seven siblings. Caroline said their parents are creative, and the siblings have pursued different artistic fields. One sister is a filmmaker. Another is a musician. Caroline is a chef. And now Angela, the designer.
“It’s fun to work together,” Caroline said, "because the different art forms can overlap."
Angela designed the show to feel less like a traditional runway and more like stepping into a dream. She wanted the audience to feel as if they were entering a hallucination. Each look came with visuals that helped create that dreamlike atmosphere.
The presentation grew in scale as it progressed, ending with models wearing pieces featuring large hand and eye imagery.
Mercado drew inspiration for those final looks from artwork she created when she was younger.
“I wanted it to look like it came to life out of the world,” she said.
Her favorite look featured a brown outfit with trim, horns and a mask. The entire production lasted about 25 minutes, but Mercado and her team spent months preparing for it.
One of Mercado’s sisters, Cristina, the filmmaker, documented that process. Caroline said they initially wanted the documentary as a keepsake for Angela, something her sister could look back on decades from now. Eventually the documentary turned into capturing the work that went into the production and the contributions of the many people who helped create it.
“I just am happy that we’ll see the whole process,” Angela said. “So people will see how much work and time went into this.”
The show also prepares her for a future in fashion. Angela said she wanted to learn how to create clothing, work with models and build a team she could collaborate with on future shows.
But she wants viewers to decide for themselves what her clothes mean.
“I want them to do whatever they want with it and think whatever they want with it,” she said.
