Beatriz Canedo Patiño (1950–2016) was a

Bolivian Bolivian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Bolivia ** Bolivian people ** Demographics of Bolivia ** Culture of Bolivia * SS Bolivian, SS ''Bolivian'', later SS ''Alfios'', a British-built standard cargo ship {{disambiguation ...

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

described as the "Queen of Alpaca" due to her use of textiles from

camelid Camelids are members of the biological family (biology), family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant taxon, extant members of this group are: dromedary, dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bac ...

s such as the

vicuña The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', Vicugna, its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine tundra, alpine areas of the Andes; the other cameli ...

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...

, and

llama The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with ...

. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described her in 2006 as "Bolivia's best known fashion designer."

Biography

Canedo Patiño was born in La Paz, one of five children to David Canedo and Aida Patiño del Valle. She and her family moved to California and later Paris when she was 13 years old. Canedo Patiño studied in Paris, and launched her design house, Royal Alpaca Inc., in New York in 1987. She actively promoted the use and development of the export of camelid fibres. Due to her success, and her traditional surname, Canedo Patiño was described as representing "Successful Bolivia." Among her clients was the President of Bolivia,

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...

, for whom she created custom designs including the suit for his inauguration. While attempts had been made during Morales's campaign to get Canedo Patiño involved, she had declined the invitations despite expressing her "moral adherence" to him. However, after his success, a few days before the inauguration, Canedo presented Morales with a custom-designed alpaca outfit that helped establish the President's distinctive look of dark Mao collared suits with designs taken from indigenous Andean art. She also made outfits for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

's visit to Bolivia in her capacity as

First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...

. Canedo Patiño died on 13 March 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canedo Patino, Beatriz 1950 births 2016 deaths Bolivian women fashion designers Bolivian fashion designers People from La Paz