I’m Sandra, fashion researcher, educator and writer. My work lies at the intersection of fashion and cultural analysis.

I'm based in Paris, but work globally.

I promote a critical analysis of fashion through my writing and teaching, and I help brands navigate the overwhelming amount of information about trends to create culturally-relevant and commercially viable strategies, with a particular focus on Latin America and non-Western markets.

Consulting

 

I run Sandra Mathey Studio, a boutique trend forecasting and training studio based in Paris, focused on the Latin American market. My work has two complementary pillars: trend research and consulting, and corporate training programs for fashion teams.

I work with brands that want to read cultural shifts before they become obvious, identifying the macro-trends that will shape consumer taste and needs, and I train teams to develop that same analytical capacity in-house, filtering the overwhelming amount of trend information to make decisions that are both culturally relevant and commercially viable. To date, I've trained teams from over 400 Latin American companies, from global brands to emerging businesses.

 

Higher education

 

Teaching is a central part of my practice. I'm currently a professor at Istituto Marangoni Paris and The American Business School of Paris, where I teach courses on fashion history, trends, research and fashion communication. I previously taught for six years at Parsons Paris.

I also supervise master's theses on topics related to fashion culture, identity and brand positioning.

I'm passionate about training professionals who think about fashion critically because fashion education has kept theory and practice too far apart for too long. Having worked in both industry and academia, I know the gap is smaller than it seems, and I bring that into the classroom.

 

Writing

 

I write essays and articles on the relationship between fashion, culture and identity for both academic and industry publications.

I also publish Fashion Thoughts, a newsletter in Spanish where I analyze fashion through a fashion studies perspective for a community of 1,000+ readers across 50+ countries.

 

Podcast (archive)

 

I’m the co-founder and host of Salón de Moda, a Fashion Studies podcast in Spanish created in collaboration with Latin American colleagues from Parsons. We're no longer producing new episodes, but the archive is still available to listen.

 

A bit more about myself

 

I was born and raised in Lima, Peru and started my career working in the design team of luxury fashion houses in Lima and New York, including Badgley Mischka, Claudia Bertolero and Rosario de Armenteras.

My interest in understanding the why behind collections led me to trend forecasting, as a Trend Editor at Fashion Snoops, one of the leading trend forecasting agencies globally, and then leading the first in-house trend department at Oechsle, the biggest Peruvian retailer.

That path across design practice, product development and cultural analysis drove my interest in studying culture through fashion, and led me to the Master of Arts in Fashion Studies at Parsons Paris, from which I graduated in 2020.

I hold an AAS in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, a Certificate in Fashion Business from Parsons, and a Bachelor in Fashion Studies from Mod'Art Peru.

I'm always open to collaborations and conversations at the intersection of fashion, education and Latin America, with universities, brands, publishers or institutions shaping the future of the industry.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out for private workshops or public speaking.

Fun fact about Latin American surnames

Did you know that in Spain and most Latin American countries we use two surnames? Traditionally, the first one would be the father’s first surname and the second one, the mother’s first surname. Nowadays, it is legal in most countries for the parents to choose the order.

In my case, my first name is Sandra, my first surname is Mathey and my second surname is García-Rada — indeed, a very long name! In case I need to shorten it, I go by Sandra Mathey.