In Collaboration with Boise State Basque Studies and the Basque Museum and Cultural Center
Join us March 31 at 6pm at the Basque Center for special lecture Threads of Memory: Designing Local Identity for Global Presence with Oihane Pardo Perez. Oihane will reflect on iconic Basque garments, anecdotes of Basque influence in global fashion, and the role of women in cultural transmission.
Oihane Pardo Pérez (1986) is an architect, entrepreneur, and founder of the brand Amarenak, born in Donostia/San Sebastián.
After earning her degree in Architecture and pursuing an international career — working in Barcelona, Tenerife, Brussels, and Shanghai — she returned to Donostia in 2016 and founded Amarenak, a design project based on the contemporary reinterpretation of traditional Basque clothing.
Over the past decade, she has revisited and reimagined Basque material heritage and significant historical narratives through fashion, combining local production, sustainability, and cultural transmission. Her work demonstrates how design and art can serve as powerful tools to increase the visibility of a minoritized culture and to position it internationally.
Today, she approaches design as a form of cultural activation and a means of strengthening territorial identity, building bridges between the Basque Country and its diaspora.