Moctezuma and Quetzal

In every good story worth its salt, there's a boy, a girl, and a villain. Well, we have the boy, we have the girl, so today it's the villain's turn: Moctezuma II, king of the Aztec empire.

Mexicans, please forgive me for a rather simplistic interpretation of your history (and ours). I hope you understand that when looking for inspiration to design a jacket, you can't get too intellectual. Well, Ghesquière does, but La Condesa is more Hollywood.

Returning to our history lesson, at the time Cortés arrived in Mexico, various tribes coexisted, not very well-disposed towards each other. The main, richest and most powerful one was that of the Aztecs, ruled by Moctezuma from the capital, Tenochtitlan. Moctezuma was a superstitious man who did not hesitate to use human sacrifices among the subjugated tribes to please the gods; that's why a black crepe was chosen for his jacket, a symbol of darkness, which outlines the image of a skull on the back with gold piping (you have to squint a bit and look at it from a distance to see it).

The front closure is an intricate frog closure made with different types of soutache and gold cord that aims to reproduce some of the Aztec figures found in the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico. The idea is that it reflected the richness and gold opulence that Moctezuma must have worn in his attire.

As I said before, Moctezuma was a great warrior but also a superstitious man. Part of Cortés's and his men's conquest of Mexico is due to his belief that the strange visitors were possibly demigods, a sign of the return of the god Quetzalcoatl (Quetzal for us, because it's impossible to say Quetzalcoatl without getting your tongue twisted).

Quetzal is the winged serpent, the main deity from which other gods are generated by unfolding. It represents the duality inherent in the human condition: the "serpent" is the physical body with its limitations, and the "feathers" are the spiritual principles... I'm getting too intellectual. In short, since Quetzal is the most important god, his jacket is the most "spectacular" of all, with the most expensive silk, a river of cascading gold chains, little chain wings, in short, an extravagant jacket.

I remember wearing this jacket one night, with black wide-leg pants and high heels, and as I started walking, I thought, "wow, what a jacket I'm wearing." That doesn't usually happen to me; I always find flaws and points that could be improved, which is quite tiresome on my part.

The only problem is that the wild silk of the Quetzal is so wild that it changes color, and we can't get two jackets to look the same. Gods, as you know, are whimsical.

The Moctezuma available here.

The Quetzal available here.

Have a good weekend,

The Winged Countess.