My Cuban export

Cuban graphic artist Idania del Río and her Spanish business partner Leire Fernández created the first internationally-distributed clothing brand in Cuba. The brand launched during a particularly buoyant time for entrepreneurs in Cuba as president Raúl Castro opened up the centrally planned economy to more private-sector activity. However, more recently, the government has tightened its grip on private businesses in an effort to quell fraud, tax evasion, and rising inequality. Regardless of the challenges, Idania del Río’s dreams will stay in Cuba.

You studied graphic design at the Instituto Superior de Diseño Industrial in Havana, and then embarked on a two-year sojourn in Uruguay. Were you born into a family of artists or designers?

I am not exactly from an artistic family. My mother was a teacher in sports education and my father was an economist. My grandfather studied painting and then became an audio engineer. When I was a little girl, I spent a lot of time drawing with my grandfather. He would always say, “Take this pencil, this piece of paper and these colours and do this or that.” Later, I tried to study