Rio
Puerto Rico’s first independent urban fashion runway, held on a public street in Río Piedras. Fashion and music with a Japanese-inspired look, and live sets by Rauw Alejandro, Cauty and Joyce Santana.
About · The designer
Armando “Mandi” Pereira
Cut-and-sew designer from Puerto Rico with more than a decade in fashion. Working alongside artists and well-known figures, Mandi built a personal approach that joins technique, function and creative expression.
- Full name
- Armando J. Pereira Flores
- Based
- Puerto Rico
- Craft
- Cut and sew · Made by hand
- Runway
- New York Fashion Week · Runway 7
001 · APEREIRA
A multidimensional designer brand
APEREIRA creates silhouettes drawn from different cultural and artistic worlds. Every piece is made by hand, with close attention to quality and detail, in a visual language that outlasts the season.
002 · DNA
From San Juan to New York
DNA brings together military references, Japanese influence and Mandi’s own history, worked through pattern, detail and a mix of textiles. In February 2024 the collection walked at Sony Hall in New York with Runway 7, during New York Fashion Week.
003 · Collaborations
Made for the stage and the screen
- Rauw Alejandro
- Outfit designed and made for Premios Tu Música Urbana.
- Ángel Manuel Soto
- Director of Blue Beetle (Warner Bros. and DC). Outfits designed and made for Premios Juventud and the film’s media tour.
- Álvaro Díaz
- A piece designed and made for the artist’s first tour.
- Runway 7
- DNA presented at New York Fashion Week.
004 · Events
Fashion as a full experience
APEREIRA has changed how fashion is shown in Puerto Rico, with events that bring other creative disciplines into each collection.
Kaiju x Ronin
Fashion meets food. A pop-up that launched a new collection with an exclusive menu of dishes and drinks made for the night.
Yokai Gallery
Fashion meets contemporary art. Six visual artists and a themed gallery inspired by figures from Japanese folklore, with garments and artworks side by side.
005 · BALN-C
Next collection
The search for balance
The next APEREIRA collection. BALN-C looks for the balance between function and quality, not only in clothing but as a way of living. It weighs how the physical and the emotional shape the space each of us takes up.
“I don’t believe in a perfect state of balance. I look for ways to combine uneven elements so they work for the person.”Mandi Pereira
- Grey
- Red
- Black
- White
- Mustard
- Burgundy
- Off white
- Steel blue
- Olive
- Custom prints
006 · Three names
Three names
APEREIRA
The designer line. Limited pieces with a code and a version, like I/010 W-S Hybrid S/L v.3.
Shop the line →Nuevo Ronin
Utility clothing with Japanese culture at its core. Follow your own path.
@nuevoronin →AP Manufactured
Brand development and sample manufacturing. Founded because Puerto Rico didn’t have it, and now a key platform for emerging designers and local projects building their ideas from zero.
Make your sample →007 · Timeline
Timeline
- 2019
- Rio · First independent urban runway in Puerto Rico
- 2019
- AP Manufactured opens
- 2023
- Kaiju x Ronin · Fashion and food pop-up
- 2024
- DNA at New York Fashion Week · Runway 7, Sony Hall
- 2024
- Yokai Gallery · Fashion and contemporary art
- Next
- BALN-C · New collection