Meet Rozalba Velasquez Keller | Knitwear Designer, founder of Punto Oscuro” Latinx knitwear”

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rozalba Velasquez Keller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rozalba, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
Most people don’t know how labor intensive it is to produce a high quality sweater. Especially one that’s made sustainably and ethically. To begin with, fast fashion manufacturers use inexpensive synthetic yarns like polyester and acrylic that can be extruded in enormous quantities and instead of breaking down, leave traces of microplastics in the waterways. Natural fibers aren’t as readily manufactured as they take time to be milled, like cotton, or to be grown and sheared, like our OEKO-TEX certified alpaca wool (this means it’s free of harmful dyes and chemicals.) Alpaca wool has to be hand sorted before it’s spun in order to meet certain quality standards, same as cashmere!

Countries that harvest natural fibers tend to manufacture them at higher costs because they’re work-intensive and require highly trained craftspeople. Machine knitting requires technical expertise for programming and setting up yarn cones for each color. Our sweaters utilize up to seven colors per style! Unlike cutting and sewing a tee shirt, sweater assembly requires special machinery and fine manual skills. One sweater can take hours to be knitted and assembled.

There are very few Latin American factories that produce sweaters, but they can be found in places like Ecuador and Peru where alpaca, goats and sheep are still traditionally herded and indigenous knitting techniques are practiced.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

I chose to start a business in knitwear, even though I don’t actually knit. Although my cousins in Mexico taught me hand-knitting as a kid, I really suck at it. As an artist, I express myself through machine knitwear as my medium. I named my collection Punto Oscuro meaning “dark place” because my inspiration comes from the dark corners of my parent’s jardín. The places where my imagination runs wild and the plants come alive. Also, I’m always cold. Sweaters are like a natural, warm and fuzzy second skin to me.

Punto Oscuro began as a series of images and symbolism taken from my Latinx heritage. Plant life and foliage imagery are elements in every style and each graphic has a story tracing back to Latin “leyendas” or myths. Like the legend of La Llorona, the weeping woman who roams near water looking for her lost children. To maintain the connection to my roots, I wanted the manufacturing to be as close to LA as possible, but I couldn’t find any factories in Mexico or Guatemala that would accept my minimums. Luckily, I found a fair trade factory in Peru run by a brother & sister team and I couldn’t be happier.

I proudly vowed to focus on responsibility from the beginning. Sustainability is an evolving goal and I don’t have all the answers, but I am committed to reducing my environmental impact by using recycled or recyclable materials in my packaging and reducing waste whenever possible. I’m brainstorming ways to extend the life of a Punto Oscuro sweater and hope to see one on Poshmark one day for someone else to enjoy!

The hardest part of starting was deciding to dive in and finding the initial funding. Running a crowdfunding campaign was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done (besides running a marathon). I learned that you can’t reach out to someone just once and be done. It takes at least three or more persistent emails to get a response. The other thing most out of my comfort zone is marketing. In addition to the creative stuff and the operational stuff like shipping, I run my own website, blog posts, email campaigns and do cringey things on social media like dancing on TikTok. I also freelance to pay the bills and I enjoy cooking dinner for my family daily and watching horror films (full disclosure, my bf is a horror filmmaker, actor and horror trivia host!).

Punto Oscuro is a love letter to my Mexican and Guatemalan parents, even though sadly, they’ve both passed on. I’m inspired by my Latin heritage and believe in lifting all Latinx voices regardless of gender identity and amplifying environmental responsibility and conscious consumerism. We’re a little dark and weird but we’re ethical.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Van Nuys and it’s super underrated. San Marcos Birrieria is across the street from my home and has the best beef birria stuffed into their Vampiros. Don’t forget the consomme! We have two craft breweries in one at MacLeod Ale Brewing and their sister brewery, Van Nuys Beer Co. For dessert, Pop’s Artisanal Creamery serves amazing tropical sundaes in flavors like Guanabana, Almond Avocado, Lúcuma and Mamey. On a hot day, I would take friends from out of town to the swan boats at Lake Balboa and raspados from the cart afterwards. A rainy day could be spent at the Valley Relics Museum to check out the vintage neon signs. For plant lovers, Monarca’s Nursery is the local’s place to find drought resistant succulents and cacti at affordable prices. And for tropi-goths who like to chill by the pool, I suggest a stop at my favorite friendly neighborhood dispensary, The Reefinery.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Fashion is an unstable industry and I’ve survived at least five or six “reductions in force”. Post-covid, my career was derailed by yet another inevitable layoff. This time I decided to launch my dream biz, a Latin infused graphic sweater company with a goth-alt-mystic edge. I’m grateful for my kids’ input and for putting up with my drama.

Huge shoutouts to IFundWomen and all the amazing folks that supported my crowdfunding campaign. I think I still owe some of you campaign rewards! Also a major shoutout to WeAllGrow Latina, a free on-line community and sisterhood that uplifts impact-driven Latinas. It’s been motivating to see so many of us entrepreneurial mujeres supporting and elevating each other.

Finally, I’d like to credit my always elegant mama, Maria Guadalupe, for teaching me how to sew at a tender age five. A housekeeper by trade, she would bring home discarded copies of Vogue from her employers which led to my love affair with fashion. She helped me bring my aspiring designer visions to life from those glossy dog-eared pages. She (and my papi) literally sowed the seeds of our garden, which was always present, cultivating in me the love of nature, environmental responsibility and now, my mission to raise awareness of conscious consumerism which I hope to encourage people to embrace.

Website: https://www.puntooscuro.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/punto_oscuro/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MundoPuntoOscuro/

Other: TT https://www.tiktok.com/@puntooscuro

Image Credits
Ketzally Alcala @lasfotosproject