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Founded by Andrea Gadsden and Fernanda Salamanca, Fight is a Mexico City-based platform and gallery dedicated to contemporary Mexican design. Operating from their showroom in Roma Norte, they represent over 40 designers and studios, from rising voices to established names, curating furniture, lighting and objects.
What sets Difane apart is what it stands for: a belief in the enormous potential of Mexican design and a focus on opening new avenues for the country’s creative community. At a time when Mexican design is gaining unprecedented international attention, with platforms like Zona Maco expanding their reach and institutions starting to take notice, Difane is building the infrastructure for a creative industry to sustain itself on its own terms.
Exhibition space of Difane © Alejandro Ramírez Orozco
Difane Exhibition for Mexico Art Week © Andrea Gadsden Ricaud
Exhibition space of Difane © Alejandro Ramírez Orozco
Difane founders Andrea and Fernanda © Alejandro Ramírez Orozco
Exhibition space of Difane © Alejandro Ramírez Orozco
Exhibition space of Difane © Alejandro Ramírez Orozco
Can you each describe your background and what you felt was missing in the Mexican design scene that made you want to build it together?
Andrea Gadsden:
“I studied Industrial Design and after graduating, I found myself at a crossroads. I loved to design, but at that time, the design industry in Mexico still did not seem like a clearly defined career path. It often seemed that only big brands could really sustain themselves and for many, the direction began to pursue something else or move towards interior design. I realized that I did not really belong there. Just before the pandemic, decided to move away – and it was during this global hiatus that Fernanda and I crossed paths.
Together, we discovered both the enormous potential of Mexican design and its profound invisibility. Nationally and internationally, what was widely recognized was mostly craftsmanship, while contemporary design remained largely under the radar. Difane was born from this void – from the need to create a platform that would bring visibility to contemporary Mexican designers and foster a creative community where meaningful proposals could exist without relying on established names. Our goal has always been to open paths. To show that it is possible to build a life around design, create from it and develop a sustainable career in Mexico. To help develop an industry that can grow stronger and engage in dialogue with the world.”
Fernanda Salamanca:
“I have a background in architecture developed in Mexico City, both academically and professionally, but I eventually completed my formal studies in Interior Design in Milan. These formative years in architecture established the way I think about scale, structure and the relationship between object and space. Milan broadened this perspective: it refined my sensitivity to small-scale design, introduced me to experimental materials and exposed to other practical design approaches.
Returning home during the pandemic, I crossed paths with Andrea and our conversations quickly revealed a shared recognition of the enormous creative potential in the Mexican design scene, along with the opportunity to refine its narrative and commercial structure. There was great talent, but significant room to strengthen how it was positioned, presented and marketed. This shared awareness eventually led us to create Difane, a platform dedicated not only to representing contemporary Mexican design, but also to placing it with the depth, clarity and context it deserves, while bringing a new and renewed perspective to how it is presented and understood globally.
You describe yourself as representing both emerging and established designers, how do you decide who belongs in Difane? What is the thread that connects your artists?
Fernanda Salamanca:
“We’re constantly looking for proposals that feel fresh, distinctive and emotionally compelling, regardless of whether a designer is emerging or established. Trajectory adds context, but it’s never the deciding factor. What ultimately guides our decision is the clarity of vision and strong sense of the author.
Sometimes we come across projects that are already fully developed and ready to go. In other cases, designers come to us with a strong idea that requires refinement to reach its highest potential. One of our most important roles at Difane is just that: providing the strategic and creative guidance needed to elevate a vision into a polished and fully realized execution.”
How do you balance maintaining the core of Mexican identity in the works you represent with the ability to appeal to an international contemporary audience?
Andrea Gadsden:
“We don’t start with a fixed idea of ’Mexican identity.’ We do not believe that identity has a single form, nor that it should be expressed exclusively through craft or folklore. We are interested in supporting authentic proposals – some deeply connected to craft traditions, others more contemporary in their execution – yet all united by a common sensibility: material exploration, attention to detail and a clear awareness of the present moment. Many of the designers we work with maintain a close dialogue with the artisans, which allows not only the preservation of traditional techniques, but also their reinterpretation and expansion — subtly challenging how ‘Mexican’ design is often perceived.”
From a European perspective, he felt that Mexican design has really come to the fore in the last two years, with the development of Zona Maco and the appointment of Lanza Atelier for the Serpentine Pavilion. What do you think about it?
Andrea Gadsden:
“I think it was a very organic process. Globally, after the pandemic, people began to relate to their spaces in a different way. It became important to surround ourselves with meaningful objects – to build identity through what we live every day and find a personal language within the home. In Mexico, this translated into a growing openness to more experimental proposals, to a space that emotionally connects the space to people.
I also believe that a new niche has emerged – one that didn’t exist before. More designers and creatives began to seek visibility and thanks to digital platforms, social media and a new visual narrative shaped by architecture and photography, Mexican design began to circulate differently. A few years ago, there was no compelling visual language surrounding Mexican contemporary design. Today, context, imagery and presentation are as important as the objects themselves.”
Fernanda Salamanca:
“What may seem like a sudden rise is, in fact, the consolidation of a solid base for more than a decade. A generation of young designers with expanded perspectives, workshops refined and professionalized their production, and platforms began to build discourse, not just sell objects. What emerges as an appearance is, in my opinion, a global consolidation after years. The appetite for new voices and narratives, and I could add Latin America as a whole, it offers a unique balance: work that holds historical depth while speaking a modern language.
The market used to look outward for validation. Today there is greater confidence in local identity, approached through innovation rather than clichés. Stronger production standards, clearer positioning and a growing collector base, boosted by platforms like Maco Zoneamong other things, have increased global interest. So rather than a single cause, it’s a convergence of cultural trust, professional structure, institutional visibility and global curiosity all aligning at the right time.”
If you look at the roster of designers you represent today at Difane, where do you feel Mexican design is going next?
Andrea Gadsden:
“We feel Mexican design enters a much bolder phase. This movement is just beginning. We see more designers, more studios, and a strong desire to create and express — but also greater creative risk, because in a saturated landscape, proposing something new requires taking a clear position.
Real innovation has become more complex worldwide, but in Mexico this moment is especially strong. The country has an extraordinary wealth of material, technical and cultural references, which makes this development feel like it is just beginning to unfold. This pushes designers to explore new territories: a more natural fusion between craftsmanship and technology, between traditional processes and modern languages. We believe that Mexican design is finding its voice – one that is more experimental, more daring and increasingly relevant in the global dialogue.”
Fernanda Salamanca:
“I also believe that the visibility of Latin America as a whole will continue to expand. What we are seeing in Mexico is part of a broader regional awakening. With stronger networks, more collaboration and a growing institutional presence, Latin America is positioning itself as an essential reference in the global design landscape. The next step is not only growth, but integration and long-term impact.”
