Hugo Martinez, a Montreal-based fashion visionary, is not just another designer/creative director chasing trends—rather, he is a creator driven by an unwavering obsession with taking risks, pushing boundaries, and defying conventional ideas of success in the fashion industry. His journey, one marked by extreme highs and lows, is a testament to the power of delusion, as Hugo calls it, in the creative process.
Liminul recently sat down with Hugo for an interview in which he shares, in his own words, the story behind his brand, his inspirations, and how his experience with creative obsession inspired his latest editorial, “Free Solo Girl”, lensed by Jeremy Soma.
“Fashion is risk. It’s gambling,” Hugo tells me, quoting one of his biggest inspirations, Yohji Yamamoto. “People think fashion is glamorous, but what they don’t understand is the reality behind it. Most people in fashion are living at home with their parents, maxed out on credit cards, taking on crazy projects that seem impossible to others.” His point is well taken, the creative industries are rife with the sort of posturing that makes it difficult to tell real success from smoke and mirrors.
The passion that fuels Hugo’s creativity once drove him to the brink. While working in Paris, the young creative spiralled into a manic episode, landing him in the hospital. He spent two months in treatment, and was prescribed a regimen of antipsychotic medications that left him feeling numb for nearly two years. “I wasn’t living,” he says. “I was sleeping 15 hours a day, gaining weight, and losing touch with everything I cared about.”
One pivotal night, Hugo’s desperation led him to an impulsive escape. “I was having supper with my parents, and I realized no one could help me. I took my dad’s car keys and just drove.” His phone buzzed non-stop, but he turned it off, placed it next to him, and drove through Westmount, unsure if he would return home. “I didn’t know if I was coming back, but I just needed to drive, because I knew nobody was going to save me.”
It would be these during these nightly drives, alone on the highway, that Hugo found solace and inspiration. “I felt free. After two years of being numb on medication, that was the first time I felt alive again—like me when I was 16 or 18, before my manic episode.” Each night, he would drive through Montreal, often pausing in front of luxury car dealerships, lost in the allure of something more. “I became obsessed with quality—the best of the best. It wasn’t about status; it was about creating something that made me feel like a star, like I was alive again.”
But this nightly ritual wasn’t sustainable. “One night, after doing this for a year, I pulled up in front of a Ferrari dealership, and I just felt anxious. The car wasn’t doing it for me anymore—it wasn’t enough. That’s when I realized I needed something more. I didn’t want to die. This had been my only way of feeling free, but it was starting to lose its effect.”
That’s when the idea for his brand began to take shape. “I looked at those luxury cars, and I thought, ‘I’m going to create something better. I’m going to make a jacket that makes me feel like a star when I wear it, something that connects me to that feeling of freedom.’”
Fueled by this vision, Hugo embarked on a global journey, searching for the finest leather to realize his dream. “I traveled to Spain, met farmers, learned about different lamb breeds, and connected with contractors and tanners in Italy. I visited tanneries that supplied Chanel and Dior. I wasn’t making a product for the market—it was for me, to create something I believed in.” The passion drove him to work with the same people who created leather for Bottega Veneta, crafting jackets entirely for himself, without any business plan.
“At one point, I thought I’d wasted my time and money. My friends had cars and apartments, and I was still living at my mom’s place. I questioned if I was crazy for chasing this dream. But deep down, I knew I just wanted someone to know my story and to wear what I’d created.”
Hugo describes this moment in his life as the genesis of his brand and overarching creative ethos; rooted in this spirit of delusion and risk-taking. One of his most significant breakthroughs came when he flew to Los Angeles with a jacket from his collection. His first sale came from James Goldstein, an American fashion icon known for his sartorial flare. “I was in his mansion, looking over the city, and thinking, this is real. I sold him a jacket for $13,000. It was my first sale, and it validated everything I had worked for.”
Hugo’s drive to explore the danger and risk inherent in the creative pursuits is evident in his latest collaboration with renowned photographer Jeremy Soma. The editorial draws inspiration from extreme sports, particularly free solo climbing, where every move is a matter of life or death. “Fashion is like free solo,” Hugo explains. “When you’re climbing a building, one mistake can cost you everything. That’s the level of commitment required to create something truly powerful in fashion.”
The images are striking: a glossy albeit raw, elemental commentary on the power of nature and the resilience of the human form. Set against the rugged terrain of the California desert, the model embodies a decididly fearless spirit, drenched in the sweat and glow of the setting sun, her gaze intense and vulnerable. It invokes the sort of primal sublimity and thrill of ‘danger’ that Martinez finds so intoxicatingly inspiring.
Reflecting on a transformative moment in his life, Hugo shares, “I was inspired by triathletes. Back in 2018, I went to Hawaii to watch my mom compete in the Ironman World Championship. Being surrounded by athletes pushed me to start running and doing ultramarathons when I got back to Montreal. I’ve always loved the clothes from sports, especially the colours. In triathlon gear, you never see all-black—there’s always bright, bold colours.”
For the shoot, Hugo infused his connection to sportswear with a sustainable approach. “Some of the clothes were upcycled. I did research, found vintage triathlon pieces, and created new designs with the fabric. I also used stock fabrics from high-fashion houses.”
Soma’s photos perfectly capture the essence of Hugo’s philosophy. For the young creative, fashion transcends trends; it’s about pushing boundaries and embracing risk. “Forget about followers, forget about money,” he emphasizes. “If you want to create something truly impactful, you have to be willing to risk everything. That’s why I don’t follow trends—I don’t look to the past. I just follow what feels right in the moment.”
His creative process is deeply collaborative, but with one rule: trust the people you work with and let go of your desire for control. “The magic happens when you let go,” Hugo explains. “I hire people because I love their work, and I trust them. The role of a creative director is to guide, not to interfere. If you micromanage, you kill the creative energy.” For Hugo, his faith in his collaborators allows for a certain unpredictability that often leads to moments of pure magic. “That’s what I love about working with people like Jeremy Soma. He connects with the vision, but he brings his own energy, his own interpretation. The outcome is often something I could never have imagined, but it’s always better than I expected.”
As we continue discussing his creative journey, Martinez reveals how his personal struggles with mental health have shaped his art. “I used to think I would never recover,” he tells me. “I had to be delusional to believe that I could come back to reality and create again. But that delusion is what drives me. It’s what pushes me to take risks that other people would never dream of.”
This theme of absurdity and delusion is at the heart of his work. “Free Solo Girl” is a fashion feast for the eyes, to be sure, however it’s a manifestation of the innate creative spirit—an exploration of what it means to live on the edge, to gamble everything on a vision that others might see as impossible. “I want people to feel that risk when they look at my photos,” he says. “I want them to see that beauty can come from pushing yourself to the limit.”
In the next five years, Hugo plans to continue creating images that defy conventional expectations. “I’m not focused on building a brand in the traditional sense,” he tells me. “I want to be known for my images, for the world I create. I want people to look at my work and see that I’m not afraid to take risks, that I’m willing to gamble everything to create something extraordinary.”
As our conversation comes to a close, I can’t help but reflect on the power of Hugo’s journey—the way he’s turned his personal struggles and failures into a driving force behind his creativity. In a world that often tries to box artists into predictable formulas, Martinez stands out as a creator unafraid to take risks, embrace absurdity, and trust in the divine creative power of tenacity to create an artistic ethos that is as visceral as it is evocative.
Cody is the Editor in Chief and senior contributor at liminul.
He is a photography aficionado, fashion enthusiast, avid Lana Del Rey fan, and lover of all things aesthetically pleasing.
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