The design of several Swiss products has been inspired in recent times by the Mexican festivity of the Day of the Dead, highlighting the celebration of both life and mortality. The great celebration of the Day of the Dead, the date in which the deceased are honored in Mexico, is one of the most representative traditions of Mexico and dates back to pre-Hispanic times, when the customs of the Spanish conquerors and indigenous people merged. The celebration has been declared as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
This is one of the festivities that has become international due to globalization. Swiss producers, for example in the watchmaking industry, have taken the opportunity to influence consumers buying habits using images of skulls, skeletons, the Catrina (female skeleton wearing a dress and a hat), and altars of the dead. During the 2017 Horlogerie Show in Mexico City, several Swiss watch brands showed Mexican designs, for example, all watches by Swiss brand Fiona Krüger are inspired by this holiday and reflect life, celebration, sun, death, purity, mortality, and mourning. The Swiss watch designer lived a few years in Mexico during her childhood and comments that in the past, it was difficult to introduce her colorful watches in the traditional Swiss watch market, but that they are now very popular.
Within the framework of Swiss Design Mexico 2017, the 100 Years of Swiss Design exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, exhibits various typical products such as Swiss Army knives with Mexican decorations.
The internationalization of products inspired by the Day of the Dead does not only concern Swiss companies and products: the United States, with its large Mexican migrant community, other Latin American countries, European countries, and even Asian markets have taken advantage of this holiday to develop products that are inspired by it. Day of the Dead is trending topic on Twitter during these dates and international films inspired by the celebration of the day of the dead such as “The Book of Life” (2014) by Guillermo del Toro and Jorge Gutiérrez or “Coco” (2017) a film produced by Pixar have been released worldwide.
About the author
Christian Michel-Casulleras, has a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a Master’s degree in Foreign Policy & International Development. He is interested in promotion of Switzerland abroad, STI diplomacy, and business-government relations.
