Arturo Obegero, from a small Asturian town to conquer Harry Styles and parade in Paris
Who is Freddy Alonso, the Asturian stylist who makes Juana Acosta, Milena Smit and Blanca Suárez the best dressed on the red carpet?
Screen Style or how television series and fashion feed off each other
Seville.
June 16, 2022. The city is bustling with activity ahead of the imminent
Dior show,
which will present its
Cruise 2023 Collection
in the Plaza de España.
The heavyweights of the fashion industry are concentrated in the Andalusian capital, converted into the epicenter of French luxury for a few hours.
At that moment,
María from Seville and Irene from Zaragoza,
co-founders of the jewelry firm
Alhaja,
know that they have a great opportunity ahead of them and they decide to take advantage of it.
Among those invited to the show is the Italian
Chiara Ferragni,
the most powerful influencer in the sector, with more than
28 million followers on Instagram.
Getting the businesswoman to wear any of the Alhaja pieces was a dream for this small Spanish brand founded in 2019.
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Chiara Ferragni and the coral cross that breaks stocks
They risked and they won.
«Maria went to the hotel where Chiara was staying and left her a package and a note at reception.
Even so, she thought that she would receive hundreds of gifts and she would not have time to see ours, so she imagine the surprise we got when she suddenly uploaded a photo on Instagram with our cross
.
We could not believe it, it is very sweet », they tell from Alhaja about how she finished her coral cross necklace on the Italian's neck.
The visibility that the businesswoman provided to the firm
multiplied not only visits to the web, but also sales.
The coral cross
was sold out and the rest of the pieces of jewelry that Ferragni has continued to wear these months have given the brand an impact that could only be compared to that of a large-budget
advertising campaign,
something limited for
young and independent firms.
Harry Styles' 'made in Spain' sneakers
In the era of electronic commerce, publicizing a firm outside our borders can help
encourage online sales.
The three thirty-somethings behind
Saye,
a Spanish brand of sustainable sneakers, were clear that positioning themselves internationally was key for their firm, created in 2017 thanks to a crowdfunding initiative.
The creators behind the Saye sneaker brand, Damian Augustyniak, Marta Llaquet and Lizzie Sabin.DR
In their case, they have professionalized this priority of being global and collaborate «with an agency in the United States that puts us in contact
with stylists and 'celebrities'.
The agency contacts them explaining the brand and, if they are interested, they ask us for the shoes they like.
The truth is that the response is always favorable and 90% of the contacts made want us to send them the shoes”, they say from the brand about their way of business.
The retro aesthetics
of the designs and the firm's philosophy -its latest collection, 'The Green Capsule', was made with waste from the food industry- have convinced Harry Styles,
the
'Euphoria' actor
Angus Cloud
or the supermodels
Elsa Hosk and Alessandra Ambrosio,
among others.
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Not all that glitters is gold
The power of social networks
as a showcase to present themselves to the world is beyond doubt, but in the case of emerging brands, this tool is in many cases unavoidable for their existence.
Through this channel, the young designer
Fátima Miñana
reached the supermodel
Kendall Jenner.
"Her group of her stylists discovered me on Instagram, thanks to an account called @upnextdesigner," explains Miñana, 26.
Fátima Miñana, discovered by Kendall Jenner's group of stylists through Instagram.
And he recognizes that opportunities often arise, but
the intrinsic problems of a small brand
prevent them from taking advantage of them: "It has happened. 'Celebrities' contact us and either because of sizing or shipping problems, in the end they
have not been able to wear our designs ",
he laments.
Dua Lipa and her Spanish camouflage
Aarón Moreno
was 22 years old when in November 2019 he decided to create
Emeerree,
his own fashion label, after working for another brand for a while.
Aarón Moreno, from Emeerree, who was catapulted to worldwide fame by a single post by Dua Lipa with one of her corsets.DR
Her name grabbed headlines in the specialized press when last summer
Dua Lipa
uploaded several images with one of her garments,
a sleeveless corset
with a military print and an opening on the chest.
More than two million people reacted to the photograph published by the singer.
"It was very noticeable, not only in visits to the web or in sales, but also because they get a lot of people to know and trust our project more.
And this helps us grow a lot,"
says Aarón about the impact that appearance had on the brand.
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From a fan of Lady Gaga... to dressing her (and Rita Ora)
But
you don't have to entrust everything to the digital universe either.
One of the great evils suffered by newcomers to the world of fashion is
the lack of support, both institutional and economic.
Fátima Miñana, for example, was able to launch her eponymous firm after winning the
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Talent award in 2020,
awarded within the framework of Madrid fashion week.
The recognition also propelled the career of
Domingo Rodríguez Lázaro,
Dominnico
's alma mater
and winner of the 2019 edition. He was a fan of
Lady Gaga and Beyoncé
before he got to dress them (Rita Ora also wore one of his designs in December 2022). .
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Another platform designed for emerging designers in our country is the
Allianz Ego catwalk,
a project also included in Madrid fashion week where young national fashion talents are vindicated, who can present their collections in a parade.
From Madrid to the heaven of international models
The designer
Sandra Peñaranda Alejandre, from Alejandre,
has taken her first steps thanks to this catwalk, precisely.
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Gigi Hadid or Hailey Bieber,
two of the most influential women in the world in terms of style, have been interested in their designs.
And
Dua Lipa
has worn several of his pieces.
Just like
Julia Fox,
photographed in a total Alejandre look when the paparazzi were chasing her after her breakup with
Kanye West.
As Alejandre herself explains, "when 'celebrities' wear our brand
it gives us great publicity".
Julia Fox with total look by Alejandre.GETTY IMAGES
But even when you get this unexpected global exposure, the road is long.
"Undertaking in Spain is horrible. And there are few platforms that give us help beyond visibility. There are, but we are many," says Aarón Moreno.
More examples of the international projection of 'made in Spain'
Even so, there are young independent brands that have shown that Spanish fashion is not limited exclusively to the Inditex empire.
Gimaguas,
launched by the twins
Claudia and Sayana Durany in 2018, has managed to dress
Bella Hadid, Kylie Jenner or Rosalía
in just five years .
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The same has been achieved by
Paloma Wool.
The label created by
Paloma Lanna
in 2014 receives the best publicity when
Kendall Jenner
walks with her clothes.
Without forgetting the phenomenon of
La Manso,
a brand of childish-looking plastic rings that have become the epitome of style.
Behind her is
Adriana Manso,
who with an initial investment of 300 euros created one of the Spanish jewelery brands with the greatest international projection at the moment.
At 27 years old, she has gone
from making rings
in her apartment in Barcelona to turning these atypical accessories into recurring ones in the looks of the
Hadid sisters, Miley Cyrus or Lily Rose Depp.
Her latest project of hers?
Collaborate with
Jean Paul Gaultier.
Undoubtedly, centennial fashion has been going strong.
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