On July 7 at 4:00 p.m., she will officially be the fourth Spaniard and the first woman -- after the illustrious Cristobal Balenciaga, Paco Rabanne and Josep Font -- to present her collection during the Parisian Haute Couture week, which takes place from 4 to July 7.

When she learned the news at the end of April, her "Andalusia" collection was being made, she told AFP.

A collection which, as always, pays homage to Andalusia -- which it has never left despite its success -- as well as to its gypsy roots.

"Resilience"

She is "an example of adaptation, personal growth and resilience", praised the Spanish version of Forbes magazine when it announced her arrival at Haute Couture week.

Spanish designer Juana Martin shows details of her collection on June 14, 2022, at her studio in Cordoba, southern Spain.

CRISTINA QUICLER AFP

Juana Martin is also a hard worker.

Her entry ticket to this unique circle in the world, she obtained it by sheer force and by coming, for four years, to present her collections in Paris, in parallel with Haute Couture week.

Born in Cordoba, in the south of Spain in 1974, she grew up in a modest environment with a family belonging to the gypsy community.

Her father owned tailoring workshops and worked as a street vendor in local markets.

It was in these workshops, where she spent her time as a child, that she was introduced to sewing and learned the intricacies of the trade "in contact with people who worked in the old fashioned way and mainly by hand", she explained. to AFP in June.

Her career began in 1999 when her collection was selected - out of more than 150 projects - to represent Cordoba in the Spanish competition for young sewing talents.

In 2005, she became the first Andalusian woman of gypsy origin to parade during Madrid Fashion Week.

"Andalusian traditions"

An event, which is also an advent, widely hailed by the Iberian press.

If the talent of the designer is acclaimed, her career - that of a woman from a community still marginalized in Spain - is just as much.

Spaniard Juana Martin poses with one of her creations, in her workshop in Cordoba (southern Spain) on June 14, 2022. CRISTINA QUICLER AFP

In 2007, she opened her first store in Cordoba and then in Seville.

The designer has made a name for herself, the clientele is there.

At the heart of the brand, Andalusian and gypsy culture brought up to date: long dresses with floral and polka dot patterns, manila shawls... it is from the world of flamenco that she is inspired.

Moreover, its parades often recreate the patios so typical of Cordoba and are punctuated by traditional music.

"The brand's DNA is Andalusian traditions reworked into something more contemporary," she says.

Spanish designer Juana Martin poses in her workshop in Cordoba, southern Spain on June 14, 2022. CRISTINA QUICLER AFP

The way to achieve this?

His expert work on volumes, the first criterion for a designer to enter the circle of haute couture.

Like the palazzo pants that she brings up to date.

Or the flamenco dresses that she reworks by imagining balloon sleeves in more refined tones.

According to the designer, "garment derived from flamenco is the only regional garment that is reborn with force season after season, to the point that it has become inseparable from the Andalusian identity".

And to add that this updating of this traditional garment was, in part, his doing.

© 2022 AFP