Virginia Gomez Madrid
Madrid
Updated Sunday, February 11, 2024-01:37
There are
jobs
that go so unnoticed that they become invisible. Without them, nothing would make sense, but... it is rare that when picking up a special garment you think about the
pattern makers, embroiderers, seamstresses or dyers
behind it. Their hands, increasingly scarce, are the key to turning the ideas that
designers
spin in their heads into reality. They are everything. Although they are not seen. With that excuse, which is championed by the latest edition of
Madrid es Moda
- which begins Fashion Week from February 12 to 14 -, GRAN MADRID has toured the workshops of designers
Moisés Nieto, Juan Vidal and Oteyza
, who are Week they will bring their collections to the streets in very varied ways but without losing sight of the work that only
slow fashion
allows .
The last days before presenting a collection are always hectic. We find
Moisés Nieto
, cell phone in hand, photographing and choosing the clothes that one of the models will wear in the fashion show that he will hold in a photography studio this Tuesday (Carolinas, 18). He is one of the Spanish designers who is strongly committed to craftsmanship. He has promoted
La Hacería
, a platform where you can contact Spanish artisans from different disciplines, and a hand stitch can never be missing from his collections. Those from experts or those from his
own grandmother
, who knitted some wool sweaters for one of his shows.
«
Craft plays a very important role in my work
. And I paddle so it doesn't get lost. "It is what gives value to fashion today," he says without losing sight of what happens in every corner of his store, on Conde Duque Street, 7, where he shows us some of those pieces, still secret: some leather bags. made manually, some samples of needle-sewn knitted sweaters or some hand-dyed mohair blankets.
Moisés Nieto shows his inspiration panel.JAVIER BARBANCHO
«This year, we have opted for
stock
fabrics .
"It's a way of being sustainable
," he adds after giving some details of his collection, inspired by the
Ivy League
, the Japanese trend of the 70s in which young Asians tried to dress like Americans. "It shows the rebellion of young people, who hid their clothes in a paper bag, something that I have recreated in a leather bag of the same dimensions," he says, taking this and some of the
masculine-cut garments
that he has in his hands.
created: pants, shirt dresses, trench coats...
At his side, Flor, does not let go of the needle. She is
one of the few embroiderers in Madrid
and has worked for the designer. The disenchantment of how things are done in
retail
led her to where she is today. "Haute couture had always seemed like something distant to me, a fantasy," she points out, but after training in
embroidery with rhinestones and gold in London, Paris or Seville
, her
hobby
became her profession. «There are very few of us left, there is no generational change. And what we have in Spain is a treasure," she points out before highlighting that today "people no longer want to dress in uniform, but rather look special."
Flor embroiders a fabric in Moisés Nieto's workshop shop.JAVIER BARBANCHO
Between sketches and toiles
At mid-morning,
Juan Vidal
appears on stage in his
showroom
(Infantas, 21) among white looms. In this edition of
Madrid es Moda
it debuts with a bridal collection that will be shown to the public in the form of
an exhibition
(this Wednesday) right there.
«The parades are something more exclusive.
I wanted to get closer to the bride, to see how we work here
in the studio, what my universe is like, what the process of making a custom dress is like, the sketches, the
toiles
... And that they can have first-person contact with me» says the designer, for whom this collection seems special for one reason: the first dress he designed, when he was barely 15 years old, was a wedding dress.
He has been involved in the profession since he was a child. And also the good work of before. «My father is the fourth generation of tailors. And with my mother I was already going to the Paris fashion shows when I was eight years old.
I don't know if fashion for me is something vocational or cultural, but it is my tool of expression
and it has been my means of play," says Vidal, who has created two worlds to reach all brides: those looking for a more relaxed style. , more scoundrel; and those who are looking for more fantasy, more detail, he explains, along with
a 20s cape dress with crystal embroidery
, one made of organza and embroidered feathers, another inspired by Grace Kelly... Works of art made with care by expert hands.
Detail of one of Juan Vidal's wedding dresses.JAVIER BARBANCHO
"Craftsmanship is one of the reasons why I made a bridal capsule
," she points out in this sense. «We have to maintain the trades, otherwise they disappear, and it is increasingly difficult to find personnel to make these pieces. "That defines us as human beings," she adds to her two executive arms: María Luisa, who is in charge of production, and María Ángeles, who carries out the most creative work, with techniques that are impossible to recreate industrially. .
«For me, this is not a job, it is my life.
Hours don't count here, what matters is the final result
. "These garments need love," says the latter - seamstress, pattern maker and haute couture embroiderer - while she shows us some of the pieces she has given life to, such as a Chantilly dress
that
she has sewn on tissue paper.
«Sometimes it is difficult for artisan work to be valued. And artificial intelligence does not reach that point
," points out her colleague, who, complementing her work, reviews some digital patterns.
Mari Ángeles sews some feathers to a wedding dress.JAVIER BARBANCHO
Fashion as performing art
The last stop of the day takes us to number 11 Conde de Xiquena Street, where Paul and Caterina, the creators of
Oteyza
, are finalizing the details of their staging at Madrid es Moda, where in this edition they will present, after a explanatory discussion, an excerpt from the
play
they have created,
Merina
(tomorrow at the Eduardo Úrculo CC).
Oteyza has elevated fashion, and craftsmanship, to another level of art. "
It is unprecedented for a firm to establish itself as a creator of stage shows
, neither in Spain nor in the world," says Paul, who indicates that the gigantic effort that must be made for a fashion show - up to eight seasons in Paris - has been channeled now in this new way of communicating their creations.
Caterina and Paul, from Oteyza, with the 'Merina' clothes. JAVIER BARBANCHO
The firm has not only designed the costumes for the play but
is also the author, creator, artistic director and producer
. «We have been involved in the entire process. "It has been two years of work," says Caterina about
Merina
, which through four acts, and impregnated with electronic music, dance, visual arts and fashion, tells the story of merino wool, which was (and is) so important for Spain for the fineness, length and elasticity of its cloth.
A different way of giving importance to Spanish craftsmanship, where a top-level artistic team such as the choreographer
Antonio Najarro
has collaborated , and with which they intend to internationalize their firm. "We believe that it opens a window at a time when fashion needs to reinforce its identity and connection with consumers in a more experiential and profound way," says Paul after saying that this idea was born after that show they held five years ago together with the
National Ballet
and which became the most viewed in history with more than 60 million views.
Gustavo and Anne, tailor and apprentice, in the Oteyza shop.JAVIER BARBANCHO
Breaking the barriers of fashion, something that they carry in their DNA, like tailoring with which they took their first steps, through their shop, workshop, and their garments,
trouser makers, vest makers, master tailors and other unknown craftsmen
pass by . Also the new generations, who learn there the good work of the trade before the gawking gaze of the clients.
Because "giving value and visibility to the artisans, to those invisible hands that give life to the designers' ideas and sketches, is necessary," says
Modesto Lomba
, president of the Association of Fashion Creators of Spain (ACME) and Medal of I pray for Merit in the Fine Arts, but it is also important to “ensure the generational succession of these professions”, which are
“authentic cultural heritage”
.
Exhibitions, open days, pop ups...
Madrid is Fashion
, an initiative organized by the Association of Fashion Creators of Spain (ACME) with the support of the Madrid City Council, through the Madrid Fashion Capital program led by the government area of Economy, Innovation and Finance, will open the Fashion Week. Madrid Fashion from February 12 to 14.
A
performance
in the center of Madrid, where fashion and contemporary dance merge in a choreography signed by Dani Pannullo to pay tribute to the fashion professions, will open this edition. A creative concept that also marks the rest of the programming, in which 28 designers will present their collections using theaters, hotels, art galleries, ateliers, squares and representative places of the city as catwalks, such as the Ateneo or the Serrería Belga Cultural Space , from the Culture, Tourism and Sports Area of the Madrid City Council.
Álvaro Calafat, Carlota Barrera, Daniel Chong, Devota & Lomba, Dominnico, Enneges, Ernesto Naranjo, Evade House, Fely Campo, García Madrid, Guillermo Décimo, Javier Delafuente, Juan Vidal, Leandro Cano, Luis Berrendero, Maison Mesa, María Lafuente, Miguel Marinero, Moisés Nieto, Odette Álvarez, Oteyza, Paloma Suárez, Peñalver Brand, Pilar Dalbat, Roberto Verino, The Extreme Collection, Viriato and We Are Spastor are the creators who will show their proposals through fashion shows,
open days
, exhibitions, installations artistic, colloquiums and
pop ups
.
Trades: The invisible art of fashion
is the motto and common thread of this edition of Madrid es Moda, focused on giving visibility to the high trades that make fashion possible. A demand to bring them closer, on the one hand, to young people who aspire to dedicate themselves to this industry, and on the other, to consumers, so that they know that each designer garment is much more than a sketch.