AN INTRODUCTION TO SPANISH FASHION

Spanish fashion can trace its history back to indigenous roots dating to early Iberian culture, whose ladies served as inspiration for later creations, as depicted in sculptures from this period. Nonetheless, Spanish fashion would not reach maturity and achieve international recognition until the arrival of figures such as Mariano Fortuny and, above all, Cristóbal Balenciaga.

The multifaceted designer, Fortuny, represents the Renaissance man because, as well as designing, he has also cultivated a wealth of other talents such as stage design, photography and fabric printing. However, when we think of Fortuny, we think of his delicately pleated Delphos gowns, which were beautifully sculpted to the female form giving it a new-found freedom. These gowns were terribly modern in the first decade of the twentieth century and they are still unbelievably modern today.

Cristóbal Balenciaga, the most influential designer of his time and the most admired creator of fashion which this century has seen, took fashion to new heights of talent and creativity. Just as painters and sculptors had done before him, Balenciaga travelled to Paris, where he opened a fashion house in Georges V Avenue in 1937, the year in which he unveiled his first Parisian collection.

His contemporaries admired him greatly. In the words of Hubert de Givenchy, one of the principal merits of Balenciaga's designs was that he created “not only a style but a technique ”; something which he mastered perfectly, from design to cut and finally, to the execution of his designs. And so, in the words of Coco Chanel, Balenciaga was the only designer capable of designing, pattern-cutting and sewing a gown. One of his main contributions to fashion was the way in which he revolutionised the female silhouette, liberating it from the restrictions of the Belle époque and introducing innovations which would shape later fashion. Among Balenciaga's famous fashion disciples are Hubert Givenchy, André Courrèges and Emanuel Ungaro. At seventy-four years of age, Cristóbal Balenciaga retired from a life of intense creative work. He never lost sight of Spain, which had always been a source of inspiration to him.

Manuel Pertegaz and his Contemporaries
Whilst Cristóbal Balenciaga captained international fashion from Paris, in Madrid and Barcelona a new type of undeniably high-quality Haute Couture was being conceived. The contemporaries of Balenciaga were Pedro Rodríguez, Asunción Bastida, Carmen Mir, Márbel, Lino and Natalio. But progress didn't stop there and new talented designers who were born around 1915 gave way to another extraordinary generation. This period began with Manuel Pertegaz, who presented his first Haute Couture collection in Barcelona in 1942. Soon after, he opened a shop in Madrid and embarked on a phase of expansion overseas, presenting his collections in Paris and various other cities in the United States. His achievements outside of Spain were so remarkable that at one point he was being considered as Christian Dior's successor, heading the fashion house. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades, including the "Oscar for Couture" from Harvard University in 1954, as well as different gold medals in Mexico and New Orleans and, more recently, by the Complutense University of Madrid or being awarded the Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Fine Arts in 1999.

Pertegaz set his sights on the American market, just as Herrera y Ollero did. Pertegaz displayed his first collection in the shop windows of Lord & Taylor in 1964, whilst Herrera y Ollero unveiled their famous coats, suits and evening gowns in Bonwit Teller in 1965. The Spanish press was never out of touch with the latest news concerning these designers, and some publications devoted double-page spreads to their collections.

Rosser, Pedro Rovira, Vargas-Ochagavía and Elio Benharyer are other designers who represented the solid fashion values of that time. Some of them are still working in the fashion business, like Manuel Pertegaz and Elio Berhnayer, who opened his Couture house in 1960 and regularly shows his collections at the Cibeles Catwalk Show in Madrid.

However, the real revolution in the Spanish fashion world was initiated by Amancio Ortega with the creation of Inditex, the group which owns the labels Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius and Oysho. Ortega is one of the main figures responsible for this process of democratisation in the fashion industry, through which designer clothing has become accessible to the masses. The most innovative achievement of the group to date is the creation of a system which provides an immediate response to the tastes and needs of the consumer. In this way, Inditex is able to produce and distribute new collections every fortnight. The group's consumer base is not exclusively Spanish, but worldwide, thanks to their enormous network of shops throughout the world, 1,689 in 46 different countries to be precise.

Another unique business phenomenon, with enormous presence in our country, is represented by the El Corte Inglés chain of department stores, which offers a wide selection of its own brands and labels as well as big names in Spanish fashion, a shrewd strategy which was conceived to satisfy many different segments of consumer society.

Equally remarkable is the role played by Cortfiel in the development of its brands Springfield, Women’Secret, Pedro del Hierro, Milano, Douglas and Fifty Factory.

Another important reference point is Custo Barcelona, a Spanish company which has managed to carve out a brand image in the overseas market thanks to its different, original and innovative style, which is aimed at a young and urban public. The firm, which gets 85% of its turnover from international markets, embarked on a strategy in the year 2000 to open its own retail outlets in order to reach its client base in a direct way. Following the inauguration of its shop in Barcelona in 2000, other outlets were opened in Taiwan, Peruggia, Chicago, Tai Pei, Shangai, Beijing and Santa Fé, making a total of fifteen of their own shops. Looking toward the future, Custo Barcelona hopes to continue to open new retail establishments in the main fashion capitals, including New York.

The Future of Spanish Fashion
We have just welcomed in the third millennium and Spanish fashion has its finger firmly on the pulse, with an eye on becoming the main centre for fashion in Europe and the world. New fashion values are being heavily promoted. The many fashion and trade shows, official recognition from design studies and the presence of fashion in the musuems, all combine to situate the Spanish fashion industry in a foward-looking position, and with an eventful future ahead of it.

The international reach of Spanish fashion, which has in past decades been limited to isolated cases such as that of Balenciaga, is growing every day. Some of our designers are triumphing on the international catwalks, promoting a mature and cutting-edge image of Spanish fashion to the world. In New York, Custo Barcelona, Miguel Adrover and Manu Fernández present their collections alongside desginers like Calvin Klein and Oscar de la Renta; on the Milan catwalks Amaya Arzuaga shares the stage with Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Prada; Rafael López unveils his most cutting-edge garments in London; whilst Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Armand Basi and Antonio Miró showcase their collections in Paris.

The future of Spanish fashion looks very bright. On the 17th of June, the Reina Sofía Modern Art Museum in Madrid opened to an exhibiton entitled "Behind the Mirror, Spanish Fashion", which covers creations from some of the leading Spanish designers. The aim of the exhibition is to project a solid and shining image of the Spanish fashion industry, both in Spain and beyond her borders.

Many new names are springing up in fashion and causing quite a stir. Miriam Ocáriz; Jorge Gómez, Spastor and David Delfín, whose designs have reached as far Tokyo; Ailanto; La casita de Wendy; Alejandro Sáez de la Torre; Alma Aguilar; Locking Shocking; Ian Mosch; Trastornados; Tolo Crespi; Konrad Muhr; Josep Abril; and Mireya Ruiz, among many others, represent the most cutting-edge fashion on our catwalks.

Not forgetting, of course, such time-honoured labels and designers as Antonio Miró, Adolfo Dominguez, Sybilla, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Josep Font, Sara Navarro, Modesto Lomba, Custo Barcelona, Roberto Verino, Lydia Delgado, Andrés Sarda, Pili Carrera, Mayoral, Camper, Panama Jack, Lottusse, Lupo, Puntotres, and a long etcetera, who have managed to secure a firm place in the national market, and some of them enjoy a high profile overseas with their own retail outlets.

Spanish fashion could not be in a better state. There is no shortage of creativity and enthusiasm to develop a profession, which in the words of Pertegaz “is one of the hardest in the world".Mercedes Pasalodos Salgado