Get to know the participants of the Mercedes- Benz Fashion Talent Prize September 2024
Summer is ending and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid is around the corner. The announcement of the emerging fashion designers that are candidates to win the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Talent Prize already happened and we are going to discuss it. On September 15th 2024, the newer generation of Spanish designers is presenting their collections in a packed schedule where talent, innovation and creativity are going to be exposed to an international audience. Each season, 9 brands are selected to show the potential of Spain and how we have things to say to the world in a different way. Over the next paragraphs, you are going to learn more about participants of this year’s edition, which are in alphabetical order: Alejandre, Anamingo, Arturo de la Rosa, Boltad, H05, Karlo Módenes, MAL Studio Custom Project, Santamarta, and XVStrange.
Alejandre
Presenting a third collection on this runway is a tough task to do, but a promising one, because it shows consistency and hard work from the founder and the team behind the brand. In the case of Sandra Alejandre, since 2020 she has been in the public eye for creating enticing lingerie-inspired pieces and being present in lots of celebrities’ closets. CORE is the title of the new collection, in which she portrays the close connection between the work and personal life of an artist. Through a review of classic patterns and the reinterpretation of these ones under the established identity of the brand, she is reconstructing dress codes in her own way. We are excited to see the superposition of garments and the contrast between different styles that lives inside this collection.
Anamingo
While studying, Francisco Basteiro and Ana María Vázquez bonded in such a way that in 2021 they decided to start their own brand, where romanticization of stories and concepts were the base of everything. Since the beginning, they have created clothing that is genderless and focuses on sustainable production. AJUAR is a contemplation of the home as a reflection of the identity and experiences of those who live there. Popularly, in Spain, we call «ajuar» the set of belongings that make up a home and were made in some cases by our family. The beauty of decadence is exalted and a purely contemporary perspective is infused in such historical terms, some of the garments are going to be created from second-hand quilts as they have been doing in past collections.
Arturo de la Rosa
The eponymous brand has been focusing on powerwear and its effects on people, creating fierce and unique garments designed to adapt to the specific needs of each body. His ultimate effort is to build a bridge between life and death, reinventing techniques and materials from the past to infuse them with value and strength in today’s world. Children of uncertainty is a collection that plays with deconstruction-construction of garments and the unexpected factor that comes with it. It represents the DNA of the brand and placed next to his meticulous artisanal sewing and use of natural dyes, it becomes more attainable where the brand is going. With these items, the essence of the wearer is maintained, thanks to struct Structured silhouettes and defined shapes that provide strength and security to the look.
Boltad
The career of this young designer, Alberto Martín Pozo has been sky rocking since he graduated. After spending some time under David Catalán in Porto, he created this brand as a place where he can understand and explain situations that he personally encounters on an everyday basis. After four collections, the brand is settled in the market, providing outfits for celebrities and standing out in some editorials. But we cannot forget that he was the winner of the prize in February 2022, also this is the third time he presented on this runway. He has a sustainable approach: using fabrics obtained from factory waste, defective and recycled that are subsequently manipulated by hand. With WOLTAD, he is presenting a surreal nation where cultural diversity and personal expression play a central role, so everyone is categorized by a certain tribe / subculture that is aligned with the unique identity of the wearer. Be prepared for this drive for exploration and experimentation with a continuous dialogue between the individual and the collective.
H05
This creative duo has developed projects together since 2016. Estela Miguel Bautista and Markel González Elezkano, with an inclusive approach, have been locally making garments and objects on a human scale, carefully crafted a known name for themselves. Their main concern as a fashion brand is to create pieces which must be articulated by the person wearing them and not the other way around. VISIT is an attempt to uplift the act of collecting, the act of curating ideas through the lens of time and nostalgia. Going back to grandma’s house looking for the antidote to leave more slowly than when you came in. They want to explore the still lifes of heterogeneous things that are generated in the drawers and shelves of our family spaces.
Karlo Módenes
It is difficult to create a striking graduate collection and he truly did with his Fluxus Princess look. There is something in Badajoz that makes their new generation different (we can see in this list various talents from that region of Spain), but something is clear, the lack of communication with the exterior of the region made them become more aware of their surroundings and more creative in the way they approach fashion. After finishing his studies in Madrid and moving to Barcelona, Karlo Módenes founded his eponymous brand in 2021 with the intention to revive the values of the Fluxus group in today’s society. Video art, happening, conceptual art, jokes, games and clothing are some of its main pillars. His desire is to give garments an artistic value through craftsmanship and creativity, refusing the functionality of a garment and embracing its performativity. Who is the killer? is the question that titled his first collection for the brand. Rethinking the board game Cluedo, he is going to host a fashion show / happening, where the runway will be the crime scene itself. A game full of fashion, humor and eccentric characters; inspired by classic Hollywood films, serial killers, street robberies and irreverence.
MAL Studio Custom Project
Between Perú and Bilbao, Michelle Lima founded this brand to be a constant moodboard of ideas. Her nostalgic approach mixed with her personal and metaphorical vision of her memories, the designer creates timeless and genderless items of clothing with great conceptual weight. She always works around textures and superpositions, creating shapes and volumes that align with her beliefs. Axis Mundi is a collection where she expresses her worry on not finding her place and how others might be in the same situation. She imagined that this was her personal tree house, where she could share drawings and stories that felt connected to her soul. Recycling and upcycling were used in the development of the collection, which created a selection of unique pieces.
Santamarta
A self-proclaimed creative ecosystem, the work of Marta Maté and Alfredo Maestro is defined by the cross-pollination of different processes like textile design, artistic creation and environmental awareness. Reusing discarded resources as the main input of materials, they transform it via upcycling with a minimalist style. While doing pattern making, zero waste is the technique that they used; their packaging is made out of production leftovers; this all adds up to their goal of being sustainable and resourceful. About Perception is the door to this world, a collection that is honing personal sensitivity through the appreciation of imperfection and beauty. Multi-position garments and the use of raw materials is what sets them apart.
XVStrange
Founded in 2018, Devins and Jack Lucid have been paving the wave of street art in clothing, at least in our country. Their unisex conception of clothing items aimed to the people that buy their pieces to look for uniqueness in their way of dressing. Turning garments into canvases has allowed them to express their creativity in a free format, not constrict by industry standards, at the end of the day that is how a big brand is born. With Mowande, they want to represent the artist’s path to the work and how the process is more inspiring than the result in itself. Sleep paralysis is the concept in which they have focus and how these events can affect our work and lives. Across 9 masculine and 6 feminine looks, the brothers are examining different ways to treat fabrics and to make a desirable finishing for potential customers.
Words: @alraco43