Mercedes Benz Fashion Week MADRID
MilliOnAir | Fashion Uncovered
By Alison Lowe MBE
The largest Spanish fashion show organised by IFEMA took place in Madrid at the end of January and I was thrilled to be invited back to celebrate the 71st edition of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Madrid. The fashion week was bigger and better than ever, with over 1,000 media professionals attending to discover the exciting Spanish brands that are creating a buzz internationally.
This season 37 leading Spanish designers showcased their collections. There were new brands and more established labels taking part, from Dominnico, who won the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Talent Award in July 2019 to a name synonymous with fashion in Spain, Pertegaz, who under the new creative direction of Jorge Vázquez returned to the catwalk.
This season MBFW Madrid also led the way with a focus on a more sustainability-oriented catwalk. Some of the designers participating opted for Slow Fashion, creating small timeless collections made in local workshops. The organisers also ensured that the official souvenir bag was made from recycled PET plastic bottles and the team uniforms were made in low environmental impact materials which included the sweatshirts by the sustainable fashion brand Ecoalf and the shoes by Callaghan.
I was excited to see some brands that I had discovered previously, but was also on the lookout for new labels and I have featured some of my favourites below.
TERESA HELBIG
I was prepared to be wowed at the Teresa Helbig catwalk show, because I have talked constantly about the brand since I uncovered it last season – and they didn’t disappoint. Words cannot express how this brand excites me and I wasn’t alone, as my fellow FROW colleagues all revered the collection we were shown. Since last season the brand has been busy discovering new markets in LA. After seeing the success and demand Helbig pieces had among international celebrities such as Halle Berry, Zendaya, Eva Longoria, Saoirse Ronan, Olivia Wilde or Taylor Swift, the brand landed for the first time in Los Angeles, in November 2019. They presented the brand to press and
stylists and through a trunk show in a Melrose Avenue boutique. It was a huge success, so they are already organising their next LA trip.
Whilst the industry talks constantly about experiential brands – Teresa Helbig is living it. Her passion, creativity and character live in every garment she produces. The collection was filled with exquisiteness, far removed from the ordinary or mass produced. Each collection draws you in, making you want to be a Helbig woman.
Teresa creates and manufactures all her garments in her atelier in Barcelona and she follows the creative process in minute detail from start to finish. She adores experimenting with the best fabrics, combining silk, tulle, gemstone embroidery and crochet. To see the images or the pieces on the catwalk they look divine, but when you get up close in real time and touch the pieces the detailing is incredible. Teresa Helbig is committed to sustainability and slow fashion – achieving it through limiting their stock and working to measure and to order. Working towards zero waste, the brand –tracks where all fabrics come from and each garment is created to last a lifetime and be passed on through the generations
The AW2020 collection Opium, was about contradiction, contrast and cultural mixture with a nod at the disorderly, decadent, romantic and dangerous languor of those who play with fire. The brand explains that we can find a fusion between British rigidity and Eastern mystery, the English countryside and Chinese mashes, tartan and silk, a collision of two contrasting worlds with extremely refined aesthetics at war over an addictive drug, opium. The collection iconic items are poppy red, black lacquer, imperial gold, embroidered velvet, leather, wool, gauze, marabou feathers…
Alongside the main catwalk show, this season Teresa Helbig also launched the new Iberia airlines uniforms that she has designed, with again her fine attention to detail and perfectionism in each piece.