Teresa Helbig is having a year full of celebrations and it’s no less than she deserves. She has been in the job for 20 years, in a world she has felt part of since childhood, amongst the fashions and fabrics of the haute couture studio where her mother Teresa worked. Her main mentor and together with her the rock base of the company. After an initial period in window display where she displayed with elegance the Gratacós shop windows in the legendary shop in Paseo de Gracia, the call to creativity crept up on the designer almost imperceptibly. It was at a party and all down to a spectacular dress with hand sewn feathers that she herself created. From there the first orders came and the made to measure outfits that she herself produced with her own personal style: feminine and rebellious at once. The phenomenon spread rapidly by word of mouth into the top spheres. It was then in 1966 that Teresa Helbig opened the doors of her studio in Barcelona Eixample, where it still is today. With a mixture of happiness, vertigo, a degree of fear, but really with a huge amount of happiness.
In these two decades in the job, Teresa Helbig has continued to enjoy her many successes and to learn from her disappointments, always remaining true to her coquettish “battle” style – for her warrier princesses – and her philosophy, which combines workmanship and passion for detail, seeking perfection via accessories and fabrics of the very top quality. And here we are proud that the designer is a Gratacós regular when it comes to selecting fabrics to later convert them into stunning dresses, draper shorts or 70s style blouses. Her famous “jewel garments” inspired in the muses of the sixties and seventies such as Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin, amongst other specific cultural references. Nowadays the “Helbig Gang” –the Helbig girls – are no other than the actresses Macarena Gómez or Úrsula Corberó, fans of her designs. Together with the Barcelona firm the latter have filmed a new short fashion film –which will soon see the light of the day.
Standing out amongst all the new elements of this year, and after a stunning commemorative parade in September on the Madrid catwalk which paid tribute to dance, is the launch of her first line of perfume. These are three fragrances inspired by the designer’s universe: “Teresa”, “Bullfog” and “Tanger” created jointly with the firm Carner Barcelona. Teresa Helbig also makes use of her online shop to further promote national and international sales. The icing on the cake of the celebrations of this memorable year, was a touching party and exhibition in the Sants Hivernacle of her most iconic dresses, accompanied by 20 thoughts that sum up the essential Helbig. Elegant and seductive models with that hint of rebelliousness such as the Medusa dress or the Little Black Dress which never fails. It’s not for nothing that this woman Teresa Helbig never goes unnoticed.
*Photography: Nuria Cienfuegos
