Who are the current ambassadors of design in Barcelona? The unknowns have already been resolved with the winning names of the second edition of the MODA-FAD Awards, the awards given by the Association for the Promotion of Fashion as recognition for their work in the sector.
In this edition the awards of the four professional categories have been: Carlota Barrera in the category of Merit for Clothing Design; Sol Prado in the category of Merit for Complementary Design; Rebeca Sueiro in the category of Merit for Styling and Image , and Ignasi Monreal in the category of Merit for Visual Communication. In addition the MODA-FAD Board will give to Pedro Rovira the Honour Award in recognition of his creativity and for having valued the identity of local and national fashion. Finally, there is also a separate award: that for Student Sustainability, which this time has been awarded to Mireia Panisello, a BAU design student.
The jury that has decided the names featured in this edition are the stylist Ana Murillas , the fashion culture specialist Charo Mora, the designer Claudia Pérez, the fashion editor Estel Vilaseca , and the fashion designer Krizia Robustella.
Discover who is who
Carlota Barrera
Carlota Barrera is a young designer based in London who holds a master’s degree from the London College of Fashion and has developed her skills working in several haute couture houses. Last year Barrera launched her own named brand with the men’s collection “El Matador y el Pescador”. This company explores modern silhouettes in collections that reflect the classic techniques of tailoring and artisan motifs with a contemporary vision and a very visual approach. Each garment fuses the concepts of heritage and luxury from a fashion-house that represents a vision of modern man.
Sol Pardo
Sol Pardo shows her ideals through hats. Concepts such as art, design and craftsmanship are present in each of her creations that are characterized by using reusable hand-made materials. Thus, for example, hats combine acrylic as a distinctive raw material, with straw hats made by hand by a community of weavers. This is the essence of Pardo Hats: to defend the value of the slow fashion with timeless accessories that generate identity.
Rebeca Sueiro
The Galician Rebeca Sueiro (A Coruña, 1982) began her relationship with the world of scenic costume in 2002 in her hometown, where she studied Industrial Pattern-making. Sueiro’s editorial work shows her admiration for the subcultures and the most underground artistic, aesthetic and musical scene as well as her travels in Europe, Africa and Asia, where she has actively participated in the rave scene and has lived in artistic communities related to it. Currently Rebeca works in Barcelona and her obsession as a stylist is to see how through clothing each individual constructs a unique language with which to communicate.
Ignasi Monreal
Who now is still not familiar with the illustration of Ignasi Monreal? The Barcelona artist based in Rome works in various media, including painting, design, creative direction, and cinema. He is the creator of the celebrated Gucci Spring / Summer 18 campaign , the first of its kind in which digital illustration is used entirely. He has also illustrated other international campaigns for Alessandro Michele and Dior. Monreal has recently exhibited at La Fresh Gallery, a show dedicated to the celebration of everyday gastronomy and called ‘ PlatsBruts ‘ (“Dirty Plates” ) .
The prizes will be awarded next June 15 in the building Disseny Hub of Barcelona. In parallel, the works by each of the prize-winners can be seen in the exhibition “Best design of the year”.
Pedro Rovira learned the trade in a tailor shop. In 1948 he founded his first fashion house in the square Gal·la Placídia, which years later moved to the Rambla del Prat in Barcelona. In 1957 he presented his collection at the Berlin International Exhibition, in 1964 he joined the Alta Costura Cooperative and the following year he presented his collection in the Spanish Pavilion of the New York International Fair.
In the 70s he started a ready-to-wear line, but he continued with haute couture. Rovira was the benchmark of Barcelona fashion during the 60s and 70s. He showed a predilection for pure lines, especially in day-time pieces. His creations stand out for the sharpness of the lines and the play of colour, for good construction and an impeccable cut.
The prizes will be awarded next June 15 in the Disseny building Hub of Barcelona. In parallel the works by pieces of each of the prize-winners can be seen in the exhibition “Best design of the year”.
2018 is the year of the new MODA-FAD . Located in the Disseny Hub de Barcelona, the fashion association integrated in the FAD (Promotion of Arts and Design) gives voice and visibility to local designers. It is an entity formed by fashion professionals from different areas, from clothing to footwear, which presents initiatives that help to give continuity to designers with a commercial vocation, a titanic task in these times.
In April MODA-FAD emerged with a new board of directors and with commitments, challenges and projects that value the professionals of fashion, design and craftsmanship that we hope will set a new clarion cry. In this first stage of the association the designer Edgar Carrascal assumed the presidency accompanied by his right hand, Mireia Playà, who specialises in vegan footwear. Also participating in the initiative are Elisenda Oms and Elisabet Carlota of Carlota Oms, Antonio Calderón and Pau Esteve.
The spirit of the new Association for the Promotion of Fashion makes clear its intentions to defend the Barcelona brand and to seek internationalization, to contribute to the business development and the industrial fabric of the country and the “dignification” of trades related to fashion. It also has the didactic aim of sharing knowledge and assuming a teaching role in the consumption of fashion, aiming to provide the necessary tools for conscious and sustainable consumption.
The MODA-FAD Awards
Within the framework of Barcelona Design Week, the new MODA-FAD Awards are to be promoted in a ceremony and afterwards a party that will take place next Wednesday June 6 in the Disseny Hub Barcelona. Awards are aimed at recognizing the work of professionals and companies in the world of fashion and who have made contributions to the sector during the last year. In total prizes will be awarded in three different categories: Merit in Fashion Design, Merit in Fashion Innovation and Talent of the Year Award. Special recognition will also be granted to a designer or brand that is not active, but whose contribution in the fashion sector is valued.
The winners
In this first edition the designer Víctor von Schwarz with his Double Life collection, 2018 is the winner of the Merit Award in Fashion Design . His tendentious presentation highlights the precariousness of the sector and the difficulties faced by emerging designers, “the new generation” whose double life between creativity and reality usually lasts no more than 10 years. As a representation of this ‘Double Life’ the collection is divided into two parts: one purely in black and white with shapes that are inspired by office attire, the other more imaginative with glitter, voluminous shapes and pastel shades.
The Merit Award for Innovation in Fashion goes to Piñatex ® by Ananas Anam, a company that is developing a product in which commercial success is integrated and social, ecological and cultural development is promoted in parallel. Working from this perspective, Piñatex ® opts for a non-woven natural base material that consumers can use as a sustainable alternative. The material is made from pine leaf fibres, a product from the agricultural industry that does not require large amounts of land, water or pesticides to produce the raw material.
The Talent of the Year Award goes to Pepa Salazar, one of the most promising talents in Spanish fashion. Established in Madrid, this Valencian designer presented her first collection in 2013 for which she won the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Award Talent in the next edition. In the Autumn-Winter 18/19 collection, the designer presents a universe marked by the images of the absurd, fictitious and utopian, belonging to the mythology and paganism of primitive cultures. The jury considered that her latest creation is rich in colours and textures, has character and strength and an identity of its own recognisable in all of Pepa Salazar’s collections.
Finally Gori de Palma receives the Special Award from the Board of the New MODA-FAD. The essence of the designer is condensed into the industrial and the dense, all within a post-punk filter. Her signature is that of a refined and obscure author, with a perverse touch based on sub-cultural movements.
In the first edition of the awards tribute will also be paid to the figure of the Catalan dressmaker and businesswoman Carme Martí Riera (1872-1949), a professional with strong ideals who fought to dignify the profession of dressmaker, besides being the creator of the Martí System , the first technique of pattern making with a technical rigour that was celebrated world-wide.
Attendees of this annual celebration of Barcelona’s fashion talent will also be able to see the exhibition “The best design of the year”, where pieces by the winners of these awards will be on display. This sample in addition brings together 500 finalist works and winners of the different prizes awarded by the associations of the FAD in the various design disciplines.
