Benz Fashion Week Madrid popped into my inbox earlier this year, I was thrilled to accept. I had never travelled to this part of Spain before and the schedule of designers looked intriguing.
Madrid is often referred to as ‘the heart and soul of Spain’. It is a cultural location with a rich cultural history, several world-renowned museums, and a city full of intricate architecture. This sounded like the perfect place to spend a few days in early July, combining my love of fashion with discovering a new capital.
Spain is well known for fast fashion, due to the epic worldwide growth of Inditex brand Zara, but it isn’t the only fashion brand to reach global acclaim. Other world-known names include Balenciaga, Custo, Desigual and Camper to name a few. Spanish fashion is making a name for itself with both haute couture and prêt-à-porter brands and collections.
Mercedes Benz Fashion Madrid (MBFWMadrid) is not new to the fashion calendar, as in July 2019 it held its 70th edition of this great Spanish Fashion Festival event. What was new, was the move of its dates to earlier in year, which meant it no longer clashed with the big four fashion weeks of New York, London, Milan and Paris; instead now opening the calendar of international fashion shows. This change of date, and a drive to promote Spanish fashion to new markets, saw a surge of international press and buyers attend. I was pleased to share this Madrid adventure alongside top industry names from the press and buyers, as well as long-time fashion friends and family, all of us looking to discover new brands and talent.
The fashion week didn’t disappoint, providing an excellent introduction to a host of new brands as well as more established names. Between the 5th - 10th July, 42 leading designers and brands took part in shows, parades and presentations at IFEMA and other venues around Madrid. There were also two new fashion parades by emerging international designers as part of the Samsung Ego project that runs alongside the fashion week.
I have to be honest and say I didn’t know many of the names on the schedule, therefore I was excited to discover the wealth of Spanish labels on offer. Many of the brands have already achieved high acclaim in their own country, but not branched out into the global market - yet.
Standing out on the schedule was one name that had achieved global fame, and that was Palomo Spain. A graduate from London College of Fashion, designer Alejandro Gómez Palomo created his menswear label Palomo Spain as a celebration of the dismantling of gender norms. It was however the dress he created for Beyoncé, for her first pictures with the baby twins, that bought him global attention. A picture that is one of Instagram’s most-liked pictures ever. This season instead of a catwalk show the brand premiered a new film at MBFWMadrid, a short that reveals both the work and the personal life of Palomo. I was disappointed not to see the actual collection, but will make an effort to put this right in the near future.
From the host of amazing designers and collections that were on offer, I struggled to pick my favourite brands, but here are a few of the new brands that I uncovered.
Uncovering the heart and soul of Madrid fashion week
MilliOnAir | Fashion Uncovered
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ne of the best parts of my job is being invited to travel to fashion weeks all over the world to discover new brands. When an invite to Mercedes Mercedes
By Alison Lowe MBE