Alameda, the responsible firm and ‘queer’ created by a fast fashion daughter
Por Patricia Moreno
When he had in front of her the task of appointing his personal fashion project, Isabel Ruiz Furió (Valencia, 1990) pulled sensations.Of safe spaces.Or, at least, of evocations to any of these.“Alameda is the name of the walk where the house where I grew up is located.It is a dirt walk with terraces and giant trees for which I loved to climb as little.It is also the place where I smoked my first cigar, and something else...For me, it is a word with a beautiful sound and which means house. Para emprender este proyecto, que me daba un poco de vértigo, necesitaba un nombre familiar que me trajese estabilidad y fuerza”, asegura esta joven, en cuyo currículum están Zara Kids, C&A y, actualmente, Mango."I started living from fashion relatively soon.My first job was not, as happens to enough compis.It seems to me a very respectable and beautiful choice, but fortune led me quickly ".Thus, with a career in the forged design in the Big Players of International Fashion, this young Valencian resident in Barcelona is committed to a firm in which to print her most intimate vision of the industry.
This translates into creations without gender and limited units that raise an alternative way of relating to clothing.“After many years working at Fast-Fashion I feel that it is time to materialize more than a desire, a need.This project has helped me to remember why I started in fashion, I have fun again and enjoy what I do, and I have also learned many new things, parts of the process I didn't even know;I have also overcome my congenital indifference to social networks and my panic to bureaucracy.But what I liked most to check about myself is to what extent I can commit to something when I care.Very long nights, very short weeks.I have had to say no to plans for staying at home and I have done it at ease.Incredible, with what I like a beer...”, The creative grants, which with just a few months of journey celebrates the good reception of Alameda."For now I am very happy with how it is working.I am receiving a lot of support and very cool people are proposing very interesting collaborations and projects.At the sales level we are growing little by little, for now in Spain and in countries in northern Europe, and we continue to expand! ”, Transmit enthusiastic.
Somehow, your childhood is present in the project, with that allusion to the Alameda where you grew up.What impact were those years on your creative vocation?
From what I can remember, as a child I was always more introverted and independent.As a little daughter and a little missed from three sisters, we do not match much in the vital stages, so I got used enough to go to my air, something that still characterizes me, I think.Unfortunately, creativity never had an important role in my education: they taught me to study and respect certain plots of artistic creation, but always as mere spectator.A creative attitude was never promoted, nor was there in an artistic environment, and to top it off to a Catholic school in which there was not an artistic educational option.
And what about fashion?What are your first memories associated with this?
Most likely, everything would start in a small children's clothing store that my mother had in Valencia, and where I spent most of my afternoons at the exit of school trying clothes, making occupies or simply watching.I grew up feeling that what I wore said much more than what I was saying and in all the phases of my life it was extremely important for me the expression of who it was through clothes.
What do you think is what has influenced you the most when configuring your creative personality?
I think one of the best things I always had to feed creativity is time.I never had one of those agendas full of extracurricular activities that steal all your time until you fall on bed.He had a lot of free time to "lose" and as a girl in Ciudad, he spent a lot of this time at home alone, which I think develops your imagination in a very natural and personal way.I never get bored when I am doing nothing, in fact, it is something that I miss today and I think it is an important element to accommodate creative thinking.Another thing is to learn to channel or materialize it, you have to learn it.
In Alameda there is no tricot, however, you started specializing in this technique.As was?
I studied fashion design at the EASD of Valencia and, by coincidences of life, over time my experience ended up specializing in the-Tricot area, a quite specific and technical world, but very interesting.In many universities you can specialize in this area from studies to have the necessary technical knowledge, but in my university this option did not exist, so I learned everything working.When you work for large companies you dedicate yourself to something very concrete because the level of specialization is very high, so after nine years dedicated to tricot, in my personal project, Alameda, I wanted to do something completely different.
How did the jump to the inditex ranks?
It all started the summer that ended the race.I did a final career project inspired by the pre-Rafaelitas painters that I enjoyed very much and presented with great enthusiasm to the ego contest, in Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid.To everyone's surprise, it was selected to participate in the contest.This has been for this time but I do not forget the summer of hard work, illusion, some other tear and much, very heat at home sewing the collection.It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and, although I did not win the contest, I opened the door to my first professional experience in Inditex, which sponsored the event.I was not in my plans to become part of the staff of such a giant Fast-Fashion, but when the opportunity arose, I was excited to think everything I could learn from people who had come so far and that my clothes could reach people from all the world.I think it was a good decision and that it opened a door to a branch of fashion that, although today it no longer agrees with many of my principles, at that time it seemed an unrepeatable opportunity.My first experience was in Zara Kids, and I took two very important things: how much I learned every day (just out of the race, I didn't even know how a real fashion company worked, much less than that size), and thePeople so cool with whom I found my.
What came later?
Después de unos años allí decidí probar suerte con experiencia internacional, más motivada por la idea de vivir en otro país que por la experiencia laboral en sí, así que me mudé a Alemania a C&A, donde comencé a trabajar en mujer, en tricot de nuevo.Living abroad was very enriching, I consider the Erasmus that I never did and made me appreciate the good things in my country.After a while I returned to Barcelona to work for mango.In this brand I met some incredible people to whom I consider more friends than partners and that have supported me a lot in the Alameda creation process.
By creating your own brand, did you be clear that it would have a responsible production?
Yes, whenever I have been able to make decisions trying to opt for the most sustainable and ethical option.These are very small productions compatible with moderate and sustainable consumption habits.The garments are made in a small workshop in Barcelona, in which women work at risk of social exclusion.I found it on a textile networking website.Its manager has worked in India managing workshops with sustainable production methods and now in Barcelona manages a cooperative that hires migrant women who learned to sew their home to, thus, professionalize their knowledge and contribute a decent salary to their families.
Why fashion without gender?
Because fashion has always been a reflection of its historical moment and I think that more and more people realize the unnecessary of gender distinctions.It is a struggle that comes from far away, and my role as a cisgenero, white and middle class that has grown up and very comfortable in the system is to listen and contribute my grain of sand so that no one has to grow suffering from rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that rules that standardsThey are useless.Hopefully my offspring (if I have) grow in a world in which you don't say "women are like that and men are asá, and if you don't fit this there is something that does not work well".
Where do tissues come from?
For this collection I wanted to use silk fabrics, and to compensate for costs and for color and supply, I worked with several origins.One of the fabrics is made in Spain, it is an incredible shift silk (and very expensive!).I also worked with a fabric stock resale company;In this case I do not know their origin, but I'm glad to know that they are tissues that would otherwise be discarded.Finally, due to stock and color needs, I also worked with an English silk supplier, which manufactures in China.It is not ideal, but in the company policy they guarantee that all its factories comply with the Okeo-Tex legislation, which ensures that work safety standards are met, and Reach, which controls the use of chemicals in production.
When is Alameda?
At this time I am focusing on making myself known and finding people who like the product.I started in the Spanish market and later in northern Europe, where I have made some sales.The next step I think it will be the United Kingdom and France, although they are markets with such competition ... My idea is - with luck - exhaust outs and start with the next collection.
How did you decide which pieces would make up the first collection?
It was a very intuitive process.I really wanted to make structured garments and I love blazers, so the presence of costumes was clear from the beginning.I wanted to make dress clothes but different from what you usually find in the competition.For this same reason, at first I thought I did not make dresses, because it seemed the easiest to find.Although I found the green fabric, which fell in love, and I thought it had to be for a dress...And less bad, because in the end it has been the best selling!But, for me, screwed pants with openings are impressive.
Let's talk about the campaign.What did you want to convey with the Alterna atmosphere?
We moved to Bellvitge, a neighborhood of labor origin built in the 60s to give home to thousands of families that emigrated to Barcelona to work.Its industrial and brutalist architecture seemed an interesting contrast with the delicacy and sensuality of the garments.In addition, I love the aesthetics of the classic Spanish neighborhood, with its castizos bars, its colored awnings and its sixties architecture that is ugly and cool at the same time.
Any ‘shooting’ anecdote?
My favorite story was when we were taking Jayce's photos outside a truck that had parked.Suddenly, the truck driver appeared and for his own prejudices or stereotypes we thought he could have some kind of problem with Jayce's look.We asked him with little hope if he cared that we were taking pictures of his vehicle and the man, very relaxed, told us that nothing happened.Someone went a little further and asked if the truck would open to take pictures inside.To our surprise, the Lord was delighted with the situation.He opened the truck, climbed and lowered the windows at ours, waited for us to end and left with a smile.A good lesson that prejudices move in both directions and that we have to update our preconceived ideas.
What do you think a brand like yours can contribute to the industry?
Simply a grain of sand to break the uniformity that reigns in fashion today, and do it in the most open and free way possible.I have been specialized in what we call "Women's Clothes" and I love doing this type of garments, but I don't want to limit myself to 50% of the population!I am not a very ambitious person, I aspire to have a brand that I can handle with a small team, that helps certain causes that matter to me.In the future I want to work in prices because I don't want to position myself as an elitist brand.If at any time I can have a physical store, I would love it, because I am not a big fan of buying online, but little by little...
Which are the next steps?
Towards winter I will start the following collection.In it I will adopt everything I have learned in this collection, I will try to channel or not repeat my mistakes, and continue feeding what I have planted this year.And, in the meantime, I will continue looking for people with common ideas and interests, who like what I do and that make all the hours invested in Alameda after work, nerves, stumbling and constant threat of failure have validated the sorrow.It has been an incredible project, and what I have left!
