María de la Orden, the designer who is sweeping among fashion experts (and Instagram): "Maybe they confuse elegant with posh"
María de la Orden left for Paris before she was eighteen to study Law and Economics at the prestigious Sorbonne University. From there, and moved by her interest and devotion to her fashion, she built a modest empire with her own clothing brand and her social media.
She is from Madrid, but the success she has achieved there with her collections and, of course, the crush she felt with the city of light, have led her to settle permanently in the French capital. Paris est trop Paris.
She would have liked to study fashion, but her unfulfilled desire hasn't stopped her from getting where she wanted. Or more. It all started with a trip with her family to Peru, where she fell in love with the culture, crafts, and ethnic fabrics. He took several, and with them he made his first jackets with no other intention than to sell them to his closest circle.
It was with his first job, at the Who's Next fair, that he got the big break. Her boss, aware of his interest in design, suggested that he create her first collection to exhibit in that same space, where designers and buyers court each other. That exhibition became his great showcase. The other was (and still is) that of social networks.
QUESTION. Would you conceive the same success without Instagram?
RESPONSE. I don't believe it. When you start with brands so small, that you barely have a budget for advertising or to be in magazines, it is a very useful tool to teach talent.
Instagram, which to a certain extent has democratized opportunities, is his particular catalogue. With poses reminiscent of Botticelli's La Primavera, her story is to immerse yourself in a trip to the past, rewinding four decades to enter a world of cheerful, fresh colors and vichy checks inspired by the English countryside, where hats and accessories fight each other. Yes, for attention. Classicism and modernity embrace and coexist with good taste and elegance.
Sometimes preschool and bucolic elements flood this style that has infiltrated the closets of some of the most notorious personalities, from Eugenia Silva, through Sassa de Osma, Tamara Falcó, the top Vanessa Breuer and, recently, the Queen Letizia, who appeared in Palma this summer in a striped dress with a marine aesthetic during a tribute to Olympic medalist Joan Cardona.
"That such an important figure like the queen wears one of our designs was very inspiring and motivates us to continue doing things. Thanks to these small victories we continue to work and do our best," says María in a busy conversation that reflects her constant activity.
Now, the mornings are your allowance. She takes it easy: at half past six she sets the alarm clock, has breakfast, does yoga (three times a week) and savors the solitude of the house for a long time before going to the office.
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The designer quit her job as soon as she saw that her clothes were making their way into society. She dedicated herself exclusively to her brand and it wasn't until two years ago, when she teamed up with her friend Laura hers, that she gave that definitive push. She started dealing with marketing, logistics and numbers. Now, they speak for themselves: last year his brand had a turnover of more than one million euros and this year he hopes to reach two.
Currently it reaches places like the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Austria... But most of its clients are in Spain and France. They work with several workshops: the main one is in Madrid, it is the same one with which he began his adventure, and he expanded as he overflowed with orders.
Now it produces leather shoes in Portugal, hats in Peru, raffia sandals in Morocco, cashmere sweaters in Mongolia and summer garments in India, where the blockprint technique is used, which consists of applying natural dyes to the garment from some wooden stamps.
P. You say that digital content is one of the keys to your success. What else?
R. The key to getting far is not to compare yourself, not to try to compete with anyone, to be true to your style and not to do something just because it is fashionable. I design what seems elegant to me, what I would wear, not what I think can succeed.
P. Has your style ever been interpreted as "posh"?
R. They have never told me. The clothes are elegant, and maybe they mistake it for posh.
P. Is there a future in fashion for young people?
R. The new generations are coming onto the market and more and more are starting to undertake. I think there is a lot of creativity in Spain, but it is difficult for it to be recognized abroad.
It took her two years to establish herself in the French market. Now she won't let go. From there, from Paris, he confesses that he works a lot (for pleasure and devotion to what he does) and that in his spare time he tries to escape to the countryside or travel to Spain: "I love it and I think the quality of life is better, but because of what I have built in Paris, it will be difficult to return," he explains. The tone is enthusiastic when he talks about the city's gastronomy, architecture, exhibitions and fashion.
As with so many other artists: "She's a constant inspiration." Paris is a lot of Paris.
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