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m i l LI o n a i r E FA S H I O N & B E A U T Y
From
fashion tourist
aesthete to
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RUBENESQUE At the traffic light near the Plaza de Colón, you suddenly come
Located in Madrid’s most expensive area by cost per square metre across a reclining woman. When you are walking down from the
is the vast Parque del Buen Retiro, where the fashion week is Plaza, the first eye-level view is that of huge thighs and buttocks
viewed by more than six million people on television worldwide. seen from behind. “She is so sensuous and beautiful – this fat
You are reminded of just how big the park is when you spend lady,” Blanca Hernandez, who is taking us on a walking tour of
a good half hour walking from one end to the other along the the city, tells us. It is only when you walk a full circle, coming
city’s most expensive shopping street right next to it. “This in to the other side of the massive legs, that you see the daintiness
the centre of Madrid. It is more emblematic. People can walk in of the lady holding a mirror no larger than the side view mirrors
the Retiro on a nice sunny day and at the same time watch the on the scooters that still zip around the city. Everyone is familiar
show,” says Leonor. with the artist Fernando Botero, who is known for paintings
For a fashion tourist witnessing the world’s first “healthy” and sculptures noted for their exaggerated proportions and the
fashion week, there are plenty of emblems. A particularly chubby corpulence of the human and animal figures. If you are unkind,
merchild sits pretty at the entrance. Rubenesque is not a mere you might say that no one in the fashion world had heard of
word in the city – Madrid’s Prado museum boasts of some of the Madrid till they banned thin models. Be that as it may, it would
finest portraits of Pietro Pauolo Rubens, including “The Three be a comment on the fashion world’s shortsightedness that it
Graces” that also features the artist’s wife, Helena Fourment. has not noticed designers such as Miriam Ocariz, Alma Aguilar,
Andres Sarda, Carmen March, Juanjo Olivia, Kina Fernandez,
Antonio Alvardo, Carlos Diez and Jose Miro. The clothes on
the ramp make the cut – even in the state-sponsored fashion
week, which Leonor Perez Pita tells us costs the government >
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Miguel Marinero
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Moving far, far ahead of In another take, Amaya Arzuaga brought horsehair on the
ramp mixed with laminated wool, cashmere and plastic. Her
the mandatory flamenco models sashayed around with their own hair wrapped around
the neck like collars, clad in jackets with backs or tassels of
frills, the designs take on horsehair – blonde or black.
Her show was marvellously well-attended with loud cheers
the asymmetric, high-waist and encouraging claps. In another deliciously Spanish take, far
removed from the rising snoot-quotient in other similar events,
versions of the bolero and are some mom-and-pop shows. As they clap vigorously when
are routinely inspired by an outfit makes it to the ramp, in the brand emblems or colours,
you can see the missed dinners that must have gone into the
Spanish art and artists making of the outfit. But regardless of how new or established
the designer, finding a seat on the front row never seemed to
be an issue here. You could spot someone squatting or sitting
fashion event – promoting a regional aesthetic. Moving far, far cross-legged at someone else’s feet, and no devils in Prada. Of
ahead of the mandatory flamenco frills, the designs take on the course, each time a white-haired lady came to watch the shows,
asymmetric, high-waist versions of the bolero and are routinely rumours went out that she had the most extensive collection of
inspired by Spanish art and artists. In this year’s designs, Carmen haute couture in all Europe.
March looks for inspiration in the women represented in Spanish It is not only the fact that the enthusiasts on the front row
paintings by Velazquez, Goya, Zuloaga, El Greco, Soroya, don’t think enthusiasm is blasé. The city is happily fashionable.
Picasso and Fortuny. All over, pink and orange banners with the show’s logo of >
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Elio Berhanyer
exclamatory heels announce the fashion week. There are as many varieties
of jacket on the streets near the centre as there are on the catwalk. And
hardly any are black. Red, hues of brown, patchwork, buff, purple – we
encountered them all. And even if someone is in regulation black, colour
creeps in in the form of fluorescent green ballerina shoes, a bright red bag
or blue hair.
FASHION SHOPPING
Salamanca, the luxury-shopping destination of Madrid, is just round the
corner; a mere five-minute walk from the park that is hosting the fashion
week, everyone says. If you need directions you only have to look at the
signboards that underline the city’s determination of “we will, we will walk
you”. Instead of the usual arrows pointing in the right directions, walking
stick figures demonstrate which way to go.
Two hours and some time later, we turn back having witnessed the district’s
commercial identity, especially in Calle de Serrano in the Salamanca,
known as Madrid’s Golden Mile of shops. Fashion, jewellery, footwear – it is
all there, with jewellery shops locked with shopkeepers inside, only opening
when customers peer in. The district, formed by 50 streets and avenues, is
arranged in the form of a grid in the style of Haussman’s Paris.
You will find jewellers like Carrera y Carrera at Serrano that has been there
since 1895, alongside Diesel, and Carolina Herrera who has a lovely, dark
corner boutique. Farrutx (Serrano, 7) is famous in Madrid for its hand-made
shoes. Hoss has some beautiful feminine styles and is a must-see. Amaya
Arzuaga, one of Spain’s top designers, with sexy, bold options for women,
also retails there.
Francis Montesinos Alternative, younger and funky hippy styles are found in the barrio of Chueca.
The main streets to visit are Fuencarral and Calle Hortaleza. They both start at
Gran Via, and head up towards the Tribunal area. The further away from Gran
Via you get, the more alternative the styles. We landed there one evening
and found everything from the Indian Ganesha to dosa being sold in the
name of fusion.
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The centre between Gran Via and Puerta del Sol is bursting Dali and Miro, along with many others by non-Spanish
with more commercial shops like Mango, Zara, Pimkie, Bershka, artists. Spanish masterpieces including Goya’s “La Maja
H&M (on Gran Via) and the department store El Corte Ingles. Desnuda” and “The Third of May 1808” and Velazquez’s “Las
You’ll also find Top Shop in the Puerta del Sol. Meninas”, as well as many works from the Italian, Flemish
Head down the Calle Mayor and Calle Arenal directly off and Dutch schools make their way on to souvenirs such
Puerta del Sol and you’ll find several women’s shops. On the as T-shirts, watches and even aprons in areas such as Plaza
Arenal, look for Blanco and at Calle Mayor, 37 Custo Barcelona Major where artists pitch a canvas on the street and you can
– the über trendy store that clothes stars such as Christina go inspiration-spotting whilst admiring their work. Diego
Aguilera and Julia Roberts. Velázquez’s “Las Meninas”, which depicts the Infanta Margarita,
is a particular favourite and shows up on earrings, stamps,
bags and more.
ART ON STREET “I don’t like souvenirs,” Blanca says when we ask her about
A week in Spain can transform you from a mere fashion tourist where to go hunting for them. What she recommends is better
into an aesthete. Every square or junction has a sculpture hoisted than any souvenir we could have found. It is the 74-proof local
on it with periods overlapping each other. The Spaniards are alcohol called Anis de Chinchón, a kind of anisette liquer
proud of the city, with official and unofficial walking tours that produced in the village of Chinchón, Madrid. Blanca says that
familiarise you with everything from 20th century architecture the secret of Chinchón is that it is sweet so you don’t realise quite
to art and palaces in the city. “I have been doing this for 20 years. how much you have consumed till its effects become visible.
I love Madrid; it’s the best city in the world,” Blanca tells us. Chinchón is available at every supermarket. “It is very good
The Centro de Arte Reina Sofia is one of the best venues for health. You should have a little after dinner,” the shopkeeper
in Europe for major exhibitions. Its centrepiece is Picasso’s tells us, adding that the real Chinchón drinkers in Spain are
“Guernica” – undoubtedly the most famous painting of the older women, ladies who drink it just for its curative properties
20th century. or as a digestive, and to stay young.
The rest of the permanent collection contains works by We just knew there had to be a health connection somewhere,
virtually every noted Spanish artist of this century, including after all.
An artist’s work at Plaza Major Park Retiro – the venue for the fashion week