In conversation with Carlota Barrera
Bending the stereotypes of menswear tailoring From Austria to London, the biggest names defining the Spanish fashion industry Carlota Barrera brand sake name beaded her recent collaboration of surprise with New Balance for SS22 collection titled “Tie Game”. The brand has been truly defining the sartorial tailoring to new spheres and breaking down the stereotypes for men's sexuality with the feminine gaze. Discussing her inspiration from Spanish roots to London’s cultural paradox and the future of her brand gets toned down with this interview.
Image Courtesy: Carlota Barrera
Ciao Carlota, I am Shinal and thank you for taking out your time and giving us a chance to interview you. We're glad to have a conversation with you through email.How are you? How has your day looked so far?
CARLOTA BARRERA: Ciao Shinal! It’s a pleasure speaking to you. All my days are quite busy lately, but happy to fill them with work and exciting projects.
Your SS22 collection title “Tie Game” in collaboration with New Balance football conducted a fresh experimental DNA base for your brand. How do you define this masked meaning behind the collaboration of surprise?
CARLOTA BARRERA: With this collection, we explored our take on sportswear, but in the end, it was all about continuing to strengthen our message, deeply focused on challenging stereotypes and working on exploring gender identities in constant evolution. The collection pushes to get rid of rigid codes and claims team play, celebrating the creation of communities based on trust and inclusion in all senses.
From your first debut collection “The Matador and the Fisherman” to personifying the key name in the Spanish Fashion Industry today- how and what is the core learning experiences for you in this journey?
CARLOTA BARRERA: I started this project with a rented sewing machine in my living room, and we’re now a small team of super-passionate professionals who are growing day by day. It’s been a tough journey but I’m grateful for everyone who trusted me and put a little bit of their soul into this project. The biggest lesson I learned is to trust people, give them power and creative freedom and let them into my world to become a part of the brand.
As an individual, from Asturias and studying in the UK at Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion- how important it has been for your learning to explore both diverse fashion grounds in your career and which one standout while you working inspirations and development?
CARLOTA BARRERA: I know I’m incredibly lucky to have studied there, and I am very grateful for that Central Saint Martins is a very creative school where I had lots of fun expressing and developing my ideas. After that, I did my masters in London College of Fashion –as I saw all the tailors in Savile Row had studied there–, and developed my technical & tailoring skills. I also interned and worked in various brands. After all, I find the most important thing is soaking up every bit of knowledge and inspiration one can get, from literally everywhere.
During this time of lockdowns how much of your creative workspace has been shifted and do you think it has been a positive shift much asked for or another way out?
CARLOTA BARRERA: This situation has influenced so many things, both in the industry in general and in the way we work as a team, as losing access to our physical studio pushed us to become incredibly digital. I think we all benefited from that state where the sense of urgency in the industry wasn’t there, but at the same time made us realise how important it is to be surrounded by our teams to stimulate creativity and a good workflow.
Carlota Barrera- is a brand that defines the male body movements, shapes and cut- out silhouettes with the feature of male sexuality that’s unique in its translation- what’s your definition for the man wearing the label “Carlota Barrera”?
CARLOTA BARRERA: We don’t have a specific archetype of ‘the Carlota Barrera man’. We’re working hard to make clothes that are not targeted specifically to men, but to anyone that likes them and enjoys wearing them, whatever their identity is. The best feedback we get when anyone is wearing our pieces is “Wow, I feel incredible in this”. And that’s our ultimate goal, we make clothes because we want to make people feel good.
While growing up which artist | music | Films have exerted a huge influence on your life and does this part of influences mark an important inspiration ethos while working on your collections?
CARLOTA BARRERA: I’ve always been drawn to old photography archives, and music and cinema play a significant role when it comes to my inspiration. I am fascinated by 30s to 60s French cinema (Tati, Godard...), my music taste goes from The Rolling Stones or Chet Baker to Cuban music or Brazilian samba... and I hugely admire artists and photographers such as Helen Frankenthaler, Yves Klein, Vivian Maier or Robert Mapplethorpe but also Nureyev’s ballet or the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. This is only the tip of the iceberg as I try to keep inspired by everything and everyone, which is why I think it’s essential to keep an open mind and experience the joys of eclecticism!
How do you describe your designing and creative approach in 3 words?
CARLOTA BARRERA: Widely influenced, thoroughly researched and narrowed down to the essentials.Not three words, but three short (although important) statements?
Lastly, I want to end the interview by asking what’s next for the brand “Carlota Barrera” as there is so much global re-presentation that you have achieved during a short period and congratulation on this much-deserved acceptance?
CARLOTA BARRERA: Thank you so much! It’s wonderful seeing (and living) the growth and as a small team, every new press coverage or client is a celebration for us. We will keep growing our team and joining new ventures and projects, developing our collections and pushing to show our new ideas and exploring new horizons while we stay loyal to our identity and beliefs.
Credits: Creative Director CARLOTA BARRERA Art Director MATTHEW ATTARD NAVARRO Director DAVID JENEWEIN Photographer: YANNFAUCHER Stylist GARY ARMSTRONG Music LITTLEDOOM STUDIO Production MIRO RAYNOV Runner SYLWIA GRZEGORZKO Junior art director LUKAS HENGSTE DOP SCOTT JONES 1ST AC KAI NEWTONGAFFER RHYS GRAY Styling assistant CALEB DRING Make up BARI KHALIQUE Hair STYLIST MOE MUKAI Talents SAM, KANGKAN, RUBUEN, MAJOK, HOPE SPECIAL THANKS TO BRITISH FASHION COUNCIL
For more info visit: www.carlotabarrera.com
By Shinal Maheshwari