Santander (EFE) and craft production.
Close to a thousand people have visited the parade, which for several days has brought together eighteen fur, textile and accessories firms from northern Spain at the Hotel Real, with Lola Muñoz, from Albacete, as a special guest.
The result, a space to combine energy among artisans who share the common denominator of approaching fashion with a sustainable proposal and a story behind it.
Like the Asturian ‘Yes50’, a firm born ten years ago in Sotrondio, a mining town where “everyone lived very well” and which is now becoming depopulated after the closure of the mine.
“Why does everyone have to be Madrid or Barcelona? Talent is everywhere. Even the smallest village”, claim to EFE Yolanda Roces and Silvia Barbón, two of the precursors of the brand.
The skins have also been present by the hand of Peletería Gabriel, from Zaragoza, or Ramón Ezquerra, from Bilbao, who in a talk with EFE highlighted the sustainable component of the skin. “It is a natural product, it can be reused up to 30 years later”, he points out.
From Bizkaia, down jackets by Henry Arroway, a company in full international expansion whose coats have been worn by various celebrities, have also paraded through the Real.
“We are at the top of the Spanish fashion industry”, emphasizes its founder, Enrique Arroyabe, who is committed to timeless fashion, “that lasts” and “of quality” as opposed to the fast consumption model.
Galician goldsmith
Stories such as that of Susi Gesto, the third generation of a family of goldsmiths from Santiago de Compostela that shapes tradition with fashion, have also paraded down the Moda Norte catwalk.
Like the “bolivar toad”, a piece made by the Galician woman for a woman from three coins that her deceased father brought her from Venezuela and which will be passed down from mothers to daughters in that family.
During the three days, the celebration of ModaNorte 2023, directed by José Luis Callejo, local talent has also been seen by PumbaLumba, Fran Dorela, My Closet & DdDaniela, Catalina García or Evlening Kids from Santander.
There has even been space for wedding dresses by the Asturian firm of Lucía Incera, which seeks to vindicate haute couture and the preparation of “old fashion”.
In addition, the designers have awarded the 23-year-old model Fedua Saber as the best on the catwalk, which started with the Cantabrian firm Baal Bomber as a special guest that brought the Gipuzkoan artist of Finnish origin, Tytti Thusberg.
Amarenak, Cyrana & Casquito de Porcelana completed the catwalk, which was closed by the guest artist, Lola Muñoz from Albacete, with her “difficult” and “risky” structural designs, she explains.