Carlota Barrera SS22, the fashion collection that mixes tailoring and football

Carlota Barrera SS22, a collection with references to traditional tailoring, queer movement and soccer sports style.It is the proposal of the Asturian designer as a team with New Balance.

En solo 5 años, Carlota Barrera, una asturiana de 29 años, ha posicionado su firma a nivel internacional. Ganadora en 2019 de la edición española de Who’s On Next, esta diseñadora trabaja desde Londres y vende en puntos de referencia como Antonioli, 50M London, SSense o Farfetch. La sastrería tradicional o el movimiento queer son algunos de los conceptos que definen su moda, ideas a las que ahora también añade el estilo deportivo del fútbol en su colaboración con New Balance para primavera verano 2022.

Interview: Ramón Fano / Photography: Yannfaucher

Carlota Barrera SS22

We interview the Asturian designer with headquarters in London.

You are 92, you are 29 years old.What sign of the zodiac are you?You identify?

I am Gemini.I am not especially conditioned by the zodiac or I have knowledge about it, but they usually tell me that ‘sometimes I am very Gemini’, whatever that means ...

Carlota Barrera SS22

How do you see your evolution within fashion in the last 5 years?

5 years ago I was still studying my master's degree in LCF and I was at a very different moment.These years have been (and are being) of continuous growth, both professional and personal.The following 5 will undoubtedly full of projects, growing with the brand and expanding horizons in all the senses.There are future plans, but I think we have all learned (especially in these last two years) to react quick.

Carlota Barrera SS22

You introduce yourself as a queer woman.

Being queer is part of my identity, and therefore of the lens with which I look and work.It is about seeing identities as a fan and celebrating each of them, and leaving behind the pre -established gender stereotypes and roles.From the brand we work so that anyone, regardless of their identity, feels comfortable with our garments.

Carlota Barrera SS22

Traditional male tailoring inspires much of your fashion, although you show that your designs work for any genre.

The brand, rather than an interest in the ‘masculine’ was born from an almost obsession with tailoring.What the suit has represented throughout history, the crafts of its construction ... and how versatile it can be, regardless of the occasion or the ‘gender’.We have experienced with this until now and we will continue doing it, but we really want to continue exploring and give our vision of other types of more traditionally feminine garments.

Carlota Barrera SS22

How do you feel within the male fashion category?

The firm began as a messwear brand, but it has evolved to what it is now, which is a celebration of all identities.It is still categorized by gender, but we really do clothes for anyone who wants to put it.

Carlota Barrera SS22

Will a fashion week be implanted without gender?

Our last two parades in London Fashion Week were part of a new initiative by the British Fashion Council in which they drive a Genderless Fashion Week, and we hope that this type of change will have arrived to stay.

Carlota Barrera SS22

When you describe your fashion, you talk about "luxury hidden in invisible details".

I think that real luxury has more to do with something more invisible to the eyes than with something very evident.In my opinion, luxury is linked to comfort, durability, pleasure ... is something more intimate, like a good Manta de Merino at home, where nobody sees it but it is really enjoyed, instead of a huge logo in aBag or Shoes - Incomodes– of the last season.

Carlota Barrera SS22

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You have studied fashion at the FDI, in Saint Martins, at the College of Fashion in London.Study the difference in one place to another?

I have had the great luck of being able to nourish myself in several places, and from each one I take different types of teaching and learning.It is clear that training is very important, but the really important thing is to get as much as possible from where you are.You can go to the best school and have not learned anything, and also be self -taught and in constant learning and get very far.

Carlota Barrera SS22

In between, you also worked with Carmen March for Pedro del Hierro, and in London for Richard Quinn.Did you ever raise the dilemma between creating your own firm or working for another brand?

The initial idea was to work in teams and in other firms, I had always wanted to have my own brand, but it seemed so impossible to live on this that I almost did not dare to dream him.Now I dedicate myself full time to this, combining it with teaching work and some consulting, but it also seems very interesting to incorporate the artistic direction of a great signature to the equation.How to dream is free, I would love to take another return to Celine, take the firm again to what was a few years ago with Phoebe Philo and continue exploring that path.

Carlota Barrera SS22

What gives you to live in London?

London is a very multicultural city, and it is one of the things that I like most about it.Apart from the great cultural offer that is undoubtedly the best worldwide, I have the feeling that I do not need to go to a cultural event so that something moves me inside, there are many things in the day to day of the city that areAs interesting as an exhibition: a walk, the subway in the Rush Hour, an improvised performance ... is the mixture of people and cultures and creative spontaneity that makes the city unique.

Carlota Barrera SS22

You have presented collection in Madrid and also in London.Will you continue doing it?

We were elected emerging talent in London Fashion Week last season and this season we wanted to take another step, so we decided to parade in the main calendar.Our study is in London, the brand was born here and our creative team works in the city, so for us it makes sense to do so in London.In addition to the support of the British Fashion Council, London Fashion Week has great relevance at international level and allows us to reach our clients (which both individual and stockists are mostly international).At the same time, being Spanish and having lived several years in Madrid I love doing things there from time to time, and we do it whenever we can.It is very special to show our collections and carry out projects in Spain, it's like returning home.

Carlota Barrera SS22

Do you design and produce in London?

Our study is in London and this is where collections are created and developed.We produce in small family workshops in Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal.For oltrxs it is very important that each workshop is specialized in a type of product and has an honest and controlled production, we continue to contribute to the local economy and the continuation of manual work forms.

Carlota Barrera SS22

What are your favorite fabrics?

We try to work as much as possible with ‘noble’ materials (wool, cotton ...) we believe they are more durable, more environmentally friendly and more friendly to the skin.We also use bamboo, viscose, sustainable coupro ... and different recycled or reused materials.Depending on the type of material come from one place or another, but above all from Italy and the United Kingdom.

Carlota Barrera SS22

Can you be creative and commercial at the same time?

We always try to have a balance.I love telling something through a collection, but we cannot forget that in the end they are garments and have to be functional.There are always surprising garments.The first piece of the brand was a jumpit with openings that was born in my master's collection as something experimental, and today it has become the brand's icon and is our bestseller.

Carlota Barrera SS22

What is your sales strategy?

We work with a driver of wholesale who has been wearing our brand for several collections.It is not in our study every day, but we have continuous communication, and with it we work all relationships with buyers, retailers ...

Carlota Barrera SS22

On your website you have a section called The Collaborative T-Shirt Project.

It is a very special project that we develop to support local trade in Madrid and celebrate neighborhood life, and the creation of communities around a table.We contacted businesses that we like (drink coffee, form, Javier S.Medina and Brutal Burrito) with artists and friends to contribute their vision of these projects (Koln Studio, Sofia Borovskaia, Miguel Camprubi and Carolina Lindberg), and with their illustrations we made a limited edition of T -shirts.Our intention was to make a collaboration that had a social impact, so the benefits are donated to the four social dining rooms of Madrid.It is a very special collaboration, and surely we will continue it!

Tell us about your Carlota Barrera SS22 collection.

From the brand we always try to challenge stereotypes and explore gender identities in constant evolution.In the collection, as in the previous ones, we try to get rid of rigid codes and celebrate team game, the creation of communities based on trust and inclusion in every way.We have shown our approach (not only formal, but also emotional) of sportswear and our vision of how sports can create and nurture communities.We have worked at the show along with New Balance Football to present a new vision of football, aligned with contemporary values and changing realities today.We believe that all industries are moving towards a brighter and more inclusive future, and we want not only to be part of the change, but also accelerate it.The reception in the press has been fantastic internationally, especially in the sports press.It was fantastic to see how publications so associated with a single vision of football shared our collection and with it our vision of a much more inclusive football.