Red and black appeared a little too often for Jack Yan’s liking, but Moda Barcelona was notable for its high-budget finalé

With contributions from and photographed by Joma García i Gisbert

Excerpted from the June 2005 print edition of Lucire

NE OF the oddest things I’ve observed with each autumn– winter collection at Barcelona is that the greatest genius comes from big firms and established labels. While many of Barcelona’s independents rocked, one of the best collections was from one of the biggest labels in the country, at the end of this season of Pasarela Gaudí.
   TCN’s Toton Comella had her roots in undergarments and still demonstrated her skills there with feminine designs in lilac and red, and her trademark grey. Coats, scarves, jackets, dresses and skirts complemented the undergarments with similarly sombre shades. Eveningwear featured tulle and lace, but stayed monochromatic.
   Konrad Muhr proved more adventurous with a collection that mixed, for instance, cotton with copper lacquer. Mohair was mixed with 3D nylon. The inspiration has come from streetwear, with prints and logos emblazoned on T-shirt fronts. He kept his usual psychedelic prints, but contrasted them this season with simpler graphics. They offered a more convincing take on street styles, until you spotted more luxurious touches such as Muhr’s chain jewellery, and skirts and trousers with silk brocades.
   Josep Font had shimmery fabrics in gold, black, blue and grey, but before you think of millennium-era ball gowns, we note that he had plenty of Iberian flair to the designs. Prints and patterns gave Font’s regal reflective fabrics a more ornamented feel. The high collars extended to menswear, where Font continued thinking royally, though for men the ornameted fabrics were not present. Trench coats and winter coats featured strongly, as did velvet.
   The riding jacket was the theme at Lydia Delgado, who accessorized with jewellery and stones on her clothes. Pleating was a feature, but Delgado went with the overall trend of Barcelona with red and black, the former generally being an offset, minor colour. Greys and browns rounded off the colour palette. There were more solid colours, with Delgado preferring to focus on the cut rather than dazzling the audience with patterns and prints. Skirts were draped, and generally cut low. She may have been known as a ‘Mediterranean Chanel’, and what she sent down was stunning, though being the third show with hints of equestrianism, the schedule was not in her favour.
   Venezuelan-born Hannibal Laguna showed one of the outstanding collections of the week. His use of jewellery treaded that fine line between ornamentation and simplicity; one silver dress (in the ‘Trends’ section of this magazine) had stones that had a waterfall effect. It’s perhaps not surprising, as Laguna has had his own line of jewellery for four years, in association with Maria Pérez CB. In essence, we thought this was the most feminine and glamorous collection of the week, with gowns galore and plenty of reflective fabrics.

CONTINUED

TOP ROW: TCN. MIDDLE ROW: Konrad Muhr, Josep Font. ABOVE LEFT: Hannibal Laguna. ABOVE RIGHT: Joaquim Verdú.