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   We had not covered Joaquim Verdú before, but this veteran of design, involved heavily in film and tv, took his celebrity knowledge to a lovely collection featuring pleats and knitwear on the Barcelona catwalks. Verdú counts Victoria Abril, Carmen Maura, Paz Vega and Silva Marsó among his supporters. Colour-wise, Verdú did not narrow himself much (though the red and black at the beginning, interpreted with zig-zags, had us worried for a short time). Rich red wine colours and turquoise heightened the palette, and while the zig-zags became a signature look for the season, we favoured his wraps, use of leather and jacquard.
   Zazo & Brull’s Diary of a Madman collection saw collaboration with the Chilean artist Paula Camaré, who provided drawings that the duo screen-printed. Colours here were more earthy, though there was a preponderance of black, too. What we did enjoy was Zazo & Brull’s use of the midriff, whether exposed or bound by corsetry—not unlike a straightjacket effect.
   Ivonne Cárdenas’s Lawhite label went for inventiveness, featuring coats with removable sleeves and what she called ‘separable cocktail dresses.’ Her eveningwear was more classical, contrasting light fabrics and heavy, woollen cloth.
   Mercedes de Miguel, known as a pioneer among Basque designers, was inspired by the work of Gustav Klimt in one of the more “classical” collections of the week. By that, we mean that de Miguel has taken a more traditional inspiration and kept a reasonably clear link between her source and her execution. It was clear that the colours (in particular, with reds, oranges, violets and golds) and the textures (from her use of wool and silk) were Klimt-inspired, as were the frills and trim. Her sketches showed an attention to detail, too, realized particularly well for this season.
   Jota Más Ge is one of Spain’s most widely known names, with 400 outlets domestically. Its daywear used fur to some extent (mainly on trim), but eveningwear was where Juana Ruiz and Garbiñe Urdampilleta shone. The gowns flowed as with many this season, but the pair used more original colours, with deep purples and shiny browns. Even their shorter cocktail wear was optimistic and colourful.
   Toypes, despite its size, remains one of our favourites, showing that big companies can innovate, too. Toypes’ 33 line for autumn–winter carried an Agatha Christie theme, based around Murder on the Orient Express. The company was quite open in saying that it was not the novel, but the film with Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman, and Albert Finney as Poirot. Hence, the 1930s coats, golf trousers, bias-cut dresses and capes took the audience back to the between-the-wars era. Fur, both real and faux, appeared on cuffs, collars, stoles and capes. As with last year’s Audrey Hepburn-inspired collection, Toypes tended to follow the source’s silhouettes but not its colours, with brighter, shinier golds and silvers.
   This showed Toypes’ marketing genius in using a reasonably well known—but not too well known—cinematic reference that can extend to a greater part of the population. •

Jack Yan is founding publisher of Lucire.

ABOVE LEFT: Zazo & Brull. ABOVE: Lawhite. LEFT AND BELOW LEFT: Mercedes de Miguel. BELOW: Jota Más Ge. BOTTOM: Toypes 33.