In November 2020, the Paola Molet brand project was born in the midst of a global pandemic. With an added difficulty caused by the current situation, Paola managed to create a collection that she is now presenting at 080 Barcelona Fashion.
We talked with Paola about fabrics, sustainability, and love. Here’s what she told us:
Your project was born in November 2020 in the middle of a global crisis. What difficulties and what benefits have you found designing in this situation?
I have always been very clear that my dream was to start my own brand. In July 2020 I graduated, and in September of the same year, the agency NNPress signed me. With them, I began to enter the professional world thanks to my final degree collection. Seeing that the garments were in demand and performed well within the professional world of fashion, I decided to take the step to make the brand. My career partner, Judith Parejo, was in charge of making the patterns, while I designed and corrected the prototypes and in three months we managed to bring the entire collection forward. I think something very important is to have clear objectives. Resources also play a big role, but I didn’t have many because it was the first collection. In the end, what has made this collection possible has been the desire and effort that has been invested in it. Now I must continue working on the brand in order to continue growing and to continue making collections. The pandemic has affected us all, but we cannot give up or sit idly by because time keeps running and nothing stops. If the online format already worked, now is its great moment, and we must make the most of this an easy and comfortable resource to work with. I honestly cannot complain. Since I joined the communication agency, everything has gone smoothly and very quickly, so all I want is to continue like this, working and striving to achieve the best result.
Tell us a bit about the collection that you are presenting at 080 Barcelona Fashion.
Oh l’amour talks about what would happen if those around you did not understand the way you love. Is there only one correct model to express what we feel towards others? What if you didn’t feel anything, ever, for anyone? Or if, on the contrary, you find yourself so broken inside that you have stopped believing in feelings? The collection talks about how society understands love and the pursuit of happiness (successful or not) in established canons. Due to these walls, the frustration of extraordinary people who do not fit into the system when it comes to love is born. Imagine not being able to love as we really feel due to the constant pressure of seeing ourselves judged by others. Oh, l’amour, was born from a broad reflection on how we are instilled in human relationships. How we should love and whom. Today we know many more options for couples or relationships between people thanks to all those who break with the established and decide to follow what their hearts and principles dictate. We do not limit ourselves to monogamous relationships, nor heterosexual and homosexual. The range is growing, and being able to choose what we want is what gives us freedom. There is still a long way to go until all the options are seen to be just as legal as those established for years, but the revolution has begun, and nothing can stop it.
How important are the fabrics and details?
The fabrics that make up the collection are sober, delicate and in neutral colors, contrasting between rigid leathers and silk tulle. Organza and jacquards in a shy floral print are the stars alongside classic suit yarns. These help to reflect the initial story that you explained in the previous question. The first looks have stiffer, thicker, and harder fabrics, reflecting those barriers in which the character I am talking about is found. As the collection progresses, the fabrics become more transparent, making a metaphor that the character begins to see beyond what is established. These fabrics accompany more gathered shapes and with more complicated and deconstructed patterns. In the end, we find tulle and white organzas, referring to the fact that the person has finally found that path that he longed for so much, outside the established norms and following his instinct and his feelings. The details that attract the most attention in my opinion are those sewn by hand. There are a lot of stitches, threads, and others sewn one by one, and I think that’s where the grace of doing something conscientiously lies in doing it in a big quantity. Each garment has been pampered and given the time it needed. Some jerseys have cost weeks and other jerseys in three hours were finished. I pose clothes like people. Each one is different and must be treated according to your needs.
Your garments manage to bear in mind strong masculine and feminine beauty canons. How important is this balance?
Oh, l’amour proposes a deconstructed and androgynous aesthetic of the human body, thus being valid for all those who want to wear it. Orthodox masculinity is lost by that concept of “everything, for everyone.” Thus, the feminine line is also replaced by a look with wide lines, without marking the figure, and which does not care about your sexual identity.
How does it feel to present your collection in such an iconic place as Gaudi’s La Pedrera?
As a young designer, it is an honor to be able to present the collection on this stage. It is the first collection of my brand, and being able to display it in such an emblematic building is more than satisfactory. It’s not even a year since I graduated from university, and being able to be here, surrounded by all my fellow designers and professionals who make 080 Barcelona possible, is more than a dream for me. Now that it has come true, I take it as the beginning of a career and as an event that I would like to attend to establish myself as a designer.
What plans do you have for the future?
Right now I’m starting the new Paola Molet collection and working on an independent project as a creative director that I can’t reveal yet, but that will undoubtedly be talked about. My big goal is to finish shaping the brand and start producing more often to generate more product volume. The two annual collections of Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter will be complemented with products that will rotate without faithfully following the seasons of the year. Without a doubt, I really want to continue with the project and see how it grows and how I grow as a professional, always giving my best so that the public welcomes the brand positively.
Take a look a Paola’s Oh, L’Amour collection below:
