Juan Vidal 155
046
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Juan Vidal’s
grandfather, great-
grandfather, and great-
great-grandfather were
tailors, and his mother
was the manageress
of a boutique. So
much in uence from
fashion and image at
rst intimidated the
Spaniard, who chose to
study ne arts, seeking
his means of expressing
aesthetic taste in
painting. However, his
taste for fashion was
able to overcome his
fear of not living up to
his prestigious family
and he enrolled in the
Felicidad Duce Fashion
School in Barcelona.
In 2005, he won the
ModaFAD Award for
the Best Collection,
which opened the doors
of Bread & Butter
to him. Since then,
he has presented his
collections on different
Spanish runways each
season. He has no
speci c references when
he designs. He likes
to think of women as
something intangible
and femininity as
having a multitude of
forms, and would like to
dress all of them.
Juan Vidal
www.juanvidaldesign.com
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452 INSPIRATION. When you start a
collection, the rst thing is to look inside
yourself. You have to listen to yourself
and let your imagination go free. To
do this, sometimes external impulses
are necessary; and they can come from
anywhere: music, the street, movies, or
anything that strikes your attention and is
beautiful or interesting.
453 M
USES. I’m in uenced by the
female gures that surround me. I also like
to imagine, like in the movies, different
female archetypes, and play with them;
mix them up. The past is also a great
reference. Fashion has a cultural side to it.
The more you see, the more you learn; and
the more you learn, the more you develop.
454 D
EVELOPING A COLLECTION. I prefer
that the concept behind the collection
imbue everything through the design of the
look and in a very subtle way. I believe that
when something is too faithful to the idea
it originates from, it loses its mystery and
becomes something obvious.
455 M
ATERIALS. It’s necessary to know
the raw materials and how to use them;
although sometimes you can use a cloth the
wrong way and come out with new results.
Before designing a single garment, I like
to have practically all of the fabrics on the
table. I’m not one of those people that say
“never” and I’m even less so in fashion.
The fabrics you detest today could be your
masterpiece tomorrow.
451
W
ORKPLACE. It’s important to have your own
space, a place where you can lose yourself, by
yourself, with your music, images, and movies.
My most important tool is a small notebook for
sketching that I always carry with me. My rst
ideas come from there. I like to think rst and
develop the idea later. The atelier is where you
ght, and where you see yourself working.
156 1,000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers
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456 COLORS. Sometimes you want to do
something new; at other times you want to
mix, while at others you want everything
to be in the same shade. Depending on how
you apply these three ideas about color,
you come up with one result or another.
457 T
RADITIONAL MANUFACTURING VS.
EXPERIMENTATION. I think the ideal thing
is to have enough knowledge of tradition
so as to be able to experiment. You need a
base; there’s no evolution without a prior
culture.
458 E
VOLUTION. Collection after
collection, I try to keep the sophistication
and sensuality, but with a different
wrapping. It’s like a wolf in sheep’s
clothing: it will always be a wolf, but it has
fun with what it’s wearing.
4 59 C
HALLENGE. I de nitely feel that
I have to exceed myself every six months;
each season is like a public examination.
It makes you want to grow and learn. You
want more each time, so you have to offer
more.
460 A
CKNOWLEDGEMENT. The best
applause is personal; you have to applaud
yourself by yourself. I still haven’t been
able to. It depends on how demanding you
are. I’m very grateful for the response I get
from the public; but often some things are
left unsaid. I always say that to be a young
designer is to do what you can and not
always what you want.
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461 INSPIRATION. The themes and
sensations go hand in hand. As a designer,
you have to pay a lot of attention to your
state of mind when you design because it
comes to the surface in the themes.
462 R
EFERENCES. I generally nd
inspiration in something I have seen that
has made an impact on me. I’m inspired by
artwork, a beautiful bird, a crowded street,
a pretty landscape, etc.
463 W
ORKPLACE. First I draw a sketch
in any of the notebooks that I always
have with me; then I take it to my work
table and we analyze the size, weight,
type of process, whether it should be
cast or die cut. The piece changes totally
depending on the process involved. It is
very important to analyze the process
each piece of jewelry needs, because this is
the guarantee of good workmanship, good
weight, and good nishing that will nally
be re ected in the point of sale.
464 D
EVELOPING A COLLECTION. For
the concept of the collection we must take
several factors into account and analyze
world trends carefully. We should not go
against them if we want our products to
be commercial. We must take into account
colors, shapes, materials, and, most
important of all, a theme. This, together
with eldwork and intuition, is fused to
bring about my designs.
465
M
ATERIALS. Materials generally used in jewelry
are gold, silver, copper, and brass. This is where the
science of a good designer comes in. Good creativity
is searching for a blend of these materials with other,
more alternative materials, such as leather, cord,
fabrics, synthetics, natural materials, etc. I try
not to use synthetic materials because my brand is
particularly known for featuring materials of high-
quality jewelry, offering exclusive and novel designs.
158 1,000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers
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466 COLORS. We mainly follow trends,
but we also try to express states of mind
through colors. There is something
wonderful about jewelry: within the range
I currently handle there are stones that
have a historic signi cance depending on
their color. This helps to complement the
idea I have in my head.
467 T
RADITIONAL MANUFACTURING VS.
EXPERIMENTATION. I like to mix tradition
with experimentation because, although
I’m a woman on the cutting edge, I have
deep-rooted traditions. I think the mixture
of the two is ideal. Whenever I design
something I think about whether I would
wear it or not.
468 Y
OUR RIGHT ARM? My right arm
is Mejía, the person who knows how to
interpret my work to perfection. She is
capable of conveying each need to jewelers.
She makes for perfect symbiosis!
469 I
NDIVIDUALITY VS. GROUP BELONGING.
My brand makes people wearing it feel
different; they feel they can wear a very
avant-garde accessory to a very elegant
party and then use the same accessory the
next day with a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
470 B
RAND VA L U E S . My label promises
that someone buying something from
Juanita Álvarez will feel very comfortable
and genuine; it promises looks and, more
importantly, being set apart from the rest.
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