Mans spring/summer 2020 campaign.
The Mans parade at the Casa de Velázquez, on January 28, was one of the events of the season in the capital. The young Sevillian Jaime Álvarez (La Luisiana, 1994) presented his signature for the first time in Madrid and he got everyone (and more) together.
The historic and lavish setting enhanced his well-balanced fall collection, Phillipe, Inspired by the French end of the century, Impressionism and the brushstrokes of Renoir, Degas and Monet, which drew applause and the best reviews. Impeccable tailoring, daring touches of color, transparencies and feathers, plus a seductive combination of fabrics and materials merged in a beautiful staging that left more than one mouth open.
Mans is influenced by the Saville Row workshops and Japanese technique.
Jaime, who has his workshop in Conde Duque and sells his clothes online and in multi-brand stores, had already won the award for best emerging collection three times at Barcelona's 080 and he counted on his list of merits having dressed Sam Smith and El Guincho. Another media hit was when he dressed Eduardo Casanova at the Goyas. “It came out of the blue and we didn't think it would have such an impact. My friend, David Rivas, is, together with María, founder and partner of Aigo Studio, the styling space that dresses Eduardo. He called me on a Thursday and the next day we were all together. They gave me a lot of freedom, it was very easy.”
What is more satisfying for him: dressing a star he admires or having his clothes reach the whole world? “I am very excited to see anonymous boys who dress as Mans, especially from other countries, verify the power that networks have. I always tell myself: 'Damn, Jaime, there are people who like your clothes and invest in them, who, being in Australia, have seen them and want your design.' It still shocks me."
“On the other hand – he confesses – I am not going to deny that I almost fell over when we saw Sam Smith in a look of ours for the 2019 Top 40 gala. Dressing Sam was a dream not only because of how great a singer he is but because of what he represents, because of his fight for LGTBI + rights and for freedom worldwide.
His January parade marked us, without a doubt: in addition to offering an enveloping atmosphere (take a look at his Instagram to get an idea), Jaime moves us with perfectly tailored garments and a bold and classic style at the same time.
We ask him if he's been particularly moved by any show, and he tells us he'd definitely go for Alexander MacQueen's spring-summer 2001 show. “The main ingredient was terror, models with bandaged heads, probed and full of feathers, scales… all taken to decadence and a macabre terrain. He was a visionary and broke with fashion standards. That parade made me believe that fashion can make you dream and I promised to fight to dedicate myself to it”.
We interviewed Jaime Álvarez, creative director of Mans.
Precisely, Sarah Burton's work for McQueen is among his current references. “I don't have many others, I think everything is very crushed. The only one that fascinates me is her, the brutal tailoring work that she does for Alexander McQueen, how she mixes the purity of the most traditional English tailoring with a tremendously modern vision and new cut”.
Then there are, of course, the great masters: “I draw a lot from Cristóbal Balenciaga, the use he made of fabrics and pattern design was majestic. He is my greatest inspiration and, in part, I feel identified with it, what matters most to me about a garment is that it is made with a good fabric. It is always my starting point and, on the other hand, sewing. In my opinion, those two things should prevail in all fashion houses and independent creators”.
Mans proposes new approaches to masculinity.
Since he had the use of reason, Jaime explains, he knew that he wanted to dedicate himself to women's fashion. It was during his second year at IED Madrid that he saw that something was missing in men's fashion: “There was a huge gap between the most extreme streetwear and the classic department store suit. That was when he knew that he could perhaps contribute a new, more current vision of masculinity, without giving up craftsmanship and classicism”.
If he wasn't a designer, he confesses to us that he would have been... a saxophonist. “This instrument and all the history behind it have always caught my attention, the New York bass, the clubs, the poses and attitudes of each musician who plays it. Every time I see someone playing it, I envy them a lot.”
The ready-to-wear firm Mans also offers bespoke tailoring.
THE LONE TRAVELER
"I love to travel and I'm lucky enough to be able to do it a lot," Jaime tells us, adding: “And if it's alone, better. This allows me to get to know many places that I don't visit with friends or family due to differences in taste. I like to go on my own and meet new people. I am also lucky that for work we are constantly traveling to Paris, London… which are some of my favorite cities and where there are always things to discover. Traveling enriches you a lot and makes you have an open mind for everything”.
The first thing he does when he arrives at a destination is... "Call my mother to tell them I'm fine, have a coffee and order my clothes." He tells that The nicest thing that has happened to him on a trip has been spending time with his mother and being alone together in Budapest and Vienna. “Another time, running into my best friend in London by chance. In the end, we spent every day together and with his friends there.”
Mans designer Jaime Alvarez.
Is it more of a cruise or a* road trip?* “Road Trip, without a doubt. I haven't done it yet but in a year, a friend and I We plan to go from Los Angeles to New York to get to know that profound America. I don't like cruise ships, we look like lambs in a cage, I feel without freedom”.
Among the hotels in the world that have most impressed him is Café Royal in London on Regent St. “It's one of those where you feel like spending all day, the room was huge. He amazed me not only because of the architecture but because of the history he had. I felt powerful being in a hotel that was the epicenter of meetings with characters as different as Oscar Wilde, Churchill and Elizabeth Taylor, or meetings between Diana of Wales and Muhammad Ali. I could say that it is my favorite hotel.
The Cafe Royal hotel in London.
When he was in Tokyo three years ago, stayed at the InterContinental Tokyo Bay: “The bay windows in my room were impressive. The hotel does not breathe purely Japanese culture but the views and location make up for everything”. He was shocked too the hotel Palazzo Naiadi in Rome, located in the Plaza de la República. “It was impressive and very special because it was one of the first trips that my parents, my brother and his current wife took together. I remember that the hotel occupied almost the entire square. The views we had were enviable and the architecture, imagine… Amazing!”.
Mans campaign image.
The last bridge of the Constitution, his family and he visited San Sebastián and stayed at the María Cristina, protagonist of the Belle Époque in San Sebastian. "I didn't expect how impressive it was, from its architecture to the service, all with a tremendously comfortable French feel."
And, finally, La Mamounia stands out, in Marrakech. “A paradise that breathes Moroccan culture, we did not want to return to Spain. Alberto Martínez (PR of Mans) and I went in September to celebrate his birthday, he made us perfect weather and we were able to enjoy all the pools he has and his terraces. It was clear to me that if I went to Marrakech it would be to sleep in that hotel, no matter how many years it cost us to go”, he says with a laugh.
La Mamounia is one of the hotels that have impacted him the most.
WITH AN EYE ON THE FUTURE
“No one can be happy seeing what is happening around them,” Jaime tells us when we ask him about the current situation. “Just before the state of alarm, I came to my town of Seville to spend a few days with my parents, so here I am, maintaining a routine and in contact with the team almost 24 hours a day. We are already preparing our next collection for the summer of 2021 which, due to the circumstances, we do not know how or when it will be presented. But life goes on and you have to keep dreaming and working”.
The most difficult thing after this crisis, in his opinion, will be... “I believe that, contrary to what many say, we are not going to change as far as relationships and customs are concerned. We are Mediterranean, Latinos who give kisses, hug each other, go out to the streets, have a drink on any terrace... It is a way of living life that very few countries have and that makes us special. I hope everything stays the same! If we talk about fashion, the difficult thing will be for people to recover the illusion. Which is, after all, what we designers try to give and sell”.