Javier S. Medina, from Extremadura, has been answering the press by phone all morning after the launch of his first fashion collection for Zara, now available in the online store and in selected centres. "I haven't even been able to take off my pajamas yet," he jokes with Conde Nast Traveler During the Interview.
Famous for its ecological trophies –Those wicker or rattan animal heads made by hand in his workshop on Calle Escorial in Madrid that have delighted celebrities and are found in the coolest places in the world, such as the souvenir shop in the new Edition Madrid–, Javier says that with this proposal A new world for artistic expression has been opened to him.
Portrait of Javier S. Medina.
“When they called me, at first I thought they wanted something for Zara Home, but since I like challenges and the world of fashion, I didn't think twice”, he explains to us. “Yes, it is true that together with the designer Carlota Barrera –Who's On Next 2019 award– he had already made a collaboration in his Matador collection, which was beautiful. I was then conquered by his sensitivity... and the concept, which was very close to mine”.
“However, in that case I worked with natural fiber, but Now I have participated in the pattern making, the sketches... I had never done it before and I liked it very much. They have opened Pandora's box”, laughs the creator, who is preparing an exhibition of his pieces in New York. “I loved it, fashion is a tool to express everything you are. Seeing the collection, in the end you see yourself”.
Javier has been inspired by the garments of the field.
The craftsman highlights how positive his experience with the fashion giant has been: “They have helped me a lot and have gone out of their way to make things easy for me. I have not only released a collection but I have also made many friends”, adds the man who is also the first Spaniard to sign a capsule collection for Zara.
A TRIBUTE TO OUR ORIGINS
The concept of the garments is in line with what Javier S. Medina always defends with his work: "What I have tried is to pay homage to our parents and grandparents, to show who I am, where I come from, the crafts... I have based a lot on how our grandparents, our parents dressed, what taste they had. I see them in photos working in the field with high-waisted pants and the tucked-in shirt and I think What a style to go get potatoes, my mother!” he exclaims between laughs.
The collection is a tribute to the clothes that our parents and grandparents wore.
His father is a shoemaker, now retired, and Javier remembers the summer sandals that he made, present in this collection, whose prices range from 7.95 to 59 euros.
Of all the pieces, which is the most important to him? “There is a yellow shirt with stripes that is very special to me, because I have taken it from a pattern of a shirt of my father. I have a lot of love for her and emotionally she is the one I like the most. But the pattern of the pants, the jacket... is taken from old designs and I think they all have a lot of charm, I want to keep it all!”.
Crafts and colorful.
What would you say are the rural places in our country where we could best show off his collection this summer? “One of the obligatory stops would be Extremadura – his native land, present in the campaign photographed by David Luraschi and starring the model Duncan Yair–, There are wonderful places there, hidden, that are not well known".
"Also Cádiz, Zahara de los Atunes. I go every summer And how beautiful the collection is going to look on those beaches, with those short pants…! And then, looking north, I would say all of Cantabria”.