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What’s your principle personality trait?

Idealism

And your idea of total happiness?

Total happiness is the sum of many little moments of happiness. There’s no other formula

What’s the feature you like least about yourself?

My height: I’m ten centimetres too short

What trait can you not abide in others?

Being twofaced

What is your greatest extravagance?

Living above my means

What historical character do you most identify with?

Voltaire

What’s your highest virtue?

Honesty

What do you hate about your appearance?

The extra pounds around my waist…

What living person do you despise the most?

Financial speculators

Who is the big love of your life?

Only she knows …

In what situations do you lie?

When there is no other way of negotiating a delicate situation

Your favourite fictional hero?

I’m not sure whether it would be Mr. Swann or the Duchesse de Guermantes

What do you think is your biggest success?

To be – or at least try to be – one of the thinking heads for fashion in Spain

What is your most cherished possession?

My library

And your favourite activity?

Listening to classical music

What quality do you most value in a man?

Loyalty

And in a woman?

Loyalty

What defects do you detest in both?

Sudden changes in beliefs. The kind of frivolousness so typical of “stars”

What would your greatest misfortune be?

Having to deal with a serious illness unexpectedly

Your greatest fear?

To see my lifestyle altered by financial constraints

Your favourite colour?

Black

What talent would you have liked to have?

A musical gift. No doubt about it… If I were to start again I would be a pianist…

How would you like to die?

With peace of mind, being aware of the moment and with as little pain as possible

What are your favourite names?

Aureliano, Pedro, Soledad, Ginebra…

What’s your motto?

If it’s within your grasp, don’t stop dreaming till you get it…

Tell me one regret?

Not having studied more

What’s the main feature of Spanish fashion?

Its disconnectedness with reality. Which is why Zara – perhaps it’s most admired and at once most vilified example – does not seem like a Spanish phenomenon

In your view, what initiative would totally satisfy the fashion industry in Spain?

Addressing our international commercial presence seriously

What do you like the least about Spanish fashion?

Its stature. It’s missing a couple of zeros … (in turnover)

What trait in world fashion do you detest in general?

It’s dreadfully narcissistic

What is fashion’s extravagant feature?

Launching utterly impossible things onto the market, just to enjoy those famous “fifteen minutes of fame” Andy Warhol spoke about

What do you hate about aesthetics today?

The self-interested praise of bad taste, of banality and of vanity

When does fashion lie: on the catwalk or in its production…?

Both. Although I find it more worrying when the lie takes place in production

How do you think fiction, either literature or films, treats fashion?

With great admiration that, believe it or not, is not returned by the latter

What is the biggest success of all times of Spanish fashion?

Apparently the “Balenciaga legend” and its countless ramifications

What fashion design do you think should be included in the World Heritage list?

As in any other art, a well selected collection of its “masterpieces”

Do you think Beau Brummell is still alive today?

I think so, although sometimes you only see him in men’s fashion magazines. At the moment, the street isn’t the best place to “stroll impeccably dressed with a melon in hand…” if you wish to be irresistibly elegant. I don’t know if Nati Abascal’s eldest son would dare?

Should a businesswoman dress differently for work and for a social occasion?

Yes, I think so. Just as men wouldn’t go to work in a tuxedo…

How do you believe the world’s current economic-financial downturn will affect fashion?

Very seriously indeed, to the point that I see a paradigm shift: low cost will not be a passing trend and will become part of our lifestyle

Do you think that, at some stage, fashion will lose the affection and consideration it enjoys today?

I don’t think so. People are very cynical when it comes to fashion. It’s very cool to criticise it, but then everyone surrenders to its irresistible allure

What’s your view of the “Spanish” designs by international designers?

As a huge compliment: a confirmation that our eternal “inferiority complex” is not shared by those sensible souls that look at us from outside

What is it that Spanish designers are missing when it comes to achieving the kind of market recognition enjoyed by other countries?

I think Spanish contemporary fashion has some unfinished business: its lack of international presence, and very especially, its lack of commercial positioning. That is definitely our unfinished business

What type of outlandish finale would you accept for fashion?

To become downloadable on the Internet free-of-charge, like music

Name three favourite male and female garments

Coat, suit, tuxedo…

Trench coat, suit, dress…

If you can’t be elegant, at least be extravagant. What to do think of this as a slogan for fashion?

Moschino forbidding, the sentence could be mine

What is fashion’s mortal sin?

Having fallen into the hands of its worse enemy: a media much more interested in the model than in the designer, in the front row rather than in the catwalk…

 

What’s your principle personality trait? Idealism And your idea of…