Custo returns to Milan 15 years later: "When you've been doing shows for so long, you have to innovate"

Custo Dalmau likes to challenge himself and the word "impossible" is not in his vocabulary.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
20 February 2024 Tuesday 15:29
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Custo returns to Milan 15 years later: "When you've been doing shows for so long, you have to innovate"

Custo Dalmau likes to challenge himself and the word "impossible" is not in his vocabulary. This is evidenced by his latest madness: presenting a collection in three fashion capitals - New York, Madrid and Milan - in just ten days. "We lost a connection and we can't do it," the designer from Lleida explains to this newspaper, who now breathes easy after having carried out the last of the fashion shows on Tuesday.

Under the title We art Custo, its new autumn/winter 2024 proposal is linked to art as an emotional discipline, with a clear desire to innovate in fabric and color mixing. "Apart from creating emotion in the pieces to seduce women who, in some way, seek to express their personality, we seek to create an advanced fashion language," adds the creative director, who assures that in this proposal color is imposed as most important genetic part as well as the fusion of materials.

The line has been divided into three parts, each of them presented in a city. "When you've been doing parades for so many years, you have to innovate," she acknowledges. The last stop was Milan and its show has in some way marked the beginning of the Italian catwalk. This Tuesday, the Barcelona firm has dyed an old monastery in the center of the Italian city that today houses the Museum of Science and Technology with color and psychedelia.

To reach the youngest audience, Dalmau has turned its parade into a retrospective to celebrate its origins and its history: "we have been doing this for 43 years, we are from another time, and it occurred to us to give an explanation to the new generations by exhibiting the the brand's most iconic t-shirts," he says. A retrospective of 40 pieces that has dressed the same show room as a context for the current presentation.

62 proposals have been paraded on the catwalk, among which the dress in all its formats, sports outfits, avant-garde coats and jackets stand out. All the pieces have been made by fusing natural fabrics, such as silk and cotton with technological fibers, turning each of the garments into something innovative and, as always, futuristic.

"In outer garments, such as coats and down jackets, there is in-depth work to create a technical structure without leaving the urban language behind," reveals Dalmau.

Although at the moment he does not plan to add more stops to his itinerary, Custo Dalmau claims to be satisfied with the result and confirms that in September he will return to Milan, his latest conquest, to consolidate himself. "Fashion is a global concept but it has local characteristics. For example, in North America it is different than in Europe and within Europe, fashion in Italy is different than that in England. Therefore, doing local actions, especially in your most important markets strong, you achieve more intense communication," concludes the creative.

Now its eyes are set on Monte Carlo (Monaco), where in April it will hold a presentation to expand, if possible, its market even more and bring the particular Custo universe to more cities.