Full of life, diverse but orderly and oozing luxury. If we had to design a collage of scraps to capture the world of Ze García, brushes and canvases would appear in it, architectural books - he is amazed by the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion - his family, the house in Begur (Costa Brava) to disconnect, some half pointe shoes from his past as a dancer and especially fabrics and feathers. Sitting at the end of a large velvety white sofa in his workshop and mother store in Turó Park (Barcelona), the 34-year-old couturier gestures non-stop and speaks proudly of the space he has created in the upper area of the Catalan capital.
"Luxury is space and for me the shopping experience is precisely this, having the store, the atelier and the bridal atelier in the same space," he explains in this haute couture oasis that smells of wood, figs and cotton, a fragrance created by García himself. It has been a long time since he left behind the title of revelation designer. His eponymous firm has completed a decade in the industry in 2023 and his name resonates alongside the great bridal ateliers of Catalonia.
This Santander native's fashion journey began in 2013, with an investment of 5,000 euros and a small collection of dresses that ranged between 300 and 750 euros. His past as manager of Armani's brand image and his knowledge of social networks made him find a golden niche with influencers.
A parade with its muses of the digital scene, Dulceida, Jessica Goicoechea and Laura Escanes among others, was enough to catapult and give visibility to the brand. “It was a beast, the parade had three million impacts. They went from the digital to the physical plane, and now they have become the new celebrity,” she says. To add that although it is true that "the specialized press could not do an analysis of the dresses" the action, after all, responded to "a marketing strategy."
With the millennial generation at his feet, the couturier wanted to grow and create not only a bridal atelier but also enter fully into haute couture. “I have a very classic soul, I like old fashion, craftsmanship and haute couture, the profession of the dressmaker,” he assures and regrets that in the new generations there is a lack of fashion culture due to fast fashion: “It is becoming losing the job, the profession, understanding the importance of structuring a dress well or adding a lining. Nowadays many people want to be a designer but no one wants to be a dressmaker.”
His designs are pure fantasy. Glitter and crystal beads create a spectacular jewel dress, ostrich feathers protruding from the strapless neckline, sensual but with an old Hollywood feel. The style and DNA of Ze Gacía is precisely that game between the ancient and the modern, the mystery of a feathered suit but also the exhibitionism of a dress full of transparencies for the red carpet.
“In the end, for me, fashion is those twenty seconds that someone needs to make a first impression. Once they pass you will never have that opportunity again. I take my work that way and when I make a dress I think or rather look for that spectacularity in the first impression,” adds the creative.
