Fall Designer Profile: Isabel De Pedro
TSALT has become a great source for unconventional and chic clothing brands. You may have discovered Marie Saint Pierre or PH15 on one of your visits. Once a boutique starts carrying a European collection, it’s almost necessary to include other like-minded collections that will round out the fashion-forward essence. Finding the right brands is crucial to the success of the whole.
Isabel De Pedro is a Spanish label founded by Rafael Tous in 1968. Rafael, the son of a textile businessman, revolutionized Barcelona’s fashion with a casual, military-inspired collection. Isabel De Pedro became the lead designer of the company in 1970 and they then launched three lines: Mr. Cat, menswear; Miss Cat, womenswear; and Mini Cat, for children.Upon some quick growth that year, where the company went from five employees to 40, the brand started becoming known for its style and creative advertising campaigns. With growth comes a great need for organization and the creative team established a strategy for their design process: mono-thematic collections with special emphasis on prints and stretch fabrics with black as the signature color. With Rafael considered one of the most important art collectors in Europe, the themes of the collections mirrored some of the great movements in art history, such as Surrealism and The Golden Age.
Other collections celebrated inspirational cities such as Barcelona, Rio De Janeiro, and Paris. The themes keep every collection, which they deliver twice a year, Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter, very exciting for those who collect Isabel De Pedro. Each collection contains 275-325 pieces, designed and produced entirely in Spain. The thematic process is a direct result of investigative development trips where research is compiled through sketches and photographs to produce a cohesive concept representative of the desired motif, place, or world they wish to translate into the designs.
Who is the Isabel De Pedro woman?
She’s sophisticated and feminine and, quite honestly, likes to show her figure. The company has described the ideal client as someone who is captivating with intelligence and unique, undeniable charm. The demographic is someone from her thirties to late sixties, although many a younger woman (even millennials) are taken with her styles. Isabel De Pedro uses stretch knit fabrics as a rule and believes that true beauty lies in elegance.
“She embraces the inevitability of time by being active,healthy and by having a strong sense of humor”
Some women and characters who inspire Isabel De Pedro include Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Isabel Huppert, Vanessa Redgrave, Liv Ullman, Diane Keaton, Susan Sontag, Gloria Swanson, Marlene Dietrich, Cate Blanchet, Cathy Horn, Gala Dali, Cruella De Ville, and Claire Underwood.