La Garconniere: The new textile collection that’s giving us the feels

Spanish textile editeurs Guell Lamadrid launched their latest collections at T & Co the other day. Among them, La Garconniere was the one that raised our heart rate and understandably so. This collection of velvets, wools and linens in honour of great men is the lovechild of the brand’s collaboration with Spanish fashion designer and influencer Juan Avellaneda.

Dense with colour and cued by a handful of powerful men who’ve influenced Avellaneda’s career, the designs are whimsical, playful and rich, from Salvador’s bold and otherworldly surrealist references to Federico’s sophisticated marbling and London - a series of plain velvets in the juiciest shades imaginable. The designs are dedicated to those men “who have pursued their dreams and have defended their thoughts and visions against the current,” say Guell Lamadrid. While they’ve been created for use in the home, it’s no surprise that Avellaneda intends to use them in his upcoming menswear collection.

We had a quick chat with Carlos Hernandez, Guell Lamadrid’s export manager to unpack what went into the collaboration.

How did the idea to collaborate with fashion designer Juan Avellaneda arise? It's been a while in the making, since we wanted to collaborate with someone of importance in the fashion world. Juan Avellaneda was indeed the answer. In addition to the friendship that we already had with this young artist, he is considered one of the best fashion designers in Spain, being a national and international reference of style.

What defines this collection, setting it apart from other new ones? “La Garçonnière” is the main collection of January 2018 and its identity lies in strong and masculine lines. Avellaneda has created it inspired by those men who have marked him the most, and this inspiration is easily identified in all the fabrics. The collection has a fearless and daring design, but at the same time it’s very elegant.

What goes into selecting colours for a collection like this? The process of setting the fabric colour is extremely important not only for the designer but also for us. It can certainly affect the collection’s popularity. In this case, we took 10 months of testing until we chose what we deem to be the perfect tones.

Thus far, which has been the most popular design within the collection, and why? Without a doubt “Salvador” is the most popular fabric, it’s the key product of the entire collection. This fabric is inspired by Salvador Dalí, its surrealist identity is evident through the pattern and its 5 wonderful shades of colour. It’s a risky print with the presence of several surreal and very striking elements such as huge parrots, abundant vegetation and eyes.

La Garconniere, and other new Guell Lamadrid fabrics are available locally at T & Co.