2023-05-28 05:17:34
26/05/2023
What began with scraps of fabric left over from the garment factories in Medellín, today is one of the most recognized swimwear brands in the country, and is even doing very well around the world. Holy Waterfounded by Mariana Hinestroza and Catalina Álvarez, has just taken a gigantic step in its 20-year history: its luxury line called Agua, created in 2018, was chosen by the Italian firm Gucci to create an exclusive capsule.
Its titled The Impossible Garden (El Jardín Imposible) and is women’s beachwear and dresses embroidered by hand by artisans from the regions of Antioquia. It is a fusion of Italian and Colombian flora and fauna: there are butterflies, birds, flowers and leaves embodied in a color palette that goes through greens, yellows, oranges, white.
This proposal is part of the eight global brands selected by Gucci for the collection High-summer: Summer Vault. And although the Antioquia company’s proposal was launched this week (it is only available online at gucci.com), On June 22, Gucci will organize a great presentation event for this capsule in Italy.: will be inspired by the traditions of Colombia.
Water by Blessed Water It has stores in Medellín and Cartagena, and in September it will open its headquarters in Barranquilla. For its part, the Agua Bendita brand, with which Mariana and Catalina began to dream two decades ago, currently reaches more than 60 countries.
How did the collaboration with Gucci come regarding?
Catalina Álvarez (CA): “The opportunity came a year ago, we received an email where, incredibly, they were looking for us and offered us to do a special collaboration for Gucci Vault where they claimed to have a certain number of references. They fell more and more in love, we looked into each other’s eyes and didn’t believe it, they ask me and I still can’t understand why this has happened, it’s like the value of these 20 years that we’ve been pushing and giving it our all. Getting to luxury is an incredible thing.”
The capsule is inspired by the flora of Colombia and Italy, how was the research process?
Mariana Hinestroza (MH): “It was very organic because we have had many books on flowers and birds for a long time, so we had a choice. We pay close attention to those exotic plants that we don’t have in Colombia, but that we might merge with the flora here. Something very nice was that with our designers we began to make that interpretation, that’s why we see plants in which, for example, the roots are human figures. We also had a mix between Colombian and Italian flowers that have healing powers, from there came that magical garden that would only exist thanks to this collaboration, it was a mix of flowers from the two worlds”.
What did the Gucci team tell you regarding the result?
MH: “The creative director at the time, Alessandro Michele, once connected a lot with the brand because Agua It was born with all the inspiration of Colombian biodiversity, there is a lot of botany, the history of the first flowers found in Colombia in the expeditions. He said that one of the things that inspire him the most are flowers. So with the help of the team we looked for how to merge all this, that’s why it’s called The Impossible Garden), because we put together something like Colombian orchids in Italy, mixed with that dark side and figures that Gucci has. They cared a lot regarding the process of the artisans”.
By the way, how was the process with the artisans?
CA: “They are women who were born with us, many have been with us since our beginnings and continue. They are artisans, peasants, low-income women from all regions of Antioquia. His intervention in the collection was with hand embroidery and crafts that are works of art. This time it was to explain to them that what we were doing was for the most important luxury brand in the world, that they were valuing their work”.
What story do they tell in The Impossible Garden?
CA: “We went to the DNA of the brand and the botanical origins, Latin America and Colombia. We mixed all those flowers and managed to interpret it at its best. We had no limit to creativity, we explored with all the artisans and their embroideries, the illustrations made by our own artists. Each garment is the reflection of the maximum expression of the knowledge and teamwork that we have acquired”.
They have been working together for 20 years, what is the secret to being a powerful duo?
CA: “We both have a loose nut, so the key is in the nut (Laughter). We have never fought, the admiration she feels for me is the same as the one I feel for her. We are very different, but we share the same dreams, the same desire to swallow the world and fulfill the dreams of the thousands of people who work with us. We are the co-founders, but we know that what we have achieved is thanks to the people who surround us. Sharing that thought and that humility has kept us believing in the same thing, trusting in the same way, putting our ego aside and working with passion”.
MH: “It is a society that was made from the beginning with dreams and where we were both willing to give the same percentage. We were very lucky to have the same vision, that was the biggest goal. All the time there will be problems and thousands of things, but that is part of the day to day and we do not stop there ”.
What does Mariana admire regarding Catalina?
“She is super creative, she may already be thinking of sending a swimsuit to Mars (Laughter) and that is very cool because it challenges the team. She is very good at relating to people, she has a lot of patience with clients. She has a very good gift for choosing models. She is my perfect complement, success lies in always being both together”.
And Catalina, what stands out regarding Mariana?
“She is a very creative person who has an ability to execute, everything is done with her but excellent, otherwise it doesn’t exist. It challenges us every day to be better. It is my pole to earth without ever losing the creative north. I admire her a lot as a mother, a businesswoman and as a friend, she has no buts the lady (laughs) ”.
What’s next following the collaboration with Gucci?
CA: “Enjoy the moment, sometimes one is thinking regarding going and going, but we forget that we are living a dream. And this is a dream that we didn’t think would happen so quickly.”
MH: “We dream of being the number one brand in the world in the category, we are focused on that. We reach 60 countries and our focus is on Europe, the Middle East and the United States. We want to create other lines, more categories and powerful collaborations, we still have a lot of energy. A fair is coming up in Miami, we have just presented the brand in New York and Los Angeles”.
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