|
|
Andra Cora - Fashion Designer from Valencia, Spain |
|
Andra Cora talks about the influences that are reflected in the women’s
clothing that she designs, “I like the romantic drama of the late 19 th
and early 20 th centuries and the structural silhouettes of the 1940s
and ‘50s. The silhouettes and construction lines inspire me, but also
the social (implications) within the historical context. I incorporate the past
into the present to create the future.
Nowadays
making an impression is increasingly complicated, especially if your
work is focused more on handmade, as mine is and not focused on
technology.”
There is an elegant charm about Andra Cora’s clothing that appeals to
the feminine side of women and yet the designs also have a boldness and
strength about them.
It is therefore fitting to here her describe her clothing as appealing
to, “women with clear ideas who have powerful personalities. She is a
woman who is curious and has professional interests in art, culture and
architecture.”
Her designs have a timeless quality about them rather than being trendy.
They are in style this year and they will be next year as well.
“I usually work with stretch satin, organza or chiffon, because they are
the fabrics that best adapt to structure and yet they are also fluid. As
for colors I like monochromatic colors, while playing with different
textures within the same range,” she says.
Those themes are depicted in the photos above by Borja Pascual with
model Claudia Moras. The hair and makeup are by Carmen Torregrosa.
In January of 2020 Andra Cora’s clothing designs were featured on the
catwalk at La Sala Zero Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània de
València, as she was invited to participate in Artenblanc, an exposition
that featured twenty-five of Valencia’s top designers. It was sponsored
by la Direcció General de Cultura i Patrimoni (Directorate General of
Culture and Heritage) and to promote Valencian fashion. In total there
were three exhibitions, one each in the major cities of Valencia,
Alicante and Castellón.
“It was to give visibility to local fashion designers, and I was invited
to show one of my most identifying garments, along with the illustration
of it,” says Andra Cora.
It was not long after that traveling exposition that COVID-19 began to
disrupt life in Spain, as it did most of the world and we wondered how
that impacted the world of Andra Cora specifically as relates to her
fashion brand.
“Dealing with hard times makes us stronger and in a situation like this
you realize what really matters and how important it is to have empathy
in relation to a client or a consumer. Technology is needed, but I think
we need to humanize it and return to the original craftmanship and to
the work that we are doing, while (instilling) value. Fashion companies
are taking on the responsibility for quality, sustainability, fair
salaries, and recycling. I
believe that now we are on the way,” she says.
She continues, “I have a handmade process that gives the garment
emotional value and it reflects the style of the creator and the person
who wears it. As my brand's slogan says, "I undress the clothes to weave
the soul."
The January exposition was not the first time that Andra Cora has
received significant recognition as a designer. In 2013, not long after
she started her fashion brand, she was a finalist as Best Young Designer
in the Valencian Community, an experience she describes as “exciting.”
Until this year she had been also serving as a substitute fashion
teacher for a private professional training school in Valencia. Soon she
will begin teaching fulltime a course in fashion design, pattern making
and sewing.
“Right now, I am focused on developing my role as a teacher. It has been
said that to teach is to learn twice,” says Andra Cora. Andra Cora started her career in fashion with the help of her mother, “She helped me especially with the commercial part. She travelled around the country with the catalogue of the collection and with some prototypes. Some store owners and shopkeepers appreciated the quality and the designs. For me, every process deserves the same attention and importance and the final garment must reflect that with the fabrics that are chosen and to the last stitches.
My entire family has supported me.
In 2012, when Andra Cora started out, Spain was going through a rough
patch economically. She talks about that time, “First of all
entrepreneurship is never easy, no matter the situation or the time, but
it was hard to balance production and to expand the business, while
being aware of our limitations. I worked on demand and the shops only
paid me if the garments were sold. This was my (strategy) for an unknown
and emerging brand. That is why now I prefer to sell through online
platforms with sales commissions. Now I also take part in showrooms
(operated by) fashion experts or professional shoppers. It involves more
work, but the result is worthwhile and especially with the feedback that
you get.
For me it is better this way because I participate in the decisions and
I talk directly with the customers or possible clients. It is better
than giving all that responsibility to someone else.
My first collection was Dopaminérgica (derived from the word dopamine).
It was for autumn and winter and it was the launch of my own signature
as a professional fashion designer.”
She describes that first collection as being, “the story of a woman who
escapes from Anhedonia, a fictional place. She goes through four stages:
from introspection and fear to rebelliousness and freedom. I used
neutral colors, sophisticated fabrics and with subtle but powerful
construction details.”
A graduate of Escuela Superior de Arte y Diseño de Valencia, you can
hear Andra Cora’s smile across the miles, as she liked to draw all of
the time as a child, “I had my own desk at home, and it was always full
of colored pencils and markers.
I have always been attracted to artistic expression. I found in fashion
the balance between the abstract and personal.”
As for her years at Escuela Superior de Arte y Diseño de Valencia, she
says, “During those years I made sacrifices, but it was worth it. For me
it is not only about having talent, but education is also essential,
because it gives you the knowledge and the skills that are needed. I
studied subjects like drawing, painting, the theory of color, pattern
making, construction, sewing, chemistry and marketing.”
Andra Cora is not the designer’s real name, but it is influenced by her
real name, as she explains, “I find it necessary to have an alter ego
who is the most authentic version of myself and a name that is hard to
forget. What is more, Andra is inspired by the main character and title
of a futuristic Sci-Fi novel, so it is also a conceptual statement.”
Why does not that surprise us, what was it that she said earlier in our
conversation, “I incorporate the past into the present to create the
future.”
You can see Andra
Cora’s fashion designs on
her Instagram page, and you can contact her there,
where she wants you to know that she will personally attend to you.
#AndraCoraDiseñadora #AndraCoraModa #AndraCoraInstagram
|
In
recent years Riveting Riffs Magazine has been highlight independent
fashion designers from different countries and our guest recently was
Andra Cora from Valencia, Spain, an autonomous region of the country and
whose three largest cities are Valencia, Alicante and Castellón and the
region’s population is approximately two million people. 