It is more than a year ago that Miguel Marinero has been preparing for his big moment. Actually, I would have to speak of ‘great moments’ because as I write these lines he is inaugurating a splendid exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Madrid, and in a few days he will hold the presentation of his F / W 2016-17 collection in MBFWM . A lot of intensity, yes, and a lot of beauty, too. The concrete jetties of the port of Llanes, painted by Agustin Ibarrola, have served him as the basis for creating a collection of pieces full of colour and life that play at being contemporary parting from a reinterpretation of Asturian tradition. And so that the circle becomes perfect, Miguel Marinero and his son Nicolas have worked basically with Spanish lamb leather, drawn, cut, tinted and painted by hand, because one of the obsessions of the brand is to highlight the quality and the enormous possibilities of the merino sheep, tied for centuries to the history of this country.
All the garments are reversible, a transcript of the brightness and haze of Asturias, obverse and reverse, head and tails of the Astur landscape that Marinero transforms into garments with primary colours and geometric lines. Ines Marinero, daughter of Miguel, has curated the exhibition with delicacy and intelligence, combining skilfully couture pieces with the geometric constructions of Ibarrola. And as the Marinero’s are a generous family, they have been open to collaborating with students of the School of Fine Arts in Madrid, whom have painted busts and murals even before the eyes of the public.
But the exhibition also wants to take a step forward, and that future projection is represented in the neoprene dresses, that talk about an upcoming presentation of the first collection of ready-to-wear by the label, where leather and fur are important but not the only materia prima. Miguel Marinero is no longer just a furrier. He is not going to stop being so; he just wants to go further.
Neoprene garment with leather flowers in merino lamb and hand woven patchwork fabric.
Close up, neoprene garments.
Sets of leather merino lamb hand cut and tinted. On the right, construction built by students of the School of Fine Arts in Madrid inspired in ‘The Memory Cubes’ by sculptor Ibarrola.
In this room, the creations of Miguel Marinero have been combined with typical Asturian costumes hand-embroidered with black amber.
Merino leather garment inspired by the jetties of the Asturian port of Llanes, work by Ibarrola.
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