More than 150 people attended the first Alpujarra Slow Fashion runway show on Thursday, showcasing the first sustainable fashion collection that celebrates the textile craftsmanship of the Granada region. This inaugural collection, titled ‘Tinctus’, inspired by the world of wine, was presented at the SAE Albayzín Center Training School as part of the European Artisan Days, an event celebrated until the following Sunday simultaneously in twenty European countries to highlight artisan crafts.
The territorial delegate of Employment of the Junta de Andalucía, Javier Martín Cañizares; the European Funds deputy, Antonio Díaz; the mayor of Torvizcón, David Moreno; and the president of the Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Alpujarra Granadina, José Antonio Gómez, presided over this first fashion show designed and entirely made by women from the region with the guidance of sustainable fashion designer Susana Álvarez, as detailed by the Junta in a statement.
‘Tinctus’ takes a journey through the cultivation, harvesting, pressing, and production process of Alpujarra wine through 15 stylings that play with shapes, color palettes, fabrics, tools, and scents evoked by the wine sector of the Granada region. These elements have inspired the 16 Alpujarra women who participated in the design and creation of this first collection, proposing sustainable fabrics around the elegance of wine culture and its surrounding atmosphere.
As reminded by the Employment delegate and the European Funds deputy, this first fashion show is part of the Alpujarra Slow Fashion project, an initiative by the Diputación de Granada that the Employment Department has included in its European Artisan Days programming for its debut, funding the runway show with around 8,000 euros to «highlight textile craftsmanship and sustainable fashion in the rural environment, promoting the connection between designers, artisans, and local producers to encourage entrepreneurship in the area under the concept of sustainable fashion.»
The initiative, which is already trademarked, was born a year ago with the goal of supporting local artisan entrepreneurs to modernize their businesses and create a space for collaborative design, the results of which were shown for the first time on Thursday with the fashion show.
VEGAN FOOTWEAR
The first Alpujarra Slow Fashion collection has had the collaboration of other artisans who have contributed to the success of ‘Tinctus’ with a series of accessories made with a philosophy of zero kilometers and animal-free, such as the vegan handmade footwear by Oti Beltrán, from Otijane, or the creations of the esparto master artisan Pedro Blanco, from Ubedíes.
It has also had the collaboration of Granada artisan jeweler, María Soto, from Las Granadas de María. The three artisans have been in charge of providing the accessories worn by the models on the runway, contributing to a fashion proposal aligned with the brand’s values that defend sustainable craftsmanship and respect for the environment.
The project envisions the creation, implementation, and consolidation in the long term of a clothing and accessories line with its own and distinctive character, the Alpujarra brand, related to the ‘slow’ movement and aimed at revitalizing the textile tradition of the area and combating depopulation in the region.
The runway show has had the collaboration of the Granada Models School, the Integrated Public Vocational Training Center (CPIFP) Aynadamar, in charge of hairstyling and makeup for the models, IES Albayzín, responsible for the lighting and photographic and visual coverage of the event, Sabor Granada, and the Real Conservatory of Music Victoria Eugenia, which provided a musical performance.