LEILA MÉNDEZ

Leila Méndez es una fotógrafa autodidacta nacida en Buenos Aires, con algunos recuerdos de la Copacabana de los años 70’s donde tuvo la suerte de residir algunos años, hasta acabar afincándose en España donde actualmente vive con su familia.

Hablamos con ella para que nos cuente sobre esa herencia familiar que la llevó a tener una cámara en sus manos, sobre las cosas que le influyen a la hora de trabajar, y sobre lo espontáneo que resulta trabajar con niños.

SoBlue- ¿Cuándo y de qué manera te inicias en la fotografía? ¿Herencia familiar, casualidad…?

Leila-Mi padre decidió cambiar de profesión y convertirse en fotógrafo poco antes de nacer sus hijos. Ha sido un gran maestro del retrato. De él aprendí lo más importante para dedicarte a la fotografía profesionalmente: hacerte respetar, tener actitud ante el trabajo, tener temple ante la presión y saber dirigir un equipo.

SB- ¿Crees que la fotografía influyó de alguna manera en tu niñez?

L- Más que la fotografía en concreto, sí que influyó el estar en un entorno bohemio y artístico.

SB- Si miro en tu portfolio, veo que trabajas mucho con niños. Tanto en retratos como en moda. ¡Me encanta! ¿Alguna razón en particular o por mera casualidad?

L- Me encanta la energía y la pureza que transmiten los niños, trabajar con ellos siempre tiene un feedback positivo incluso cuando surgen problemas.

No ha sido algo premeditado pero el hecho de que me gusten hace que sepa dirigirlos y eso me ha llevado en cierto modo a especializarme en ello.

SB- ¿Qué resulta más fácil: trabajar con niños o con adultos? Supongo que con niños será divertido, ¿no?

L- Desde luego es más fácil trabajar con adultos. Aunque en mi caso creo que conecto naturalmente con ellos y eso facilita mucho las cosas.

Sólo puedes fotografiar niños si disfrutas de verdad, de lo contrario ellos lo notan y te rechazan.

Un shooting con niños siempre es diferente, se aprende mucho de su sabiduría espontánea e intuitiva.

SB- ¿Tienes alguna seña de identidad que podamos encontrar en tus fotografías?

L- Me gustaría pensar que sí tengo un estilo propio. En plena democratización y auge de la fotografía el único camino es encontrar un universo propio, aunque siempre existan zonas comunes.

SB- Se puede apreciar que la fotografía con colores vivos caracteriza tu trabajo. ¿Eres de esas personas que piensan que la foto en blanco y negro siempre queda bien?

L- La magia del blanco y negro siempre existirá. Una buena foto soporta bien el color y/o el blanco y negro y viceversa.

SB- Cuéntame… ¿En qué consiste tu proceso creativo?

L- Cuando se trata de un encargo publicitario intento aportar y sumar al brief ya determinado en la medida de lo posible. En los retratos siempre acaba surgiendo el factor de la improvisación. Los proyectos personales sí son algo más pensados y trabajados.

SB- ¿Hay otra clase de arte, además de la fotografía que influya en este proceso?

L- La música tiene un lugar muy importante en mi trabajo y en mi vida en general.No podría trabajar sin ella, aunque tampoco podría vivir sin el cine.

SB- Seguro que esta pregunta te la habrán hecho muchas veces, pero creo que es una  buena forma de conocerte… ¿A quien sueñas con fotografiar?

 L- Sueño con fotografiar a todas aquellas personas que admiro. La ventaja de mi  profesión es que te lleva a lugares y a gente fascinante. Me encantaría por  ejemplo retratar a Paul Thomas Anderson.

 SB- ¿Algo que quieras compartir conmigo y con Solán de Cabras sobre tu trabajo?

 L- Llevo varios meses trabajando en un proyecto personal. Aunque por un lado  tengo muchas ganas de poder compartirlo estoy aprendiendo a trabajar de otra  manera, más contenida y meditada, para estar plenamente satisfecha con el  resultado.

SB- ¿Dónde podemos ver tu trabajo?

L- A nivel publicitario los fotógrafos no solemos firmar los trabajos, por tanto es algo anónimo. Pero publico en diversas publicaciones como AD (Architectural Digest), El País Semanal, The Observer, etc.

En la web de Leila Méndez podrás encontrar algunos de los trabajos que ha realizado –www.leilamendez.com
ESCRITO por Virginia Cámus

SO BLUE ROCKS!

ANY SUNDAY – ALEX TROMMLITZ

Top: And other stories Skirt: Jwanderson

Body: Acne  Shorts: Alexander Wan  Scarf: Acne

Top: KilianKerner Pants: Marc Jacobs    Sweater: Marina Hoermanseder Slip: Eres

Top: La perlaswimmwear Skirt: Tim Labenda

 

Photograpy: Alex Trommlitz

Styling: Adelaida Cue Bär @ Nina Klein Agency

Model: Dalia Günther @ Model Management

Hair & Make up: AnjaFichtenmayer @ Bigoudi using Mac Cosmetics &Aveda

QUIET WATER

SIMPLY ENA – DARÍO VÁZQUEZ

Blouse: Lebor Gabala Jeans MM6 by Maiso Margiela  Necklace Andrés Gallardo

Top: COS                                                                                                               Look total COS

Body: Iconic Maison Martin Margiela, Skirt: MM6 by Maison Margiela

Top Asos  Jeans Levis

 

Jacket Levis Jeans Kocca 

 

Photography: Dario Vazquez

Styling: Mar Pulido

Hair & Makeup: Cynthia De León

Model: Ena @ Traffic Barcelona

Photography assistant: Javier de Frutos Blanco

Chair from Woody Metal

LAPIS LAZULI

“Blue underwater city, balance of pyrites, liquid wisdom that knows all, hears all…birth of all places…food of all things”.

Text Francisco Rojo

Art Direction  South and Island

IT’S ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE – MARTIN SWEERS

Aziz dress

Hugo white cotton shirt Tommy Hilfiger shorts

Marina Rinaldi dress

Pepe jeans lurextshirt

DorthoutMees dress

Team credits:

Photographer: Martin Sweers @ Unit

Model: Charlotte @ Future Faces Model Management

Stylist: Pedro Dias

Hair & Make-up: Charlotte Niketic for Givenchy and Moroccanoil @ House of Orange

WANT TO GO OUT? – LUCIANO INSUA

Top:Trussardi. Short: Manuel Bolaño. Sunglasses:Woodys Barcelona.

3 Shirt:Trussardi

4 Shirt:Edgar Carrascal Short:Trussardi

5 Top: American Vintage 
 Pants: Fred Perry Shoes: Nosoloalpargatas

Photography: Luciano Insua

Stylist: Ana Perez

Model: Steff @ Uno Models Barcelona

Make-up: Ruben Marmo @ Kastell Agent

Set design: Ida Johansson

Ph Assistant: Mario Malka, Marc Garcia

Retouching: Loyal Retouching

Production: Mr&MrsFocu

Read more:  Want to go out? Luciano Insua.  https://goo.gl/MKxu09

Make your clients your top sellers: http://www.referion.com

LUBOCHKA: THE LINK BETWEEN CRAFTMANSHIP AND EMOTIONS

If we were to speak about what moves an artist to create, we would have to mention a host of emotions. Art is not always seen and valued in the same way by everyone and that’s because, in a design, we find something which we don’t always comprehend. Something that goes beyond the human eye.  There is a very personal bond between the artist and his/her work.

I don’t believe I could have found a better example to represent this philosophy than Olga Dubovik, a young designer from Angarsk – a small city in Siberia – who, through craftsmanship, decided to materialize her emotions under the name Lubochka.

Olga’s origins have led her to explore countless ideas over six years, being able to capture that peculiar world which inspires her and which she shows us on her Instagram. – @LubochkaBcn – Through leather swatches and colorful details of pieces which end up being nothing or becoming one of those handmade bags that have managed to enamor a very diverse public.
In fact, it wouldn’t be odd if we’d run into one of her characteristic handbags while strolling through Japan, Greece, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, the United Kingdom, Romania, Ukraine, New Zealand, Venezuela, Mexico, South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Canada, Russia, France or Spain…
Olga Lubochka as her “way of life”, as the brand grows, changes and evolves along with her.
We spoke with her so she could tell us about the name “Lubochka”, her work philosophy and the true meaning of letting oneself go.

SO BLUE: Hi Olga, tell me a little about your origins. Where are you from?
OLGA: I was born in Angarsk, a small city 50km from Irkutsk.  At 14, I moved to Spain, first settling in Igualada and later in Barcelona. This year I’ve returned to Igualada with a family project.
SB: How did you decide you wanted to make handbags?
O: I think I’ve been making leather accessories for six years now. It sort of just happened. Before I knew it, days had flown by and I was still sitting at my sewing machine.

SB: And in this process of being with your sewing machine, how did you come to choose Lubochka as your brand name?
O: Lubochka comes from the female name Lubov, which in Russian means Love. It’s also my mother’s name.

SB: I’ve noticed that each of your handbags has a name (Mashka, Mumudina, Agatha…) is there a story behind this or are they chosen at random?
O: Well, it depends on the moment, most of them are women’s names. I let myself be guided by what I’m feeling when I’m designing the handbag. There’s no strategy behind it.

SB: As an artist, you have a great ability to create. Tell me a little about your creative process. What does it entail?
O: I let myself be guided by intuition, or simply when I feel like it or have the need to create a new model.
First, an idea pops into my head and it’s there for a while, shaping itself until I begin with some trials. From there, I go perfecting it. It’s true that there are some models which have been in there for a long time and still haven’t seen the light of day. I hope you’ll see them soon.

SB: Is there something specific which inspires you?
O: I don’t usually look for a theme and get inspired by it. It’s quite the contrary, something pops up and inspires me. It can be a very small detail. Like a tiny seed growing and forming itself.
In general, travelling or living experiences inspire me.

SB: What type of leather do you work with?
O: The leather I use is usually bovine, both with vegetable tanning as well as chrome. I only work with two tanners from Igualada. They are family businesses with loads of experience in the sector.

SB: Your handbags are sheer craftsmanship so I suppose there’s not a great team behind them…do you make each bag per request or do you have points of sale?
O:  At the beginning I did everything per request. Now we have more of a stock, but most of the handbags are made to order for both clients from my online store and clients from stores that sell our bags.

SB: Who are your bags for?
O: All sorts of women. I don’t picture one type of profile. I simply design things that I like. And I’ve sometimes been surprised with how different my clients can be. For every woman, there’s a moment in life or an occasion for which she’d like to have a Lubochka.
SB: Do you have any future challenges?
O: The challenge is to perfect what I do. Slow, but steady. Lubochka is more of a personal challenge.

SB: And mixing your personal and professional life…What is the next step for Olga and Lubochka?
O:  I’m going to be a mum for the second time in July. That is, without a doubt, the next step…I’ll let myself go and I’m sure it’ll be very inspiring.
TEXT by Virginia Cámus

ECOALF, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

Interview with Javier Goyeneche, founder of ECOALF
Where others saw rubbish, Javier Goyeneche saw resources, raw material, the future, a cleaner future for the coming generations, and a clothing brand with style and values. ECOALF was born in 2009, landed in the USA in 2012 and is now established in 11 countries, including Spain where it is present in 60 multi-brand stores. In five years, this brand of sustainable fashion has found itself in the leading edge of the sector…even more so because, as if recycling plastics, tires, post industrial cotton, coffee and fishing nets wasn’t enough, they have now decided to clean the ocean. “In trash we trust”, states his motto “…we trust in Ecoalf”, we could add.

The birth of ECOALF coincides with the birth of your son. Was it clear to you that that was the moment to create a better future for him?

Yes, in fact, the name ECOALF is due to his name being Alfredo. My idea was to create a fashion brand that was truly sustainable and that wouldn’t continue to use the planet’s resources, thus recycling seemed like the best option. When Alfredo was two years old, I began doing some research and the project started to take shape because I realized there were no quality recycled fabrics in the market and the ones that were available, only had a small percentage of recycled material and a very rough texture. So we found ourselves needing to manufacture our own fabric and, from 2010 to 2012, I travelled the world searching for alliances to create this new generation of fabrics, with 70 to 100% of the thread coming from recycled materials and with sophisticated textures.

Will the future be sustainable or not?

We are always concerned, thinking about what planet we will leave our children and I like to say it’s better to worry about what type of children we will leave the planet, and I’m referring to education and conscience. It is evident that we are consuming four or five times more natural resources than the planet is capable of generating and, in light of this, we defend, as our manifesto “Tras(H)umanity”, that you can continue to burn, cover or hide the residue you generate, or you can turn it into something positive, into alternative resources. Every new thing should already be sustainable.

You are a fashion brand, but what lies behind ECOALF is research, research and more research. Is that the main pillar of your work?

It’s true that there is a lot of R&D in our work process and the first two years, our investments in research were far superior than our invoicing. Little by little, as our invoicing increased, the numbers have started to balance up but it is still our main investment as we continue to broaden the number of materials we use, the fabrics we manufacture, optimizing processes…

You started recycling plastic bottles and today you manufacture almost 60 types of different fabrics with fishing nets, coffee residues, industrial cotton… we get the feeling that the process is complicated. Could you briefly explain it?

Every year we make some 15 different fabrics and there is a process with various phases. We could basically say that from the old fishing nets found at port to one of our nylon fabrics, there are seven chemical steps. If we started with crude oil, there would be 16 chemical steps which is why we are saving so much water, emissions and energy. There are many people who don’t know that most fabrics they use come from oil, what we do is return the material to its original state, a polymer, and work from there.

Within the company’s philosophy is the rule of “you manufacture where you recycle”. Is it a question of savings, logistics or proximity and contact with suppliers, implicating them in the project in a more personal manner?

The truth is, it’s a mess, it’s financially absurd and logistically nonsensical, but it works. One example, in the first project we carried out in Spain, with tires from Signus (a waste tire management entity), it made no sense to recycle them and send the tire powder to Asia to manufacture flip-flops as it wasn’t coherent with our message of sustainability. So we forced ourselves to look for the waste, and all partners and alliances in proximity to it, so as to complete the process.

ECOALF works in the USA, Japan and, in Europe, in England, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany, Norway, Italy… until now when it has just established itself in Spain. Why is it the last country you’ve reached?

Several reasons. At first, when the company was launched into the market in 2012, Spain was going through a terrible recession and it was a complicated time to launch any brand. We also believed the message of sustainability would be better received in certain countries and we weren’t wrong. In the USA, for a specific social group, it is a message they clearly relate to, the same goes for Japan. In the north of Europe, the message is variably appreciated…

Have Spanish consumers surprised you? They are usually accused of not having environmental sustainability.

But it’s working pretty well because we’re not only geared toward a public who is sensitive to this message. We know well that nobody buys a jacket if isn’t flattering. You can truly like our story, but if the fit isn’t right or you don’t like the color, then you won’t buy it. And, when Harrods asks us for a collection, we know we are competing on the same floor with 50 other brands and we can’t explain our philosophy to the consumer, so we offer products of the highest quality and impeccable design which stand out on their own.

Has everything ECO become a trend?

Let’s hope eco is here to stay. The world is moving in that direction and there is sufficient technology nowadays to opt for sustainable alternatives; if you don’t do it, it’s because you don’t want to. This isn’t questioned any more, and companies which don’t follow it will probably have problems in the future.

Ecological products, however, continue to be luxury articles for a large part of the population. How could this market glitch be solved?

Two of my obsessions since launching ECOALF have been: ending the idea that what is recycled is cheap and creating clothing with prices that wouldn’t detract from choosing sustainable products. Despite the production being expensive and the fact that many agents are involved, we have realized that the more volume we create, the more costs drop substantially. So, with greater volume and more brands working on this, it would be less expensive for manufacturers to get these types of materials and fabrics and the end result would be more affordable.

Consumers are also changing and are looking more and more for brands that define them, make them special. Do you think these added values differentiate some brands from others?

There is a new generation of brands that represent very appreciated social values and with which people relate, that makes them much more loyal, as they feel comfortable. The only true distinction between another product and your own are personal and emotional values to which you relate.

You’ve worked for Marc Jacobs and LVMH, Apple contacted you to create a line of cases and the actress and coolhunter Gwyneth Paltrow wears and promotes your coats… In Spain, for example, you collaborate with Solán de Cabras. What type of product do you develop with the water brand?

We’ve spent years talking with them. The possibility has now arisen for us to present a mini collection for Solán de Cabras in Cibeles, disseminating the message that fashion can be pretty while also being responsible.

You are absorbed in a new project, even more ambitious if possible, which is not only to recycle but to clean the ocean. Tell us a little about it.

Waste management and recovery channels on land are well known and identified, but it seems the ocean belongs to no one and everything that ends up there just accumulates… A plastic bottle can last almost 400 years floating in the sea! There are parts of the ocean where the plastic problem is very serious and it’s shocking to think that the Hawaiian coasts are covered in plastic every two weeks and that the fish we eat now contain hundreds of plastic and chemical particles.

I am a sea lover and I thought the best way to bring this plastic back on land was with the help of fishermen, whose trawls even pull out sunken plastic. We’ve encountered great predisposition on their part and, in the pilot project, in Levante, there are currently 204 boats on board. We are testing the types of containers in each boat, the classifying plants at port… The sea project may be the most special and most complicated we’ve been faced with up to now. We’ve been working on it for a year and still have another year to go before its launch, as we will have the fishermen remove the waste from the sea, it will then be classified at port, cleaned, the PET’s polypropylene will be separated as will the polyethylene from the aluminum, turned into flakes, then into polymer and then into thread, fabrics and products. It’s certainly much harder than going to a fair, buying fabric and working with it, but we like to complicate things.

Text Bárbara Vidal

Photography Lidia Estepa