Atlas of Fashion Designers

321

Josep Font

Josep Font

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Raised in the quiet sobriety of a Catalan country house, Josep Font studied architecture

and, later, design and pattern design.  is diverse training has served him well as a tool in

the masterful construction of his own imaginative universe.

His garments have a timeless, elegant, dreamlike quality that transports us to fantasy

worlds populated by princesses and fairies, worlds rife with disturbing mysteries. Font’s

major achievement is usurping the romanticism of the most aesthetically hackneyed places

and reinterpreting it in terms of his unique vision. Nothing about him is a cliché. All of

his stylistic resources meld to form something new: from winks at Spanish folklore to ap-

proximations of the most Parisian chic, not to mention the intense gothic aura peppering

the majority of his collections.

Josep’s fi rst design success was winning fi rst prize in the Air France contest, held in Paris

in 1984. Immediately thereafter, his work appeared in the Clothing Museum of Paris. His

work in France is repeatedly the recipient of awards and praise, an exception in the world

of Paris fashion and a privilege enjoyed by a select few. In 1989, he was awarded the Fil

d’Argent national prize. And in 2008, the Fédération Française de la Couture invited him

to take part in Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.  is resulted in his being named the

immediate successor of Balenciaga and Pertegaz.

A brilliant career made possible by the hard work of a designer destined to become a legend

of Spanish fashion.

Photography courtesy of Josep Font

322

Josep Font

Above, the planning for the

presentation of the Fall/Winter

2007–2008 collection. To the right,

an empire cut design from this

collection that exudes Josep Font’s

trademark austerity.

Sketches courtesy of Josep Font

323

Josep Font

Photography courtesy of Josep Font

324

Josep Font

- What inspires you?

Whatever I see or perceive in my everyday life (a movie, a book, a song, a landscape) is susceptible to being transformed

into an element that forms part of my collections after being fi ltered through my own personal interpretation.

- What is your dream as a designer?

A haute couture collection.

- What has been the most important achievement in your career?

I believe that, in life, the best is always yet to come, and the same thing holds true for work. Each new collection is the

result of a diff erent process, so it’s really impossible to say that one is better than another. In any case, I’d say I got it right

the times I came close to achieving some of my objectives after a lot of hard work and eff ort, such as when I presented

my work in Paris. Still, without a doubt, a great deal remains to be done.

- How important are trends?

My work has nothing to do with trends.  at is to say, when I set out to create a collection, sometimes I don’t have any

clear guidelines to follow. Instead, it’s a project that takes shape gradually. Since it’s a refl ection of certain experiences,

of a state of mind at a determined moment in time, the result has certain points in common that serve as a thematic

thread for the entire collection, but under no circumstances do I allow myself to be carried away by trends.

- Fashion has always refl ected a certain era. What does fashion refl ect in the twenty-fi rst century?

It’s still too soon to say. Check back with me in a few years.

- What book would you recommend to every fashion designer?

History of 20th Century Art.

Josep Font

Ciutat de Granada, 96-98

08018 Barcelona

Spain

www.josepfont.com

325

Josep Font

Sketches courtesy of Josep Font