The Cibelespacio showroom

There are stands for magazines, cosmetic products, chocolate, water, etc. and as a novelty for the past couple of years, there has also been a showroom space where young designers present and sell their collections to the public walking by.

It reminded me a lot of the experience I had at Loverbooking, and I wanted to ask the participants how they were experiencing it. First of all, the days are exhausting because they are 12 hours a day (from 10 am to 10 pm) for 5 days, but even so, on the last day, they consider the outcome to have been positive, either because they sold a lot, or made contacts, or formed deep friendships with the booth next door.

The folks from "Petit Paquebot" blew my mind with what they can do with crochet. I think of all the crochet tablecloths, bedspreads, and doilies that the women in my family made for decades, and it occurs to me that we could make a 1:1 scale elephant. What a complicated and uniquely Spanish thing to do, crochet. I have the movement of my grandmother's hands doing it etched in my mind, the plain stitch, the purl stitch, the chain stitch, don't skip a line or you'll get lost, oh, if you don't decrease, you won't close it properly... ugh. For those who want to give a new lease of life to this noble art, you can sign up for the course taught by "Petit Paquebot" at Estudio here.

I met Ibai Labega at Loverbooking; he was our room neighbor, and we loved him from the start because he showed up in a suit made with 400 wool pompoms, giving out hugs throughout the hotel. How great. I took his picture on the last day, when he had practically sold his entire collection inspired by Rapunzel's braids.

Carocora is a German designer whom I also met in Malaga, and she impressed me with the good finishes of her garments and her intricate patterns.

Solitas are new to me, but I've been researching, and they are two young women from Cadiz who make very beautiful and elegant prints.

The printed shirts by Mónica Manderlay must have been very successful because I saw many people wearing them. They have very amusing prints with cowboys and drawings that look straight out of 1950s advertisements and comic books.

Hola por qué are the capo di capi of printing and screen printing in Madrid. They were present with their own collection of printed T-shirts. If you intend to print clothes, talk to them because they offer courses, they print them for you, or they rent you the machines by the hour so you can do it yourself.

There were many more brands selling their collections; my apologies to those I didn't feature, I promise to expand the selection next time (hmm, I do like an easy rhyme). From what I discussed with the participants and as advice for future applicants, it's best to bring items priced below €100. What sells best are T-shirts, sweatshirts, and other easy garments that don't require much thought in the decision process of whether to buy or not, so higher-priced collection items are not the best fit.

A thousand kisses,
La Condesa chaquetera