Ana Garrido, 24 years old, from Lanzarote, can boast of having presented a collection at the 82nd edition of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid catwalk together with 37 university colleagues where she studies the Degree in Fashion Design.
Originally from Tahíche, she always liked fashion from a very young age, although she started studying Economics and International Business after finishing high school. After three years of college, she decided to leave because she was clear that she was not going to dedicate herself to it and that her passion was really in the world of design and fashion. "Fashion was what really caught my attention, especially the most creative part," she says in an interview with La Voz.
To create Los Ritmos, the joint collection with her colleagues, the professors of the University of Design, Innovation and Technology gave them a common theme, which was music, "so that the guests to the catwalk can be guided a little". However, each student had their own theme and connected it in any way they wanted.
In Garrido's case, she chose a more personal theme for her collection called Symphony of Memories. "It is inspired by the effects of music on Alzheimer's patients and comes a little from my personal experience with the disease through my grandfather, who suffered from it," she explains.
"Music made him remember his youth and made him more present in the moment he was listening to it," she continues.
Transferring memories to designs
The design process began a year before the presentation of the collection. Managing to transfer memories to fabric is complicated, but the young designer achieved it through materials, silhouettes and colors. "Above all, you can see the puffed sleeves (fabric pleats) and transparencies," Garrido details.
For the designer, the puffed sleeves represent "the warmth of the music and its refuge that comforts and embraces the Alzheimer's patient", while the transparencies represent "the clarity and openness of memory when they manage to reconnect with the present".
With regard to colors, the collection is characterized by the use of gradient that goes from orange to brown and garnet. "The three are warm colors to give that feeling of warmth and calm that music brings. The garnet represents the strength of the memories that emerge in that connection that music awakens in the patient," she points out.
One of the aspects that characterizes the young woman when creating is that her designs "have something to tell", as in this collection that she has presented in Madrid. Fashion goes beyond a beautiful and striking dress, it also tries to reflect and be inspired by something to express feelings or realities.
Fashion, a path that opens up to different opportunities
Despite how complicated the world of fashion may be and being able to live from it, Ana Garrido is convinced that she will be able to make her passion her way of life. "I think that the world of fashion is increasingly broad and has many more opportunities and, in addition, it is a very important sector in Spain," she says.
In this sense, she says that "there are many more opportunities besides design and I think it is not as complicated as before to be able to dedicate yourself to it". In her case, her dream is to dedicate herself to the design part.
Looking to the future, Garrido's goal is to stay in Madrid, as she still has a year left to finish her degree. She is also considering studying a Master's degree.
