For Abra, fashion is a family affair

The Challenge the Fabric Award (CTF) ceremony has just taken place, an initiative hosted by Ekman Group and organised together with the Swedish Fashion Council to celebrate the use of bio and recycled materials in fashion design. At the Congress Center of the Cariplo Foundation in Milan, the projects of the eight emerging brands were presented, including Abra, led by founder and creative director Abraham Ortuño Perez. The designer grew up in the Spanish region of Alicante, a place with a long tradition of shoemaking. With a marked sense of eccentricity and humour, the creations of the designer celebrate Spanish craftsmanship to produce contemporary versions of nostalgic accessories linked to his 2000s childhood, from pink scale palettes to studded details, from the gumminess of leather to the glitter of sequins. The look Perez designed for the CFT award is inspired by his mother's wedding dress, an electric blue dress from the 1980s. «Some of my strongest memories are related to women’s way of dressing,» the designer tells us. «I've always been fascinated by my mother's choice for this moment. She was pregnant when she got married, it wasn't a religious ceremony.»

Speaking of the influences that have led him to be interested in womenswear since childhood, Abraham Ortuño Perez says he grew up mainly around female figures. «I never cared about what men were doing,» he says, adding that his greatest artistic inspiration has always been his sister. «She was my idol, as kids I was very feminine and she was very masculine, and at some point we started wearing the same clothes.» Perez's designs are thus inspired by the wardrobe he shared with his sister, to take back with a new futuristic cut the silhouettes they wore as young people in the 2000s. Studs first appeared in the brand's collections in 2020 when, for a new version of the baguette bag, Perez wanted to pay homage to the Harajuku style of the 1990s. «I had FRUiTS magazines and I was obsessed with the way they dressed, but I also wore a lot of studded bracelets in high school,» he adds.

Although born in Spain, the brand has been in Paris for ten years, where Perez has initiated collaborations with houses such as Jacquemus, Paco Rabanne, Coperni, and Loewe. For the latter, on the occasion of SS23, he created the grass-covered sneakers, now viral - «I found images of shoes abandoned in nature, it was as if nature had taken over.» He learned the art of upcycling in Barcelona when, even before starting his studies at the Institut Française de la Mode, he spent three years as a mentoree of Elena Cardona, accessory designer at Margiela. «I remember a bag made from pieces of broken red lights, the glove bag. It's very fascinating how Martin Margiela's vision has changed the fashion industry by making the beauty of upcycling appreciated, it's such a beautiful creative process.» Despite his career in fashion starting in the workshops of some of the world's most famous brands, these experiences motivated the designer to launch his own brand. «Working with Jacquemus encouraged me to start my own brand, and Jonathan Anderson really inspired me as a designer.» Today, Abra is still small, the designer tells us, with only five employees, but the growing popularity of the brand motivates the designer not to give up.

Having started working in the fashion world long before commencing his studies at the Institut Française de la Mode, Perez is asked if, looking back, he would repeat the same path of studies. «Definitely, it gave me the confidence I needed to succeed, not just the direct contacts with luxury brands. It taught me to defend my point of view as a creative, I will always be grateful for the advice and help I received from director Hans de Foer.» If there's one thing our interview can teach us about Abra, it's this: the brand is a family affair. Today, of the five employees who work there, three are Perez's relatives, proof of how a strong sense of community is truly necessary to sustain an independent brand. From the halls of the IFM to the Loewe workshops, from the studs of stilettos to those of ballet flats, Abra is a product of nostalgia and affection.