Reportage: De la Fuente
Manolo Giraldo, one of the unequalled dressmakers of Andalucía, has retired from the catwalks, but he still continues with the needle and thimble. Rigorous and academic, from his workshop in Rivero, 5 street, in the heart of Seville (626444552) shows a bridal collection as unique as he is. As perfectionist as this young but sufficiently qualified to say without shadow of arrogance: “My best wedding dress is what is coming. Each one is a responsibility and has to be the best”.
“I have retired from the catwalks because in Seville you are of Betis or Seville; of Macarena or Esperanza de Triana. There is not a regular and serious catwalk and also you always have to be defined and I want to work freely. I am dressmaker, not politician, like says my master the tailor Ávila. Everyone is so godlike that they forgot they are to attend to the customers”.
“I sew tailored wedding dresses, ceremony, party, street prêt-à-porter, and even some baby dress to baptize that they have ordered to me. First of all, I talk to brides more of which they do not want than of what they want. It is the best way to be right. It is important to know where they are getting married. It is not the same a hermitage with grass or shore, that a cathedral. They usually come with six months before and depending of the design we both choose the fabrics: brocade, silks…”.
Among craftsman and artist he choose the first adjective. “I think that the artist are too bohemian and I am more hard-working, the kind that says like Picasso that the muses catch me working. Of course that the training is the most important. If you do not have a solid basis, you can’t create. You have to know the reason for a cut, to plumb a garment, those things that are not more ‘fashionable’ and even the word is disuse, but that is a vital function for design”.
“I studied pattern design in the Image Center; the sewing my mother taught me and excellence, Ávila. It is necessary to understand the essence of each garment. It is nice because it has made in a certain way. Any garment of Karl Lagerfeld is wonderful. He is a designer who fascinates me, not only because of his skill, but the kind of woman for he sews. A woman without complexes is who wears Chanel, comfortable and with class, because when she feels confident, she does not need to show her body. The elegant woman and garment last in the time”.
Hardened collector of garments from other designers like Armani or Gianfranco Ferré ties and Tom Ford kerchief, he claims that he can’t wear a jacket if it is not from his master Ávila. “Not everyone can design. There is a big difference between having a good taste or knowing how to combine garments and create them. Anyway, I am convinced that there is not an ugly garment, there is wrong consumer”.