Trained in Milan, up-and-coming Spanish designer Nicolas Montenegro has dressed Beyonce and Kylie Minogue, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, he has returned to his home village to launch his own brand.
Thanks to the Internet, “there is no need to live in a big city,” the 31-year-old told reporters at his atelier in Lantejuela, a village of about 3,800 residents that is an hour’s drive from Seville.
Sketches and fabric samples covered one table, while wedding dresses were piled high on another in a room decorated with family photographs.
His three employees, all local residents, were busy cutting fabric.
Montenegro’s return to his village, which is surrounded by asparagus farms, is part of a global trend.
A combination of the pandemic, shifting attitudes and technological advances that make it easy to work remotely are prompting waves of people to move out of large cities and permanently relocate to more sparsely populated areas.
After studying at Milan’s prestigious Istituto Marangoni, Montenegro worked for four years at Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana, where he dressed big names, including Madonna, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue and then-US first lady Melania Trump.
Then in 2018, he moved to Barcelona to work at Yolancris, where he designed the spectacular pleated tulle dress worn by Spanish urban music singer Rosalia to the Latin Grammys that year.
However, when the pandemic hit in March and a strict national lockdown was imposed in Spain, Montenegro decided to move back to Lantejuela to be closer to his father, who had cancer and died in November last year after catching COVID-19.
Encouraged by his father, Montenegro launched his own brand and first collection of wedding dresses called Abril, or “April.”
His sober, elegant gowns, which mix vintage classics with a daring splash of exquisite cotton lace and dramatic bows, have sold in Spain, Britain and Greece for 2,500 euros (US$3,006) apiece.
Montenegro is preparing a ready-to-wear collection for the autumn/winter season.
His venture has boosted the local economy, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, despite being home to generations of expert seamstresses who make flamenco dresses and children’s clothing.
“He is helping us a lot, because there is nothing else,” said Estefania Ponce, a 38-year-old mother who works at the atelier.
Montenegro said his role model is his friend Alejandro Palomo, the 28-year-old designer behind the popular Palomo Spain brand which mixes Spanish traditions with modern twists.
Palomo has an atelier in his hometown of Posadas, which is about 75km from Lantejuela.
“Without the village, we would be nobody,” Montenegro said.
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