Fashion designer Celia Bernardo

(Interview)

Celia Bernardo - Designer

00:09 My name is Celia Bernardo, I'm a Spanish designer based in Shanghai since 2010, and this is my studio and my showroom. Celia B is a personal project; it's a brand with a very international flavor. Because I'm a Spaniard living in China I travel all over the world looking for textiles and inspiration, and I mix it in a very unique and special way, so that is what makes the brand unique and special. They are clothes for women that want to feel amazing wearing them, to stand out from the crowd, from the masses. It is what inspires me, the process and the result. 

00:51 I really like this piece; it's one of like a signature piece of the collection. The crochet, it's something that I use a lot, I love handcrafted techniques. And this fun monster jacket with all the textures, colors, it's something very fun; and then we have this t-shirt with the crochet collar and this detail with the beads and stuff, it's very fun. I think luxury is having something very unique and special where people put a lot of effort and love creating something. I think it's the antithesis of fast things and mass production. I take a lot of care of the materials I choose, I select, as I said before I travel all over the world to find special things, I also pay a lot of attention to colors, combinations, patch work. Then during the creative process every single trim and detail makes all the difference, for me it's all about the fabrics and the details and the combinations. I'm very open to everything that is around me, my surroundings, my friends, but I think especially what I get more inspiration from is when I travel. And I like to travel to places that are a little bit untouched by the Western civilization, where I can see the ethnic minorities textiles and way of living, I really like that. 

02:24 I get inspiration from all over the world, from many different places, but because I'm based in China, of course China is a big part of the inspiration and part of the clothes I develop. For example, this dress could be something related with the ethnic minorities, but in a very modern and different way. 

02:44 Preparing for a fashion I so much work because we do it in a very short time. I come from Paris, and have like, maybe only two weeks to do everything, to look for the location, for the models, for the choreography. And when it's happening I'm just like, worried about every single detail. It's very stressful, but then it's great, and it's amazing and it's beautiful, and people really enjoy it. Because what we want to do is to create a show where people can feel that they are part of it, of the happiness and the creativity, we inspire people, so it's great, it's a great atmosphere. My customers they say to me "you know I was feeling a bit down today and I wore your dress and I'm feeling amazing, and I'm feeling happy, and you're making something very special and different" and that's great. 

03:34 So, this jacket is made with a textile from India, it's reversible and it's a vintage fabric that I use a lot, I like it very much because they are all different, one-of-a-kind, and these jackets are a big hit, people like it very much.

03:54 I think I'm very lucky that I started here rather than any other place in the world. I think in a place where new things are happening and people are really paying attention to things that are interesting and different. People are ready for that, not only Shanghai and Beijing, also in second tier cities like Shiyan, Qingdao, Quanzhou, Shenzhen; I'm based in Shanghai, so I tend to think that the biggest market is here, Shanghai, Beijing. People in the Western countries have a hard time to realize that things here change very, very fast. So maybe if you came to Shanghai a few years ago, you could think that there aren't interesting shops or brands going on, but in a few years everything happens so much. 

04:44 For this dress I get inspired in many different places, like it has an African feeling, but it has this like, more evening party dress thing with the glitter. So it's a mix-and-match of different things. 

05:01 So many new players in the industry, so many new trade shows, so many new brands, stores, so it's definitely a place that's worth it to follow closely because if you stay out of touch for one season or one year, it's totally different. The people here are really hungry for art and for design, for anything different, you have to think that people in China have access to everything here where they produce everything, you know they can buy whatever they want in all different prices, from super, super cheap to super expensive. So it's a matter of offering them something that is different and they cannot find so easy. In December we got the best of Shanghai for Time Out 2014, best Shanghai designer, this year we just won the prize and it feels great actually, it helps the brand a lot because it gives more visibility to do something different and special in Shanghai, and I'm so grateful that people recognize that. 

06:05 So my showroom is all about all the things that inspire me and that I collect on my trips and my journeys. For example, this sofa was a boring grey sofa from Ikea that I decided to cover with African wax and textiles from India, pillows from Morocco and it is the epitome of Celia B brand. For me the most important part of my brand is to remain free, complete freedom of creativity, of creation, of bringing what I really love. But I think that it's very important to remain true to myself. Destiny or the universe brought me here to China; it was not in my plans at all. Once I arrived here I realized that it was a place where I could develop my new brand, where I could become Celia B, and it's great, the freedom that I have here, the opportunities, people listening and following what I'm doing and that's a very nice feeling so I really feel lucky for that.