Karlotalaspalas SS '11

Karlotalaspalas, aka Karlota Laspalas, striked the audience at 080 Barcelona Fashion Week with her perfectly paired-down menswear. A burnt piece of paper, which acted as the collection’s press release, revealed just as much about the forthcoming prints as of the designer’s inspiration. “I based the collection around fire, because I hate the heat!” she revealed to Dazed after the show. And taking the idea of burnt paper as a starting point for her prints, Laspalas presented a safari-inspired silhouette with shades of brown, khaki and beige dominating the earthy colour palette.

There were double-breasted jackets and coats teamed with loose-fitting silk trousers. Crinkled fabrics appeared alongside cotton and plush suede finishings, while massive backpacks – something we already saw in Juun.J’s collection presented earlier in the week – added up to designer’s vision of a nature-loving, urban nomad. Following up on the idea of fire, which dominated the collection’s prints, small metal boxes contained incense were placed in the pockets, creating subtle smoke that followed Laspalas’s models down the runway.

Dazed Digital: What started off the collection?
Karlotalaspalas: When designing the clothes, I was looking at different shades of paper when it burns at 451 degrees Fahrenheit. The prints show the three steps of burning – from black to brown to beige tones you notice after extingushing fire. I was also looking at people, who work in the forest and all others who love nature. Gardeners perhaps?

DD: What’s your favourite piece from the show?
Karlotalaspalas: I love all the jackets and coats. If I had to pick one, it would probably be the grey jacket.

DD: Last but not least, why are you so obsessed with fire?
Karlotalaspalas: Because I hate the heat! I love nature and forests and I try to escape the city as often as possible. It’s too hot here in Barcelona.