MBFWMadrid FW23 highlights: from Moroccan designers to Maya Hansen’s upcycled corsets

The 77th edition of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid (MBFWMadrid), which took place from Wednesday February 15 to Sunday, February 19, featured the catwalk presentations of a total of 41 designers. The designers once again showed their best creations on the Madrid catwalk for the fall/winter 2023/2024 season.

Apart from the established national brands, new faces in the Spanish fashion world also took part in the wide variety of events, presentations and fashion showsof MBFWMadrid. Among others, the event welcomed a number of Moroccan creatives to its stage this season. FashionUnited takes a look back at some of the stand-out presentations of MBFWMadrid FW23.

’Titalee’, the debut of designer Odette Álvarez

Odette Álvarez, a designer from Spain's Cantabria region, presented her collection for the first time as part of the official calendar of MBFWMadrid. Even though her FW23 collection 'Titalee' was inspired by the "silent flight of a butterfly", as she wrote in the show notes, she certainly made a lot of noise.

The collection comprises garments such as her iconic jewel coat, with large sleeve volumes and with a floor-length to wrap around other body-hugging undergarments. The legging topped with a butterfly-shaped pearl-stranded bow seemed to be the common denominator of the collection as a whole.

The 'Titalee' colour palette flows between ivory tones and blacks accompanied by vibrant fuchsia, electric blue, elegant black, timeless white and eye-catching prints. True to the brand's aesthetic identity, sequins, fringes and crystals of different sizes predominate, beads that the designer herself has brought home from India and that she has mixed with top quality Spanish fabrics, among which the marmot, lamb and fox eco-dyed furs are represented in several of the collection's outerwear pieces.

Maya Hansen, architect of the corset with 'Upcycled'

Designer Maya Hansen, whos has roots in Argentina and Denmark but was born in Madrid, presented her innovative collection for Autumn/Winter 2023 accompanied by a live breakdance performance.

The collection is entitled 'Upcycled' and is centred around the circular economy and, as its name suggests, the technique of upcycling, giving garments a new life as a response to current issues related to the planet's changing climate and the threats to its biodiversity.

Corsets created by deconstructing sportswear and accessories that reinvent themselves within the brand's universe are some of the main protagonists of Hansen's FW23 proposal, renowned for her work as an architect of the corset.

"It's up to us to act. Responsible consumption, changing buying habits, demanding responsibility from brands, recycling clothes, fabrics and materials," as she said in the show notes.

All in all, Hansen’s capsule collection exudes freshness, dynamism and also perfectly conveys the state-of-art of today's fashion industry.

Reparto Studio, ‘To Be Continued’…

The emerging fashion brand Reparto, a Spanish-Mexican label that entered the Ego programme for emerging designers from Spain and their brands for the first time in 2020, bids farewell to the Allianz Ego runway this year after being crowned winner of a second award for emerging fashion brands in Spain, the Allianz EGO Confidence in Fashion award, at the September 2022 edition of MBFWMadrid, having presented three times in total.

’Morocco, Kingdom of Light’ by Maison Artc and Albert Oiknine

The Moroccan designers Maison Artc and Albert Oiknine were the protagonists of the two-fold fashion show entitled ‘Morocco, Kingdom of Light’, a tribute to Spain’s neighbouring country. By highlighting Moroccon designers in particular in its most recent edition, Mercedes-Benz hoped to foster the creation of synergies with the creatives of this country with such a rich and varied culture.

Colour was one of the protagonists of the collection of Maison Artc, the brand of the Moroccan designer Artsi Ifrach. In October last year, Ifrach was awarded the Fashion Trust Arabia prize in Doha, Qatar, which is considered one of the most important fashion awards in the Arab region.

The fashion firm has used antique and handmade materials to bring to life a collection that stands out for the freedom and creativity through which its creative has said to be "trying, through the material that surrounds me, to create a story that captures culture, memories, and craftsmanship".

In the case of Albert Oiknine, who is considered the designer of reference for the Royal House of Morocco, his garments are inspired by the beauty of long evening dresses, with a special emphasis on the kaftan. They are made with a particular attention to volume, lace and embroidery, including the use of embroidery elements such as pearls and stones.

"My creations epitomise femininity, authenticity, orientalism. Moroccan craftsmanship inspired by an oriental and traditional universe mixed with Andalusian heritage" he detailed in his collection show notes.

Andrés Sardá's sexy ‘Avalanche’ strikes

With its lingerie collection, Andrés Sardá's FW23 collection stood out among those presented on the MBFWMadrid catwalk this season.

’Avalanche Sardá’ is a collection set in a high mountain village where the models glide down the ski slopes, stroll through the streets and enjoy the night, an idea that isn't exactly practical considering the nature of the garments.

The brand has unveiled a collection divided into three sections, where skiing is the central axis that joins the different designs together. Barcelona native Nuria Sardá, daughter of founder Andrés Sardá and creative director of the brand since 2008, presented coats and boots which were reportedly made of a synthetic ecological type of fur that concealed subtle lingerie outfits. In addition, Avalanche Sardá featured silver designs designed for the apres-ski festivities, designs in a daring snow white and tulle, as well as Swarovski crystal details. The latter were worn by the Spanish influencer Dulceida, who had the task of opening and closing the catwalk presentation.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.ES. Translation and editing from Spanish into English: Veerle Versteeg.