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PROFILE

Ailanto's interview

Ailanto is a Barcelona-based fashion company set up in 1992 by Iñaki and Aitor Muñoz, twin brothers born in Algorta in the Basque Country in 1968. Both graduated in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona. Iñaki also received a degree in Fashion Design from the IADE School in Barcelona.

The Ailanto universe is mainly visual; its most characteristic features include its colour combinations and geometrical forms as well as its references to avant-garde and modern artistic trends. The accent is placed on careful attention to details and finishes, as well as fine fabrics (linen, wool and silk) that add the sense of lightness necessary to balance industrial rigidity and ultra-modern aesthetics.

In 1999 Ailanto began its global expansion, taking part in trade shows like Prêt-à-Porter de París (Atmosphère) and at Creators’ Week at Workshop Paris and Tranoï. Its main international markets are Japan, the US, Hong-Kong, the UK, Belgium and Italy, where it sells at leading boutiques and department stores like Bergdorf Goodman (NY), Penélope (Brescia), Harvey Nichols (Hong Kong), Baycrew’s Spick and Span (Tokyo), The Cross (London), Baycrew’s Spick and Span (Tokyo), The American Rag Cie (Los Angeles, San Francisco), Iris Kalaora (Istanbul) and Chaplin’s (Cyprus).

Since 2001 Ailanto collections have been presented at the Cibeles Fashion Show in Madrid.

In November 2004 Ailanto won the “Prize for Best Designer” in the magazine Glamour, and in November 2009, the designer duo was chosen as “Best National Designer” by the magazine Marie Claire.

In addition to designing and distributing their own collections, Ailanto work on different creative projects like fashion exhibition “Genius cuts a figure”, at the Saitama Prefectural Modern Museum (Japan, 2005), “Madrid Moda New York” at Queen Sofia Spanish Institute (New York 2007) and “Fashion and Light” at the Victoria & Albert Museum (London 2008).

In spring 2010, Ailanto opened its own shop in Barcelona, at Calle Enric Granados 46. In summer the same year, it launched its first bag and shoe collection in partnership with Spanish accessories brand Hazel.