Get to Know Delpozo Designer Josep Font, Best Emerging Designer Nominee for the tFS Style Awards 2014

Barcelona-born designer Josep Font was named Creative Director of Delpozo in 2012 after heading up his namesake brand from 2008 to 2011. Delpozo is a Spanish heritage luxury prêt-à-couture label based in Madrid. It was started in 1974, when Jesús del Pozo opened an atelier in Madrid where he quietly grew his brand until he passed away in 2011. The brand was then subsequently acquired by Grupo Perfumes y Diseño and Font was given the creative reins, a turning point which thrust the label into the spotlight.

Delpozo by Josep Font Aesthetic

Fashion forward but refined, Delpozo is tailor-made for the woman looking to be the center of attention without appearing as though she’s trying too hard. Font is known for being especially skilled at working with volume and color and for his use of artisan techniques and intricate embroideries. His background as an architect is evident in many of his pieces, which often take on sculptural gravity-defying qualities. It’s important to note that when Font was appointed as creative head of the brand, he had just presented his fourth eponymous haute couture collection in Paris, which explains his swift hand with construction, draping and surface embellishments.

In His Own Words

• Trained as an architect, Font began showing his fashion designs in Spain. When asked what the difference was between showing a collection in New York versus Madrid, he explained, “New York is a window to the world—five minutes after I showed the collection last season, the whole world had seen it. Madrid is a city that still has a long way to go in terms of even infrastructure and size.”
• Font is proud of his team, telling Vogue UK that “it was a real challenge continuing the 40-year-long heritage of the house, but I was attracted to the vision that the whole team had for the project. Our priority is creativity and rigour to the smallest detail, without forgetting the wishes and needs of women.”
• The designer acknowledges the importance and influence that studying architecture has had on his designs. “Studying architecture was a very good experience; now you can appreciate that in my designs; for example; volume is one of the characteristics of the brand and has been presented in every collection. As in architecture, you have to take into account functionality of the elements but at the same time their overall integration.”
• The brand’s working model is similar to that of an haute couture house. “Haute Couture is part of the DNA of the house. So we follow a similar methodology to classic couture. In addition to incorporating traditional techniques to our collections, we spend months researching and modeling by hand. That is why despite having complicated patterns they apparently look simple. We know it is a complicated way of working but also it is one of the things that makes us different.”
• When asked what every woman should own, Font remarked, “A good shirt, some good denim, a good jacket will always help you out in any situation. And a Delpozo item to go with it!”
• Font has a delightful description of the Delpozo woman: “Women, like art, have no age. They have no determined shape or size. Delpozo’s women are defined by a mixture of intelligence, elegance and a particular way of relating to the world.“
  

Fun Facts

• Founder Jesús del Pozo created 14 fragrances for the brand.
• Font is always working. He has said that he goes into his design studio very early to get started on executing whatever he thought of the night before.
• Moda Operandi’s Lauren Santo Domingo was an early Font supporter.
• The brand launched a bridal collection and opened their first boutique in Miami last year.
• Delpozo launched shoes with their Fall 2014 collection.

Images: IMAXtree