Jef Montes

Dolores

Priests, cathedrals and the catholic sentiment inspired my collection ‘Dolores’. A priest in prayer is the main starting point of my collection. The embodiment of his praying posture, his hands in front of his body, have inspired me to create folding fabrics similar to this praying posture.

I took a rectangle shape as a base for the creation of my entire collection. It’s the way of folding one point to the other that makes a pure symmetric form. This displays my futuristic and abstract view on the catholic essence.

The crying Madonna inspired me to develop a fabric with a wet feel to it. It’s a satin duchesse empowered with an upper layer of glass-fiber.

I created bodysuits for styling in order to project the catholic strictness of covering your bare skin. Hiding sandal-heels inside the bodysuit create a feeling of walking on tiptoes. Basque berets inspired me to enlarge them and to wear it as halos. The colors of my collection are inspired by porcelain Madonna figurines, rosaries and traditional catholic colors.

I dedicate my collection to my great grandmother Dolores. She loved the marches from ‘La Semana Santa’. A Spanish celebration to the Virgin Dolorosa and that’s why I chose the march called ”tus dolores son mis penas”, meaning, “Your sorrows are my sorrows.”