Andalusian artist and designer Tíscar Espadas presents an untraditional take on masculinity, with craftsmanship at the core of their practice. Her distinct design narrative, which primarily uses earth tones and natural materials, is a homage to collaboration, and masters the combination of traditional craftmanship with contemporary design and technology. This altogether makes for a collection that is filled by encounters between eras and techniques surpassing the boundaries of time.
The brand’s ethos, ‘A story about respect for time and the value of permanence’ is something almost unheard of in our fashion landscape, but Tiscar’s deep love for materiality, durability, craftmanship, and honestly loving your pieces is shown through everything the brand does. This collection specifically features an interesting philosophy, one that explores the journeys we undertake and the stories we collect along the way. Her world has a dreamy way of layering, not just fabrics, garments, art pieces, but also memories, nostalgia, feelings. Each “Chapter” invites the traveler to collect the landscapes they pass through during their journeys, where you meet unexpected friends, find unexpected treasures, and come home a completely new person, decorated with the newfound beauty you picked up along the way.
And with this mindset of crossing borders she is able to reimagine the boundary of garments as well; belts double as extra pockets, scarves become blown-up shirt collars and so on. In her collection, the sleeves are (purposefully) just a tad too short and necklines run just a little bit wide, reminiscent of the clothing worn by traditional sailors. In some ways, the strong and romantic character-building resembles Ann Demeulemeester, where Demeulemeester’s character might be a depressed, chain-smoking poet – Tíscar’s wearer also has poetic energy, but with an earthy ‘got lost in the mountains so I slept in someone’s haystack’ twist to it. Tíscar provides clothing for a gentle traveler, that collects memories by wearing them on his sleeve. How you might ask?
The team designed and created ceramic brooches, tie rings, and bags alongside Shane Valentin, an Amsterdam-based sculptor. They enable the wearer to pin a memoir to their clothing, or save it for later in the bag, and the tie rings quietly make a connection where there wasn’t one before. The team’s efforts to collaborate with artisans from various parts of the world mirror this feeling of collecting different parts of the world and creating new tangible memories together – same goes for the shoes they created together with ceramist and 3D sculptor Serafin Frei in Switzerland – combining 20th-century machinery for the wood parts, alongside traditional leatherwork by the artisan shoemakers of Barcelona Aldanondo&Fdez.
As opposed to reimagining her identity or following trends, all her collections, or in her words “Chapters,” complement the last. She offers the wearer the possibility to invent and reinvent possible looks with each new release – while keeping the pieces timeless and her identity strong. There’s not a lot of ‘sex’ to it, on the contrary – the silhouettes are voluminous, poofy even – but every piece is immaculately tailored and made with such an eye for detail that an entirely covered body can still become inviting.
The browns and cream colorways are rich and amiable, and the entire collection makes clear the man Tíscar is imagining enjoys craftsmanship, lives his life barefoot, and he probably has linen bedsheets. Altogether, we trust this man – he seems sympathetic and kind, finds joy in tying his shoes with laces made out of wood fibers and probably saved you an acorn in one of his hidden pockets.
With every collection release, Tíscar invites us into her world and proposes a universe of comforting, warm, kind, and honest menswear. It’s a story about respect for time and the value of permanence, where each piece reflects the unique journeys that lead to their creation and the collaborations that make them special.
Words by Pykel van Latum
Images provided by Tíscar Espadas
