Oihane Pardo has a premiere. 'Kardena' has just unveiled its mother's spring collection. Taking advantage of this event, the University Magazine has had the opportunity to interview this woman, who in a few years has been able to see the kaiko, a traditional Basque outfit, to see her updated on the streets daily and to become a very popular brand around us today. We've talked to Amarenaki about the jungle, about herself, about feminism, about entrepreneurship ...

 

The mother came from a bowl of my grandmother who was in my hands. I was born in San Sebastián and continue to live here, but in the meantime, I lived in more places, and every time I used to wear a bowler, especially in Shanghai, China, the last place I stayed was when I realized that the Basque Country did not even exist. This allowed me to tell the story of his whereabouts, his relationship with the sea ... Once, seeing as the bowl was out of date, I decided I needed a new one. Not finding any of this quality, I made a new one and it got a lot of attention. At that time, the entrepreneurship program for young people from San Sebastian came, the planets were aligned and so was the mother.

 

The aforementioned bowl was given to me by my mother, but my grandmother gave it to her. So it is a tribute to this particular bowl, but also to all our mother and grandmother's outfits today, giving us a return today in a way that we can continue to wear and keep alive.

Although there is one part that is not so romantic, I was looking for a word in Basque but with a sense of Spanish and English. The mother does not exist, but the mother is a cherry, such as the mother of the mother we have heard many times, which allowed people who do not know the Basque language to remember the name.

 

This collection is different from what people have seen so far about the Amarenas, because I always know that Amarenes are not just bowls, although everyone in the world is associated with bowls. It is true that the bowls originated, but then came many versions of bowls and even non-bowls, although people were confused. At Amarenak, we gather costumes and accessories from the Basque tradition, which follow a story I want to tell and which are interesting to me, and by design we keep that history and culture alive on the street.

This collection I have just presented is called 'Kardena' and this is the first time that we have not just recovered an outfit from Amarenak, but rather an ornament. Besides, they are no longer jackets, but clothes, dresses, trousers ... These are the clothes that I have designed and have an innovative component, in a way that combines with the new technologies of craftsmanship, in ancient times, we took hand-sewed quilts and pillow cases at home. We have digitized these embroideries and printed them on fabrics, which were part of the fabric, especially in Gipuzkoa.

In addition to printing these embroideries, we also printed patterns directly, which we always do digitally, specifically on canvas. So we have done a fairly innovative process. And, in keeping with the plague and the philosophy of sustainability that Amarenak has always had, we have made all the patrons and garments in the collection a 'zero waste' and through this, we have taken advantage of all the fabric to avoid waste. So, by printing all the patterns on the canvas, we make sure that all the prints go exactly where we want them to, but we avoid waste because the patterns are designed to approve all the fabric.

 

For example, digitizing skippers is normal, especially in small fashion companies like us, because they do everything by hand and, on the other hand, because of this Architecture education, I digitally make skippers with the same programs that I used to draw shots as an architect. So at least that's why my studies helped me.

It is also true to think of a project, the way it is undertaken and the way it is implemented, perhaps closer to the way it is done in Architecture than to the fashion itself.

 

When the mother was born, that is, when I returned and decided to start with this program for young entrepreneurs, the mother was initially to take, upgrade and modernize bowls. And as I went along and looking at what people were asking for, I realized that I could not be alone in the bowls, knowing that many very interesting things were hidden in the closet, that they could be taken out and given a return. So, on the one hand, it has only changed from bowls to clothing of all kinds, always following the same philosophy.

On the other hand, another development that we have not only focused on is the production of clothing or clothes, but we have also started designing for companies, both with clothing and business gifts, taking a component that has a value or history that the company wants to count on, and design by turning it into something else.

 

There are no stable groups right now, but I do collaborate with other people. For example, I used to do most of the clothing myself first, but now I am increasingly delegating this part to workshops and sewing shops around me, and it is the same with photography, working with Tokyo photographers or those I know, and equally communicating with the company. I am only fixed, but I collaborate with people. In terms of research and history, I have been contacting different ethnographic museums in different museums in the Basque Country ... and I come to this network informing, documenting when I need to start a new project ...

 

I have a lot of projects, but what I don't usually have is the time, money and people to put them all together. The next challenges that mothers have to face are continuing to grow, forming a working group, and obtaining the necessary capital or funding to develop all these projects I have in mind, and to continue to grow and recover more history.

 

At least for me, at best, something that has allowed me to be an entrepreneur, and I think everyone who does it will think the same, knowing yourself and learning. One of the things that happened to me when I was working as an architect, or as a salaryman, was a frustration when I said, "I know I can do more, but they can't, or they won't let me, or I have no environment for that." Being an entrepreneur, for better or for worse, sets the limits for yourself and lets me get the most out of my abilities, explore my boundaries, see how far you can go, and what you are capable of or what tools you have.

The worst part is the lack of certainty, being in a situation of not knowing what will happen tomorrow, not knowing how much you will earn at the end of the month and not having that stability that gives you a job, knowing that at the beginning of the month you will always have money in mind, from one day to the next. and that no one will annoy you over the phone, leaving work at 6pm and leaving the office.

But in the end, with the joy of seeing your projects finished, strolling down the street and going over your borders, this is worth it.

 

As women and entrepreneurs, I think one of the things that is happening with the feminist movement is that it is taking a lot of directions. I acknowledge that I am coming from the side, because I am aware that I am a model of an example that is meant to be known for a while, that is, a young woman, an entrepreneur, a worker and a wrestler, who is now fashionable and wants to know everyone. Then, as an entrepreneur, it's coming to me in this sense, helping me spread my work. What I don't think is so good is it the same, isn't it, being treated differently by being a woman, for better or worse, with a man. True equality will come at a time when no one is judged for its sex, but for its work, and at that moment we should not make such a positive distinction, such as "let's give women more flattery" or "give more women a reward" ... Yes, I think this is a preliminary step to be taken in order to achieve this equality; to break that silence and occultism that has been around for the last few centuries, but I would be much happier if I didn't have to make that difference.

 

I have a lot of things to do everyday and I have no time, I have so many ideas in my head and they don't come out, but if I look back, I can say "but how many things I've done in such a short time." In that sense I am happy but with a desire to grow.

 

In my case I was not consciously thinking of "I will create a business". Rather, it was born from something I had inside, something I didn't express in words. I had a pretty comfortable life, with my job, my home ... And at one point I felt I needed a change. I didn't know what it was and in the end, as in Jobs Point Theory, it was, but being an entrepreneur was not a challenge in itself.

I think it's not a thing for everyone. They should consider what they want at the end of the month to have that calm and stability, to go on vacation and have a pretty comfortable life ... If that is the case, it may not be for them. But if people are unstoppable, if they want to make a change in the world, if they want to continue learning, continue to test, stay on the border and have that dynamism, then maybe that's a thing for them. But in any choice, I think the key is knowing yourself and knowing what you want and what moves you, and any choice will be fine.

 

Right now we have three avenues for marketing. The first is through our website (www.amarenak.com); it is time for our online store and you can also request an appointment to come to our second sales center, Tabakalera (fourth floor, Kutxakultur), where things can be ordered or purchased, customized or customized. And the third option is through the sales points we have in multi-brand stores and we have also started in other centers, such as the Miramón Arima Hotel, Donostia-San Sebastián's Noventa Grados, where we will be presenting Kardenak and will be there for a while, in Bilbao ... It's on the page.

 

www.amarenak.com