Protrait of Josep Font by Javier Biosca. Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga

Josep Font has everything to be a fashion legend -a category that places him in the firmament of needlework stars whose legacy endures over the centuries-. Talented, dreamy, perfectionist and discreet. Unattainable image, architectural soul and persistent work. After spending five years away from the media spotlight once he abandoned the creative direction of DelPozo, a firm that relocated its foundations to relaunch it to international stardom, the Catalan dressmaker is once again in the spotlight. Of course, maintaining its enigmatic aura. It is already known that Josep Font does not like to feed his ego by hitting the headlines.

Now, the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum dedicates the first retrospective to Josep Font. It will be the first focused on a creative beyond the Getaria maestro in a new cycle that the institution is preparing to show the world how Balenciaga’s talent has influenced the work of international creators on a global level.

The exhibition ‘Josep Font. Beauty and restlessness’, is a production of the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum, and curated by Josep Casamartina i Parasols – director of the Antoni de Montpalau Foundation , in close collaboration with the creator in which they have worked hand in hand for more than a year so that the result was sophisticated but fleeting, without a millimetre of margin of error and paying homage to the silent luxury that the Catalan creator knows how to print so well in his designs.

And why does Josep Font converse with Cristóbal Balenciaga in the same space? This union was proposed because the look of the Catalan designer towards the Basque couturier has not been mimetic but a very personal interpretation based on the study of the volume treated autonomously and independently of the female anatomy, achieving a sublimated and silent sensuality, as well as Balenciaga understood. Simultaneously, Josep Font achieved great technical perfection and in the simple and at the same time forceful treatment of the fabrics, in the architectural construction and in the use of exquisite embroideries, he is also close to the legacy of the master from Getaria. Perhaps like no other contemporary Spanish designer, Font fits in with Balenciaga’s famous concept: “a couturier must be an architect of form, a painter for colour, a musician for harmony and a philosopher for measure”.

Beauty and restlessness

The name does the thing. The exhibition is articulated through a constant premise throughout the career of Josep Font: “behind beauty there is always restlessness”. The Catalan designer believes that beauty, in all its splendor, produces restlessness and even uneasiness, but perhaps for this reason it also generates the energy to continue reaching for it without stopping. The architectural construction, the combination of volumes and the ornamentation of the fabrics are hallmarks of his work. Without forgetting his incessant search for a very personal and constantly evolving feminine ideal, far from stridency and provocations. Josep Font’s style is elegant, refined, but also hypersensitive and ethereal. Based on this idea, the exhibition proposes an agile aesthetic discourse that chronologically reviews the 30-year career, from the beginnings on the catwalks of Gaudí and Cibeles through the fashion shows in Paris, haute couture and finally at the head of Delpozo, the pinnacle of his career. It is made up of 54 pieces of clothing, including coats, street, cocktail, night and bridal outfits; from the Fundació Antoni de Montpalau -which has the main collection of pieces by the Catalan designer- and from various private Spanish and North American collections. The set also brings together some accessories from the two brands, such as shoes, perfumes and headdresses. Beyond the creations, the tour includes emblematic photographs by Joseph Hunwick , Javier Biosca and Ernesto Artillo , as well as an interview with the creator by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Dress Delpozo. Pic: Alex Iturralde. Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga

This anthology especially embraces the work of Font carried out in the first two decades of the 21st century and is structured through three major key periods:

From the beginnings to the consolidation

Josep Font (Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, 1965) studied Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and graduated in Fashion Design from the Escola de Disseny i Moda Felicidad Duce, in Barcelona. At the age of 21, he won the Air France Mode Prix award and exhibited at Les Arts Décoratifs . The young designer consolidated his own brand with Luz Díaz in 1987, although they had already enjoyed good recognition in the fashion world for years. Together they created their own language. An aesthetic of sober, austere and refined colours. His inspiration was born from everyday popular clothing, with the use of natural materials, silk, wool and cotton, and a studied and severe pattern. However, in 1995, Font decided to pursue his solo career and at the end of this decade he evolved into a magical and hypersensitive world, with broader colours, luxurious and refined fabrics, spectacular and daring embroideries. This turn in design allowed it to achieve international success in the early 2000s. Years of expansion, awards, shops and parades arrived in Madrid, Barcelona and Tokyo. An ascending process that culminated in three prêt-à-porter collections presented in Paris and four other haute couture collections that were absolutely successful in the French capital.

Delpozo ‘s relaunch

There was a bump in this rise to the top: Josep Font lost his own label in 2011, although for a year, the talented creator began designing anonymously for other firms. However, one offer particularly excited him: the commission to remodel and relaunch the firm of the late Madrid designer Jesús del Pozo. Font re-founded the pillars of the brand with a new name – it would be called DelPozo – and an updated structure and workshops in Madrid, Miami, London, Moscow and Dubai . In the new DelPozo collections , it was appreciated what Josep Font had started in haute couture and would create a new line called impeccable prêt -à- couture , with a rigorous technique and exquisite finishes. Very Josep Font style.

Maturity and international recognition

Josep Font reached his zenith in his stage for Delpozo. Between 2012-2018 he created 19 collections and it is in this full production that the influence of Cristóbal Balenciaga will be most evident. In Delpozo, the Catalan designer will reach his maturity and maximum recognition worldwide through the collections he presented in Madrid, New York, Paris and London, and placed the brand among the favorites of the red carpet and celebrities such as Care Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Keira Knightley or Zendaya , creating trends and marking a milestone in the world of fashion. In fact, Josep Font became the first Spanish designer invited by Anna Wintour to the Met Gala . An anniversary that shows the deep admiration felt by the main fashion gurus for the work of this prodigy with the needle.

Little is told about the last stage of Josep Font. He abruptly left Delpozo when he “fell out of love with the project.” Just like Balenciaga did in 1968, who preferred to leave everything when he saw that his idea of design had nothing to do with the democratization of fashion at the time-if he raised his head right now, we don’t know what he would think of his own brand-. Until then, Josep Font has continued working from the most absolute anonymity and time will tell if he will return to the media spotlight with a new resurgence of himself. Now for the moment, his applauded talent comes to light again in this fantastic exhibition that can be visited until January 7, 2024 at the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum. A magnificent alliance between fashion, architecture, coherence and integrity.

Exhibition ‘Josep Font. Beauty and restlessness’ Pics: Ernest Artillo y Alex Iturralde. Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga

This summer the Spanish fashion industry received sad news that made evident once again the  ups and downs that the sector is going through in an unstable time. Delpozo, one of the made in Spain firms with the greatest international projection, announced that it was closing its doors. After more than 47 years of history, the heir to the homonymous brand Jesús del Pozo has had to face liquidation due to the impossibility of reaching a sale agreement that could rescue them. A decision that puts an end to one of the most iconic brands in the country that has dressed countless models, movie personalities and even royals with their dream designs.

Madrid origins

Jesús del Pozo was founded in 1974 in Madrid and was part of the so-called “fifth commotion”, corresponding to the eighties, and to the generation of the nineties that was made up of designers such as Montesinos, Alvarado, Manuel Piña, Sybilla, Victorio & Lucchino , Amaya Arzuaga, Lydia Delgado or Hannibal Laguna. A firm defender of conceptual design, he began, like other colleagues such as Adolfo Dominguez or Antonio Miró, to design for men. It didn’t take long for the firm to also launch into feminine design and create dresses for independent women with sculptural garments with a childish air. “I avoid the flourishes, I prefer everything that is direct and simple, the feeling attracts me. I’m looking for the essential”, the Madrid-based creator used to argue.

Since its beginnings, Jesús del Pozo was a firm defender of the industrialization of the sector. He released his first perfume, opened new avenues of business and opened a new golden era for the economy of the firm. On a personal level, the creativity of Jesús del Pozo was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts in 1988, the Cristóbal Balenciaga National Award in 1989 and the Golden Needle in 1981. The designer was also one of the promoters of ACME – Association of Fashion Creators of Spain – and served as president of the association until 2004.

The architectural romanticism of Josep Font

The designer died in 2011 and a year later the Perfumes and Design Group took control of the brand, reformulated its guidelines and passed on the creative management to the Catalan couturier Josep Font. The company changed its name to Delpozo, got back to the catwalk shows and opened stores in the capitals of the world. From 2012 to 2018, Josep Font was able to renew the identity of the Delpozo woman, respecting the foundation of Jesús del Pozo (good taste without excesses) and introducing his own language inspired by the forms of nature. Voluminous pieces, architectural designs, ethereal fabrics and colours that varied between pastel and saturated tones in bewitching colour combinations. Such were the creations under the legacy of the Catalan designer passionate about fashion, architecture and crafts.

Under his legacy, there was a second period of splendor for the brand that was accompanied by an internationalization strategy with shows in New York and London sponsored by fashion icons such as Olivia Palermo and Lauren Santo Domingo. Delpozo’s dresses also populated the most photographed red carpets at festivals, premieres and even the annual Met Gala. At this time, Font was in charge of dressing Zendaya Coleman, Kerry Washington, Margot Robbie, among many other Hollywood actresses. He also dressed the then first lady of the United States, Melania Trump and Queen Letizia in one of the most applauded looks of recent years.

New changes and decline

In 2018, Josep Font left the creative direction of the brand, leaving a successful legacy as a standard-bearer of the brand’s prêt -à-couture. German creator Lutz Huelle took the reins in the wake of his predecessor and sought to expand new clientele in a fast-paced and difficult market for artisan brands. For this, a reduction in prices was made to make fashion more accessible to new generations of consumers. Even so, the firm, little by little, was adrift: they did not get commercial agreements or purchase commitments due to the losses and they stopped producing collections a year later. In the midst of a pandemic, the firm has forever dismissed its romantic and fantasy-filled universe, leaving a void in the Spanish fashion industry. A dream of almost half a century that will be difficult to forget.

“Thank you Delpozo for these six wonderful years. I have felt as if we were one family, and I am very proud of all the things we did together. ” This is the farewell phrase that Josep Font left last Tuesday on his Instagram, after six years leading the artistic direction of the company. At the same time Delpozo, for his part, thanked people for their excellent work over the years. It was an exchange of thanks which terminates a fruitful and successful collaboration.

Josep Font was responsible for the “rejuvenation and continuation of the legacy of Jesus del Pozo ” according to Pedro Trolez, president of Perfumes and Design Group and owner of the company, making the Spanish brand one of the most coveted at an international level. “He has an extraordinary ability to mix colours, textures and volumes, turning them into delicate and feminine collections. I am grateful for his loyalty and for having been a part of this first stage for Delpozo, “added Trolez .

An architect by training, Josep Font joined the Delopozo project a year after the death of Jesús del Pozo, who founded the company in 1974. In these six years, Font was responsible for renewing the identity of the Delpozo woman and giving her global projection via a parade first in New York and then in London, the two latest two parades . Apart from the reformulation of the name for commercial purposes(Jesús del Pozo became renamed DelPozo ), the Catalan designer devised his own language inspired by the forms of nature to create voluminous, ethereal and delicate designs in a very colourful palette characterized by its magnificent contrasts: it dances between the most dream-like pastel shades and fully saturated shades.

Apart from nature the designer has also fed from art, music and architecture to create each new collection,each of which was more surprising and more applauded. Passionate about craftsmanship, Font also opted for quality embroidery by recruiting suitable staff for his workshop., a task which bears witness to that minuteness of detail and to finishes in garments closer to haute couture than prêt-à-porter , presenting an incomparable vision of the feminine wardrobe. For all this, Josep Font has shown the value of well-made pieces, slow-cooked fashion, architectural silhouettes, tulle, ethereal volumes and good taste without excesses. All this through Delpozo .

At the moment  Delpozo  has not given clues as to who will be the designer to relieve Josep Font as the head of artistic direction. It is also not known what the next step will be for this Catalan designer, who has managed to fulfil the dreams of privileged women able to be dressed by Delpozo in the Josep Font era.