Sociology semiotics

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Nora Madariaga Amantegi BA Fashion mkt and communication, Level 5, 2016/17 Sociology and Semiotics, CWK2 Alfred Quintana and Gabriela Pedranti


INDEX

INTRODUCTION 3-4 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW 5-7 METHODOLOGY 8 DISCUSSION - Sociology - Semiology CONCLUSION

9-33

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REFERENCES

35-36

APPENDIX

37-38

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INTRODUCTION This document presents a possible expansion strategy for the Catalan brand Txell Miras but firstly, it is primordial to give a brief overview of the brand.

The designer and illustrator Meritxell Miras Abella (1976) made her dĂŠbut on the GaudĂ­ Catwalk in Barcelona in September 2003, when she founded her label Txell Miras. Since then she has won many awards, not only in its origin country but also internationally. However, the fact of being physically sold in just two specific locals does not help the brand to be more well-known and increase the profitability. Basically, not expanding the brand has become an obstacle for the company to grow and scale positions in the market.

Txell has been applying her artistic talent to clothing since 2005, showcasing an unusual but energetic and meaningful inspiration in each collection. 3


Meritxell Miras is recognised because of her authentic personality: daring and trustful. A transparent woman, Txell has a clear goal in her life: she wants to success but being good and responsible. If Meritxell had to be defined in one word we would go for “ethicalâ€?, since all her projects are based on that. Garments are produced in CataluĂąa, with pure and sustainable fabrics, and before the production process starts, the designer makes sure that the quality, the fibres and the texture are what she expects. However, she does not show love only for her products, but for people. She mantains a close relationship with consumers, and she is even available to personalize specific pieces to clients that need to re-desing part of the cloth for any reason. Moreover, the designer tries to be present in all the events that the brand organizes and takes part actively with guests, which shows her love towards her job.

The fact of being a small business allows the brand to mantain a strong identity and essence, but we believe that continuing with that discreete and brave business model, the brand could increase the profitability. At the end of the day, the objective is to make money.


Txell Miras sells her designs in Barcelona and Paris, and shares stores with other two Catalan designers: Miriam Ponsa and Josep Abril.

Barcelona Store: NU#02 València 229

Paris Store: Projecte#01: 25 Rue Charlot (Le Marais)

Considering that the designer has a creative approach and has developed a consistent and enduring association of the brand with specific icons, language, and symbols in consumers’ minds, we have identified an expansion opportunity that could increase the profitability of the company. The chosen country is the Basque country because even if there are cultural differences, we believe that Txell’s codes could work with the Basque culture codes. In the following pages we will go deeper in the characteristics of the country, to define a possible target and understand the culture, in order to implement the brand in a successful way by suggesting a possible communication strategy.

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INDUSTRY OVERVIEW There are wide range of studies on the fashion industry worldwide, but since we are focusing in the Basque Country, this piece will only give a short and general explanation of the current situation of the industry. During the past ten years, there has been a significant increase in the fashion industry and due to the creation of new companies in this crowded market, it is becoming more and more challenging for companies to compete and stand out. In such a demanding world, little by little transparency and ethics are gaining awareness and consumers are starting to value the work behind the products (Inc., 2016). One of the positive results of that is that brands offering affordable and ethical luxury clothes have a considerable opportunity to shine in the near future if they project a qualitative communication strategy and create a catchy storytelling. For instance, one of the most obvious examples nowadays is the multinational technology company: Apple. Throughout the history, the sign of an apple have been related to fruit and health or temptation, depending on the context. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, apple can signify technology and innovation. Due to the successful campaigns, Apple has created an empire full of emotions thanks to its advanced gadgets.

Apple

Apple converys empowerment and self-steem by making people believe in themselves and achieve goals. It links technology, music and sport that is trust because it is healthy and satisfying.

Apple is not just technology, but love, beauty, fun and friendship. Millions of colourful balloons that full the sky and for an instance, gathers humans, no matter race, sex or religion.

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Current society does not want just products, but to wear brands that are good by doing well, create emotions and experiences, and if Txell takes advantage of it and delivers a message strenghtening her codes, it could achieve ambitious results.

The fact that Txell is not only a designer, but also an artist is reflected in all of her collections. As we are going to discover in this document, her collections are pieces of art, which have a difficult yet meaningful concept behind that has to be reflect on in order to understand.

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METHODOLOGY According to the methodology, we are going to make use of both, first and secondary source information, in order to get more valuable information and obtain credible results. In terms of specificying the target, we will make use of statistics from trustful websites: INE, Eustat and Emakunde are websites that facilitate statistics from the Basque population, which is key to approximate to a number of possible Txell Miras’ clients. In order to find both brand and cultural codes, we will take information from interviews, books, videos and articles that give us a better understanding, but also we are going to apply useful content discussed in class and personal observations. Finally, it is primordial to apply and use the information the woman that is in charge of NU#02 store gave us to enrich the document. We have to point out that most of the information of the Basque Country has been taken in Basque.

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DISCUSSION With the aim of being more clear and detailed, this part will be divided in two main sections: sociology and semiotics. We believe that in this way it will be easier to deliver a piece easier to understand. • From a sociological point of view, the objective is to define a target that would be a consumer of Txell Miras, and three different aspects will be taken into consideration to be more accurate. The idea is to finally guess the number of women in the Basque Country that could be buyers if we introduce it there. Firstly, we have to highlight that we are not going to focus in all the Basque country, only in Vizcaya and Gipuzcoa for two main reasons: 1. Alaba and Navarra have less habitants and there is not that much interest in fashion than in Vizcaya and Gipuzcoa. 2. The idea is to distribute the brand to a small shop in Bilbao, which is far from those regions, and people do not go to Bilbao to shop.

Among all the women in the Basque Country, 960.267 women are from the regions we are interested in: Vizcaya and Gipuzcoa.

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According to AGE, Txell Miras’ target is women between 30-50 years old, which a daring attitude towards life and personal style. Considering that women in the Basque Country are less adventurous than in Cataluùa, probably the target would be reduced to women between 25-45.

After calculating the percentages of women 25-45 in Vizcaya, there are 161.136, and in Gipuzcoa, 97.790; this is, a total of 258.926 women.

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Another factor that plays an important role in fashion is the ECONOMY. According to INE, the Basque Country is one of the richest countries in Spain, which verifies that it could be one of the best opportunities in terms of expanding the brand in Spain. According to eustat the 70% of Basques belong to a medium, of medium-high class and the average annual salary of women (2016) was the following one. However, this table shows the average salary, but we are focused in a type of women that has a higher income than the average.

Sex (Women) 18-19 años 20-24 años 25-29 años 30-34 años 35-39 años 40-44 años 45-49 años 50-54 años 55-59 años 60-64 años 65-69 años 70-74 años 75-79 años 80-84 años 85-89 años 90-94 años 95 y más años

Total rent (year) € 485 € 3.007 € 10.475 € 15.423 € 17.292 € 17.705 € 18.149 € 19.434 € 19.246 € 16.061 € 12.782 € 11.381 € 11.238 € 11.882 € 12.734 € 12.945 € 11.416

Among the medium, medium-high classes, there is no a big difference between genders, and since there are the same amount of men and women, we will consider that the 70% of women could buy Txell Miras, if we reduce it to our main target (Women 25-45), 181.248 women would buy the brand.

Finally, we have identified a characteristic among the people living in the Basque Country that influences a lot in the way that they wear; this is, the POLITICAL IDEOLOGY. Since many years ago, there is a clear division in the Basque habitants ideology: • The central-right wing, PNV (Partido Nacionalista Vasco). • The left wing EH Bildu. “The sense of uniform is still very noticeable and it is relatively easy to guess who people vote depending on their clothes. The left wing supporters look like they are going to the mountain, use pants and brownish-grey colours” (Juan Bas writer). According to the last Basque elections, 38% (La Vanguardia, 2016) of the votes went for PNV. We believe that people with this ideology, really attached to the Basque roots and traditions, with quality life-conditions would buy the brand. Following the same rule as we did it before, we estimate that the 38% of the 181.248 women told before could be consumers that Txell Miras usually has; exactly, 68.875 women (25-45) in the Basque Country. 11


BEYOND THE ECONOMICAL-POLITICAL ANALYSIS Beyond the behaviour associated to the economical possibilities and political ideology, there are other important behaviour that could match with Txell Miras. As we are going to explain it in the codes below, the “intellectual luxury” concept is into the Basque society: Basques are in general discrete and distant, not conspicuous, and rather than showing off, when they look for clothes, they prefer brands that have deeper values and care about satisfying needs that truly matter, including improving self-steem, confidence and feeling confortable with yourself. This, really matches with Txell Miras, whose objective is to create an ethical fashion, that is not about being “the best and most luxurious” but being real and discrete, working in silence and being successful for the brand’s values rather than the products. On the other hand, as explained below, there is a huge movement of supporting our culture, language and people, but people also feels identified with Catalans. Having a similar history and tradition has created a bond between Basques and Catalans that could help the brand integrate easily in the society.


POSSIBLE LOOK OF THE TARGET 25 - 29 years old women • Independent life, without a family

money and time for their own pleasures.

Irene Ormaetxea (Bilbao), 26 years old and founder of Moe design shop: minimal and ethical.

Esther Jauregibeitia (Gipuzkoa), 29 years old. With a large modeling background, she admires the fashion industry. 13


30 - 45 years old women • Earn money

more possibility to spend.

Goizane Agirre (Vitoria), 31 years old, business woman. She is from a traditional Basque family and a natural woman.

Maria Uranga (Bilbao), 42 years old, personal shopper and the one in charge of the Basque president (IĂąigo Urkullu, PNV). She is well known because of her power to make women feel confident through fashion. 14


• From a semiological point of view, the objective is to identify and justify 4 brand and 4 culture codes. From each category, we will try to explain why one of the codes does not work with the brand and viceversa. By understanding the culture and the brand, it is easier to guess what could really success in the Basque country..

TXELL MIRAS’ CODES

Tradition What do we understand by “tradition”? QUALITY HARD WORK ETHICAL TRANSPARENT CONSCIOUS FASHION ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LESS IS MORE

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FW 2017/18, “The Shed” Inspired in the American Indians of the novel of Tom Spanbauer, in particular, “the man who fell in love with the moon”. Fascinating pieces that showcased the connection of the Indians with the nature and philosophy of not using and throwing everything away. Thus, the garments were little treasures, rich and important, and the designer made every detail valuable, like the book’s characters did. Shed’s, the main character’s parents were from different tribes, but he did not fit in anyone of them, so he wanted to discover more about himself, his origins, his history. In the middle of the road, he met a man, who helps him to open his eyes and appreciate life. That man, is his dad, and he made him love the mood, as he did. Txell Miras was inspired because of the love for family and nature that the book shows, and she feels the same for her roots.

FW 2016/17, “Conventual” Inspired by an exhibition she presented in an antique convent that currently is an contemporary art center in Cataluña. “Few collection are inspired in religion, which is part of our culture” (Txell Miras, La Vanguardia 2016). “My dad was a priest, and I decided to create this collection because it has always been part of my life, and I like the aesthetic” the designer said. She believes that every habit and culture is enriching, because diversity is the base of creativity, and she feel really attached to her Catalan roots. The collection was not a criticism or provocation, but respect to that environmvent were she grown up. She played with traditional and classic colours including grey, black and white, which are the representative colours of the past, as well as the ones that the Catalan designer uses the most.

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Slow fashion What do we understand by “tradition”? QUALITY HARD WORK ETHICAL TRANSPARENT CONSCIOUS FASHION ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LESS IS MORE

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FW 2016/17, “Conventual” Txell is recognised as a transparent and conscious fashion designer, coherent and loyal to her values. Thus, all her pieces are thought and made carefully. She believes in quality rather than quantity, and she declares she is in love with her job, which motivates her to work harder every day. Txell’s creations success because all the persistance of the designer, that produces clothes with perfect finishings and impeccable patterns.

FW 2017/18, “The Shed”

Confortable and detailed. A mix of techniques and natural fabrics.

FW 2015/16, “Angles” An act of conscious fashion, she felt she could make excellent pieces by reusing cardboards she had in her factory and being environmentally friendly.

Rich piece inspired in the beauty of nature and love for life. 18


Black What do we understand by “black”? ELEGANCE DEATH COLOURLESS DARKNESS MYSTERY REBELLION STRENGTH

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“I like black because colourful pieces distract you from the product itself, and I want to make people see the details and textures. Moreover black gives the opportunity to talk about many concepts; it can express elegance or death, rebellion or despair” claims the artist. Therefore, black is the pioneer almost all her collections, and in each of them conveys a different perspective.

FW 2011/12, “Faded to black”

FW 2005/06, “Rewind”

A combination of mystery, feeling lost and misunderstood, that was conveyed because the models were walking backwards, and their look was a representation of the devil, rebel girl.

Probably the darkest collection of the designer. It presents a dark environment, but it shows that there is a little light in every difficult moment, which is represented by the small torch the models wear in their heads. 20


FW 2014, “By aparentment� Everything around is black, and there is no end in darkness: life feels like dying.


Daring shapes What do we understand by “daring shapes”? BOLD STRONG PERSONALITY ATTENTION GRABBING DIFFICULT TO WEAR SPECIAL ADVENTUROUS VOLUME

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Meritxell Miras does not think about the final consumer, and she describes her creations as special objects that are not for every day, but for certain moments. “I am known because my designs are just black, but there is a reason behind: black for me is the non-colour, and I use it because I want people to focus on the form rather than the colour”. She gives importance to silhouettes, forms and volumes, not to patterns and prints, so sometimes the products are very adventurous, which become difficult to wear.

SS 2005, “Hands”

She is mostly inspired by high-end designers that are well-known because of their passion for excessive volume and augmented shapes such as Rei Kawakubo, Martin Maison Marginal and Comme des Garcons. She describes her collections as experimental fashion, and she ensures that her designs can be hard to wear.

FW 2010/11, “Fancy bats”

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BASQUE CULTURE CODES

Basque union What do we understand by “Basque union”? PROTECTION LOVE CULTURE FREEDOM IDENTITY NATION PRIDE

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The Basque Country’s culture has been persecuted and repressed mostly since the civil war driven by Franco 1936-39, creating as a result, a complicated relationship with Spain and provoking rancour due to all the damage suffered during the war and post-war times. Thus, Basque natives are very attached to their roots and essence, and the majority of them are truly proud of their culture and current standing in the world. The support for an independent homeland remains strong, and even the language and some customs are in danger of extinction, many organisations create events to support and fight for the nation, for a Basque union.

Ion Fiz

Basque designer Mercedes de Miguel and Ion Fiz encourage more recognition of the Basque fashion internationaly. In order to reinforce this goal, Mercedes is part of the project How Beautiful is Bilbao through which she is opening stores with other companies in the sector, exporting the image ‘Made in Basque’ at the international level.

“There is a concept of elegance in the Basque country. It has always been said that in the Basque Country people dress very well, both at the level of the great designers as well as at a popular level. We continue the tradition of fine dressing, each with one’s own style but with that touch of elegance always present. Not in vain, we are heirs to the great among greats, Grandmaster Balenciaga”, explains Mercedes de Miguel. (Basque tribune, 2013) Mercedes de Miguel

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Intellectual luxury What do we understand by “intellectual luxury”? EMOTION VALUABLE COMFORT CONFIDENCE ETHICS STORYTELLING CONNECTION

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The Basque Country has a rich culture and it is recognised as a luxurious country mainly in gastronomy and landscape, but little by little art and fashion are gaining awareness. Basques understand luxury as a way of living that does not stay on the surface of things, but that goes beyond the horizons and explores values and ethics. The intellectual luxury has always being present in the Basque culture.

Modern times: The Guggenheim museum (Bilbao) is famous all over the world due to the variety of artists that present their work. It is rich in many aspects, since every artist touches a different theme including culture, architecture, design and sculpture, and they let everyone to have their own interpretation. Guggenheim museum, Bilbao.

Old times: Cristobal Balenciaga was an intellectual fashion designer that used his talent to prioritized humans and their needs while designing his products: rather than showing off, he wanted to create to make women feel confident, powerful and satisfied: “A woman has no need to be perfect or even beautiful to wear my dresses. The dress will do all that for her” (Cristobal Balenciaga).

Lisa Fonssagrives wearing petals by Cristóbal Balenciaga. Photo by Irving Penn. Vogue, 1950.

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Traditional colours What do we understand by “traditional colours”? CLASSIC BLACK DARK BLUE ESSENTIAL ELEGANT EASY TO WEAR A MUST HAVE

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Classical colours are predominant in the dressing of Basque people: “if they have to choose a colour, they will go for blue or black” (Jaione Amantegi, Basque stylist). But there is a reason behind every habit, and this also has an explanation. “Probably the Basque people’s character and the weather influence the way they dress” claims Jaione. It is demonstrated that people living in countries with less light tend to be more sad, people are more distant, flat and wear dark colors, which is related with seriousness and mystery: less passionate, less positive, less shiny.

This could be connected to the repression they have suffered during the history, and that are always protecting themselves (an their nation) from people (and countries) that could damage their heart, their tradition, their Basque family again.

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Cold personality What do we understand by “Cold personality”? DISTANT SERIOUS DISTRUST CLOSE UNNOTICED RESERVED INNEXPRESIVE

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“Basque people usually choose certain clothes to cover more themselves, and that could be related to our personality, more reserved, cold and distant. Little by little they dare to be a bit more modern, but still they are farm from open-minded and cosmopolitan cities” (Jaione Amantegi, Basque stylist).

This could be because of three reasons: • Cristian religion has played an important role all over the years, and even though today the country has evolved, there are costumes left: showing parts of the body excessively is criticized. • Having a tough past with many prohibitions could have affected in the personality of people, who cover more themselves to protect from possible enemies because of mistrust. • Cold and dark weather make people be more pessimistic and sad.

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WHAT WOULD WORK?

Txell Miras’ codes

Basque culture codes

Tradition

Basque union

Slow fashion

Intellectual luxury

Black

Traditional colours WHY?

Every culture is a different world, but some of them have similarities among them, which is the case of the Basque Country and Cataluña. After a large research and analysis, we have discovered that Txell Miras is a brand that has a Catalan culture base, and that the brand could perfectly work in the Basque Country because they share similar codes. As it can be seen, the codes mentioned above can be in one way or in another related and aligned to each other. Tradition - Basque union Txell’s designs are created under the influece of the Catalan tradition, which is a fact that Basques appreciate, simply, because both nations feel identified and protect each other. There is an untouchable connection among Basques and Catalans because they both have a similar history in which they suffered and their cultures were strongly repressed. Slow fashion - Intellectual luxury Txell Miras is an ethical brand that respects humans and the environment, loyal and transparent, which make people believe in her and the brand’s values. It could be said that her experimental fashion is aligned to the intellectual luxury that Basques value, since she always starts her collections around a deep concept, and has the objective of creating emotions, art and making people value it. She believes that fashion is much more than a piece of garment. Black - Traditional colours Black is the queen of every collection of the Catalan designer, since it allows her play with many concepts and convey different feelings. And, black is a classic colour that, as explained before, is also the number one for the Basque locals. 32


WHAT WOULD NOT WORK?

Txell Miras’ codes

Basque culture codes

Daring shapes

Cold personality WHY NOT?

Txell’s designs are very powerful and attention grabbing, which our target could find it a bit difficult to wear. Basques have always been known because of their cold character, and they communicate that also through their style. The designer surprises with every new collection by designing adventurous and unique pieces showing creativity, luxury and personality, and this style is sometimes judged in the country and difficult to see. This might be the most important risk the brand has to take if it wants to expand and success.

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CONCLUSION In conclusion, all the businesses have to take risks if they want to success, but we believe that if Txell has more possibilities to success than to fail. After a deep analysis of the Basque people, signs and culture, we have defined a possible consumer group. Considering that Txell says attitude is the most important attribute for every woman that wants to fit in her designs, since they are specially thought for women with strong personality, not sexy, gloomy, romantic or vulnerable. Beauty is in personality, and she wants an independent, confident and implacable human. We believe, that according to her description, in the Basque country there would be around 70.100 possible buyers: - Women 20-40 years old. - Basque middle-high economical income. Traditional roots like the designer. Moreover, considering that there is an understanding and love relationship with Catalans, the brand could experience a growth: it is not only the connection between people, but also the fact that both cultures value their tradition, could be another reason that strengths the possible expansion. Based on the designer’s strategy with a shared store in Barcelona, we think that it would be enough for the brand to be sold in a modern yet classic store in the Centre of Bilbao, called Divina Martina. Basically, opening a store would not be that economical, and if it is distributed in a shop is easier to reach the target. Divina Martina, is a store that sells transparent, ethical and not excesively famous brands to women between 20-45 and the pieces could be defined as affordable luxury. According to the data we have gathered, Txell should potentiate her communication in terms of tradition and culture love, so that it could be easier to grab the attention of Basques and make them feel part of her world.

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APPENDIX THE CONNECTION BETWEEN BASQUES AND CATALANS In order to be successful, it is necessary to understand the history of the country. The Basque Country has always had a deep and strong connection with Cataluña. The following paragraphs will try to reflect and explain the history of The Basque Country and compare it with the Catalan one. In the 17th century Bilbao became the most important port on the northern coast of Spain, and due to the illustration age in the following century, many new ideas stimulated the country and the economy. The same happened with Cataluña, which became an important textile reference and the economical situation became better. The industrial revolution, the Basque Country switched from being a country just living from the primary sector, to have a rapidly growing secondary sector. They were the two potential countries of Spain, which let the society grow and become richer in terms including business and education. In the late nineteenth century the Basque nationalism was founded by Sabino Arana (PNV) with the aim of converting the Basque Country in an independent state. But the long civil war led by Franco (1936-39) changed all the situation. The entire Basque Country fell to Franco’s troops in July of 1937, forcing the Basque government to relocate to Catalunya first and, in April 1939, to go into exile. The Basque culture was persecuted, political and trade union activities were outlawed, and there was an enormous repression (imprisonment, exile, executions). Franco created so much pain that people since then, became more radical and more an more people wanted the freedom to separate from Spain. The same happened to Cataluña. The post war years were even worse, since Spain was a dictatorship. Many costumes were lost and specially the Basque language lost so much power; in fact, it is in risk of extinction since then. Resistance to the dictatorship from the left and nationalist parties was very active, particularly beginning in the late sixties. 1959 saw the creation of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, in English, Euskadi and Freedom) an organisation based on left-wing, nationalist ideology. It started as a defender of the Basque culture, but it rapidly became a terrorist band, so many pacific people left the group. However, it continued and until few months ago, it has created so much damage. In the 1970s the Franco regime was in crisis, and ETA killed Franco’s successor Carrero Blanco in a car bomb. It was a reveal the ending of the dictatorship, but the pain was already done. 37


Catalans and Basques created a strong bond between them, since they both felt a big repression and lived a trauma through many years. The relationship with Spain is not resolved and they are demanding the right to vote to decide and be independent states. They both support each others traditions and do the best to protect their cultures and relationship. A DIVIDED BASQUE COUNTRY There is a big confront between the central-left (PNV) and radical left (EH bildu) political parties. PNV protects and defends big companies, even though it has many social projects. EH Bildu is a new party made of many small socialist organisations (Sortu, Aralar, Ernai…), which has never governed yet but fights for the same objective as PNV: To be independent. The problem is the economy, since its the base of all the society. While PNV has a capitalist approach, Bildu wants to destroy it and fights for more equality. Today, PNV is the leader of the Basque government, and is trying to gain more autonomy negotiating with the Spanish government in a pacific way. ETA was the main reasons why the Basque Country was divided. They classified businessmen/businesswomen as Spanish people since they wanted to have a cordial relationship with the Spanish government. In fact, rich burgesses have been threatened (and killed) because they have not been supporters of their band and have worked for Spain’s projects. ABOUT TXELL MIRAS AND WHY IT WOULD SUCCESS IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY Meritxell Miras was born in a traditional Catalan family and she feels identified and proud of her roots. She was graduated in Arts in the university of Barcelona and she emerged in the fashion industry in 2003, when she was hired to be the womenswear designer of Neil Barrett. Since then, it has been a career of success. She founded her own brand, Txell Miras in 2004, and by the following year she won the Lancôme Prize as the best young designer of the Barcelona Fashion Week. There are also many awards that confirm the reason why Txell has potential to grow and increase sales: 2006: “Barcelona es moda” Prize as the best professional in fashion of Barcelona. 2007: Gen Art Styles New York Fashion Awards shortlisted 2007: book ‘Young European Fashion Designers’ (ed. DAAB – Germany) 2007: Mango Fashion Awards finalist 2008: book ‘100 New Fashion Designers’ (ed. Laurence King – UK) 2009: LICC (London International Creative Competition) shortlisted 2016: National Prize to the best collection at 080 Barcelona Fashion The fact that she feels Catalan and fights to maintain the spirit and costumes of her roots, could be one of the main reasons to success. Basques feel identified and get close to the ones who suffered the same and aim to help them. Moreover her style is classical yet modern and the colours she uses match with the dressing codes of the country. 38


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