From 15 may de 2025 to 12 october de 2025

The atmosphere of the eighties was brewed just right so that the creators of cultural manifestations could get even with a conservative, sombre and grey Spain. As society was transformed by brazen aesthetics, the emergence of urban tribes and a praise to excess, fashion was layered with more communicative, symbolic and experimental content. In such setting, some young Valencians wanting to leave their middle-class home, have some fun and, above all, dress with a yet to be invented fashion, started the project Tráfico de Modas. A wordplay that challenged the stable, coherent processes intrinsic to the grand narratives in favour of a more playful and changing-looking way of creating. With that baptism, some of the Errando Mariscal brothers –Pedrín as head designer, Santi, Joge, Ada and Javier Mariscal, who was part of the fabric design since the beginning– together with María José Villalonga, embarked on a journey that would lead them to make a name for themselves within the still too corseted national fashion. Journey which, over time, was joined by more family members.

On the other hand, the Spanish textile industry in the last decades of the 20^th century placed fashion design as a privileged place of artistic expression. In an age devoted to the splendour of prefabricated identities, some young creators decided to break away from traditional and elitist positions in order to embrace a market hungry for multiple trends. That is precisely what allowed Tráfico to stand out, taking advantage of the breadth of views towards fashion to create their designs, some times so different among each other, in an attempt to escape the concept of brand itself. Convinced, nonetheless, that fashion design must provide, aside from variety, quality, which starts by choosing good fabric and promoting a made in Spain production. Regarding the latter, their clothing is characterised by a coexistence between the features of a growing modernity, with references to the present, and a spirit of identity that played with and satirised some of the traditional patriotic symbols. All of this took place at a time when the Spanish textile industry began to deploy economic tools, spaces and support so that the fashion phenomenon could begin to take off.

The beginning of the nineties turned off, or rather transformed, the party. The rebellious spirit of some of the creative projects drowned in the accelerated production dynamic. The surge of low-cost fashion gained ground and affected many textile companies, which began making national production of good quality unsustainable. The consolidation of capitalism as a hegemonic model demanded that fashion went faster and faster. The project Tráfico de Modas, born without concrete direction but with some clear ideas –working with friends, aspiring to a sustainable business model and, overall, enjoying the process–, saw its end, after operating for over 10 years, at the hands of a voracious industry and the inevitable fatigue.

This exhibition, promoted by the Valencian Archive of Design, seeks to reclaim the Valencian fashion design and incorporate it to the national textile tradition. To highlight the creativity and drive of some youngsters that, without prior dressmaking knowledge, added to the Spanish fashion scene a casual, explosive and eclectic way of doing things, which fulfilled their desires and those of so many others to dress in disagreement with previous generations, to build their own identities in line with their values for the future.

Date :

From 15 may de 2025 to 12 october de 2025

Schedule:

Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 - 14:00 h and 16:00 - 20:00 h
Sunday and holidays, 10:00 - 14:00 h
Free entry
Limited capacity

Centre: Centre Cultural La Nau

Room:

Room Bigues

Organized by:

Vicerectorat de Cultura i Societat, Universitat de València
Centre Cultural La Nau de la Universitat de València

Collaborates:

Archivo Valenciano del Diseño

Commission:

Esther González Gea
Pedrín Errando
Mª José Villalonga