A legendary and visionary dressmaker. Marta Rota, founder of Tot-Hom, soaked up the haute couture from the Paris fashion shows of the sixties and implemented it in Barcelona. The haute bourgeoisie seamstress is now working to adapt her firm to the new times together with her daughters, Alejandra and Andrea Osés.

Marta Rota is the last great lady of Catalan haute couture. She grew up among fabrics in the store of her mother, Margarita Jovani, and “in the Paris of before”, that of the exclusive shows that Chanel or Dior carried out in her maisons. Between the running around of the seamstresses and the curious eye of the faithful clients of luxury fashion, the Tot-Hom designer started in the business at the age of 14 and today, at 70, she is one of the few fashion artisans who persist in Barcelona.

The firm has known how to preserve the craftsmanship, but also adapt to changing times. The Osés sisters prepare to take over from Rota. “Haute couture is my world, but it is a luxury today. We can afford to keep it because we are romantic, ”she explains. Those memories of yesteryear and the love for crafts endure in its boutiques in Barcelona and Madrid, which have been dressing high society for 54 years.

His name, despite being Catalan, does not require translation on the national scene. The distinctive Tot-Hom stamp has dressed personalities such as Isabel Preysler, Alicia Koplowitz, María Teresa Salisachs, celebrities such as Eva González, Clara Roquet, Ainhoa ​​Arteta or Alex Rivière, with whom they came to design a capsule collection.

At the heart of the firm, the workshop on Marià Cubí street (Barcelona), there is a family aura. A dozen seamstresses dressed in surgical white coats cut patterns, baste and iron without rest, but with a leisurely pulse, as if they were working in front of an operating table.

They shape the pieces that Marta and her two daughters, Alejandra and Andrea Osés, imagine for the next season. “When we were little, we both started in the store, but over time we needed one of the two to go to the workshop and I, who is not good at selling, decided to come here. I like to see how things are made, to be in the making process”, confesses Alejandra.

Wearing a black suit jacket and sneakers, the designer of one of Tot-Hom’s ready-to-wear lines defines herself as the most chaotic of the family. Between rolls of Italian tulle, British silks and Catalan wool, the young dressmaker defines the three lines offered by Tot-Hom.

“They are a reflection of each one’s personality: I am comfortable, and that is why almost all my collection is knitted. For me, being comfortable is what prevails, and that is why I design like this, with very comfortable fabrics, ”she admits, and ventures that her sister’s is more sophisticated and formal.

Her mother’s line is elegant and distinguished, unafraid to use bright colors and designed for lifelong customers. Together, the three make up the essence of today’s Tot-Hom, a couture house that moves between the romanticism of clothing from the past and the relaxed luxury that is now conquering the new generations.

They are dresses for the mother of the bride, with imposing feathers and delicate embroideries, but also versatile two-piece suits for the all-terrain woman, who is looking for both an evening look and an elegant garment for the day. “Now it’s different from when my mother started, there’s more competition, either you hit it or you’re out,” adds Alejandra forcefully, who is determined to maintain her mother’s legacy.

A few meters from the workshop, the firm’s store maintains that family atmosphere. “Would you like a coffee while you wait? I’ll bring it to you right now, ”the designer tells a client who is waiting for his wife to come out of the fitting room. “Thank you very much, Marta,” he replies. Meanwhile, her eldest daughter attends to the client.

Dressed in a navy blue sweater and gray pleated trousers, Andrea is the second leg of the ready-to-wear line. “I am in front of the public, I love talking to the client because he learns a lot from what he asks for, he helps you make the collection thinking about what he needs”, she argues.

She is basic and neutral tones, like her line, and she jokes that she is the “boring and square” of the three. From her mother she has learned great truths such as “if you keep something, keep the set”, and also the love for crafts. “Our obligation, since we have lived through it, is to maintain haute couture, give value to crafts and educate the public,” she explains.

“Education is important, you have to know how to dress and be appropriate”, reply Marta Rota, who assures that fashion, in addition to a trade, has given her security: “I have not been tall, nor pretty, nor thin, but Wearing a tailored suit has always given me confidence”. And that is the great value of haute couture.