The situation, which could be summarized in the phrase “We should set up something,” is so common among friends that it is likely that the reader has experienced it on more than one occasion. Rafael Medina y Abascal and Tomás Laso-Argos began to say it in 2019 and materialize it a year later: “When I returned to Madrid after the pandemic, we were already talking about doing a globally scalable brand project that would not only encompass prêt-à- porter, but also the world of art – with which we feel very identified -, gastronomy or culture,” says Medina about those first conversations.
The Duke of Feria has almost twenty years of experience in the fashion industry, from the creation of Scalpers to his time at Inditex. “Both made a huge impact on me and helped me gain knowledge of a difficult and complicated sector where success is not a coincidence, but synonymous with a lot of work, passion, and effort,” he explains.
And Laso-Argos created Absolute Bespoke 14 years ago, a bespoke tailoring label based in Madrid with clients all over the world. This, in Medina’s words, has led him to “accumulate indisputable know-how both at the level of customer experience and appropriate pattern format, in addition to developing a unique sensitivity for excellence in dressing and combining garments.”
The brand they have created together, Mr.AB, shares its headquarters in Plaza de la Independencia with Absolute Bespoke, but as Laso-Argos explains, it is not a second line: “It is a complement to the tailoring part, but totally independent. Rafa lands it all, but this all comes from a demand that I discovered in my travels. Clients told me: ‘All this stuff about suits is very good, but… Where do I buy a turtleneck? And some jeans?’”
When deciding the direction their adventure together would take, they chose to dispense with their names when communicating the project. “We believe that a brand is really powerful when it is not associated with anyone,” argues Tomás. Rafael continues: “A big part of the success, in fact, is receiving orders from Australia (we received one this morning). People are inspired by what we do, they understand it as a unique product. “We believe in the product, we believe in the project.”
The product Medina refers to has to do with the so-called silent luxury: “We produce limited quantities, timeless quality pieces with unique patterns without stridency or visible logos.”
The project, as Laso-Argos describes, involves creating a community of like-minded personalities: “The sales experience is very careful and personalized, whether in our showroom or in exclusive locations such as the Hotel Villamagna or Santa Eulalia in Barcelona, ??where we have made successful pop-ups. In addition to feeling like they belong to a select club, clients, men with similar personalities, find each other thanks to us.”
“We work with the goal that each garment we launch has a unique seal behind it that encompasses a passion in its design, a knowledge of the pattern and a respect for the end customer, which always comes first,” says Rafael. “We have built the perfect wardrobe so that men do not have to think when traveling or dressing in their daily lives. We like to define it as a no-brainer for the client when choosing, since both the palette of colors like the layers we offer all match perfectly.”
In addition to clothing and accessories, they have outlined the brand’s personality through collaborations with technology companies such as Bang
“Rafa and I fight a lot because he is fucking organized and I am a hippy,” Laso-Argos explains, laughing. “That mix is ??the beauty of all this. Mr.AB has grown up orderly where he has to be orderly, and very hippy in the parts where he can be.” What is his next goal? A store that is not a store. “I see it in Miami,” says Tomás. “It can’t just be clothes. There has to be culture, art…” continues Rafael. “And good vibes,” says Tomás.
