When you open the door, you see walls and hallways full of paintings and photographs as if it were a small art gallery. We have entered the universe of Cristina Castañer, a passionate about artistic creation, travel and, also, fashion with full awareness that it must be sustainable.
This is reflected and materialized in her latest project, MyBestys, a line of timeless and high-quality handcrafted bags that are born from the reuse of mattress canvases rescued from a department store along with others from the Castañer factory, famous for the espadrilles they wear. that last name.
Cristina Castañer receives us at her home in Barcelona to talk about this new challenge to which she has devoted herself one hundred percent, although without completely separating herself from the family espadrille business that her grandfather, Luis Castañer, founded in 1927, and to which she has been linked most of his work career.
“I have been giving it the push for 30 years, when we opened the first stores and when we came out of a crisis, it is my last name, my family, my emotional brand, my everything. I am still a shareholder, my bags are sold there, but currently I am completely dedicated to my brand,” she details.
The story of Cristina Castañer’s MyBestys bags begins when the Catalan businesswoman found some colorful canvas fabrics from the 1950s in an old mattress textile factory. And that was her inspiration to combine her creativity with her concern for addressing fashion fashion. a sustainable way. The result is designs that scream exclusivity and craftsmanship, unique bags in different sizes and shapes, such as shoulder bags or bucket bags, among others.
“I have given those canvases, along with the recycled vintage Castañer espadrilles and even the leathers from top brands, a second life. MyBestys bags do not start from recycling -because that is giving another use to something you have already used-, but rather they give another life to stock materials that have never been used. That’s why they are very limited creations.”
“I don’t go to a furrier and say: ‘I want this red’, but it’s something that was already there. I believe in proximity, in giving work to people from here, preserving the crafts of artisans,” says Cristina Castañer, who at one point floods the room with a sea of ??bags to show. And why bags? “I don’t know,” she answers honestly. “I have spent my entire life between shoes and espadrilles, which have different sizes, and perhaps that is why I decided on bags, I think it is more practical,” she says.
MyBestys is the English expression for the most intimate friend. “And I thought that the bag is that, here you keep your money, your keys, your documents, your things… I try to have bags for day, night, casual… I call them MyBestys, it’s my fantasy,” confesses Castañer, who always dreamed of develop your own project outside the family business.
Traveler and curious, Castañer describes herself. And those preferences have been precisely her best weapons when it comes to expressing her ideas. “For me, creativity is a natural process, I have a lot of imagination and I can think of a design at the least expected time and place,” reveals the businesswoman.
Of course, she recognizes that when it comes to designing her bags she is often limited by the materials available: “But it is part of my commitment to sustainability, there is no need to manufacture more to create something beautiful, there is a lot of stock of fabrics, skins, handles… all over the world, with that we can make bags in my case, others could create clothes, we have to stop a little bit of that pollution that the fashion industry produces.” A concern for the environment that she also extends to working conditions: “The thing is that in order to sell at certain prices… I don’t want to burden anyone, but behind it there are a lot of children, poorly paid women because if not, the numbers don’t come out.” .
Art is Cristina Castañer’s other great passion. Just browse through her social networks to see it. “I often travel to see exhibitions, I go to openings, art fairs, I visit artists’ studios… and all this somehow influences me,” she says. But she assures that nothing is similar to when she sees the result of her work in a store. “Although many times they don’t know that there is a whole story behind it, a conscience when it comes to making each bag,” she points out. And could Castañer resist designing some handbag trend? “For now I refuse to put my logo, but maybe one day I wake up and tell myself that I am going to claim my name and I do it,” she clarifies.
After studying law and working in a multinational, his journey with the family business came later. Cristina Castañer grew up in an environment permeated by fashion, a privilege of being able to see fashion shows and talk with talents like Yves Saint Laurent or Jean Paul Gaultier: “at first you take it as something natural, but then you realize that it has been a “It was a luxury to have been able to meet those designers who have passed through the factory and the house.”
Is that where your creative vein comes from? we asked. “You always have creativity inside you, but you have to work on it yourself and in my case I love to let my creativity fly,” she responds. “I have loved espadrille creations every season and I have also participated in them a lot. At Castañer I have evolved, but I have also contributed a lot to the brand,” she argues.
One of his great contributions to the family business was his pioneering store idea, something that had not been considered before and that was later adopted by all brands and called a concept store. The cosmopolitan spirit that his parents promoted and his creative profile gave rise to the creation of the first Castañer store and, without knowing it, what is known today as a concept store. “Back then there were only stores specializing in sales of gloves, shoes, bags, etc.,” says Cristina Castañer while smiling broadly, “and people did not mix products.
At Castañer we had to cover the winter because the collection was very small and since I continually went to fairs and traveled around the world it occurred to me to introduce other brands from friends that I liked, whether they were hats from Florence, scarves from France or books, necklaces… It was a success and without realizing it I had created my world. So, you could find very special objects… I loved doing that…”
To get to that point he had to break the mold. “When I started at Castañer I was already a graduate and at that time a trained person was not dedicated to serving in a store, but I couldn’t get enough of helping a customer and doing it naturally was a way for them to feel the closeness to the brand,” he recalls.
“Now I don’t have the rings falling for having created a brand from scratch, maybe one day I’ll be in a ‘market’ selling calmly and I already have my years and experience, but I find that dignifying the new ways of selling is like becoming a little to the origins, what I intend is to dignify a trade that is being lost such as craftsmanship and also the closeness with the person who is interested in your product,” continues Cristina Castañer.
Closeness to the customer to be able to tell them what is behind each bag and sustainability. They are her principles and part of the values ??of this entrepreneur who lives in Barcelona but escapes to Menorca (“my second home”) whenever she can. “I love it because it is an island for walking, with nature, sea and diversity and I love being outdoors; The city gives you a lot of culture, it nourishes your brain and spirit, but there is nothing like walking through a mountain, near the sea, that gives me peace,” acknowledges Cristina Castañer, who defines herself as empathetic, friendly and passionate and, therefore, suffering.
