LFW Preview: Emilio de la Morena

Emilio de la Morena, known for complex folded, paneled and pleated wares inspired by 20th Century artists, will take a subtly different track this season. The Spanish-born, London-based designer says he is expressing “the emotional lives” of artists he admires though his Fall 2011 collection, describing it as introspective and personal. De la Morena gives W insight into his designs for the upcoming season:

How is your collection for fall coming along? I started working on the concept for the collection after we had finished with our sales campaign in Paris last season, and the process has been quite introspective – so the collection feels very personal. It has been a challenging and very interesting process for me.

What has inspired your designs this season? The past few collections have been heavily influenced by the work of artists that I really love and admire. This season I have taken a different angle, looking at the lives of some of those artists and the tragedy some of them lived through. I have looked at the emotional lives of these artists, and tried to express how they lived through my collection.

Can you give us any hints? There is a strong “Emilio” aesthetic to the collection this season. My aesthetic seems to be getting more and more focused and clear as I develop. The clothes are much more evolved this season, and have surprised me—but you will have to see them for yourself to see if they surprise you!

What do you think distinguishes London Fashion Week from the other fashion weeks? It is often said of London that it is the home of creativity, and I think this is really true. It is a great place for a young designer to start up—there are so many formal and informal support systems that enable you to really make a go of it. London itself is so eclectic and full of cultures from all over the world, which I guess is not so different from New York. One of the aspects that we could learn from New York though, is to make our businesses into commercial successes. I feel that this is the key thing that differentiates London from New York.