By Iris Edén Santiago
Special to The Star
Lola Casademunt’s colorful and exciting collection for SS23 is a summer dream in technicolor. Presented at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week event in Madrid, the Spanish label’s signature zebra prints were front and center. This time in energetic tones like periwinkle, orange and fuchsia in crop tops, sarong skirts and sophisticated kaftans worn with slimming cigarette pants. There was glitter, sequins and tons of feminine accents women all over the globe love to love. Also, garments in red, lime, blue and lavender.
“Vivid colors and patterns are key to our collections,” said Maite Casademunt, president and creative director of the brand. “We like energetic combinations that elevate the natural beauty of women. We always create our own patterns, patterns that trigger emotions in the women who wear them.”
Barcelona-born Casademunt was selected this week by the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) as Business Woman of the Year. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place during the organization’s annual conference in Madrid, in November.
According to IWEC, Casademunt was chosen out of 14 regional winners for “her outstanding career, her pledge to making the Lola Casademunt brand international, and her commitment to corporate accountability and sustainability in the world of fashion.”
“Maite Casademunt, chosen as the national winner in the sixth edition of the ‘CaixaBank Women in Business Award,’ has helped to establish Lola Casademunt as a leading fashion brand in Spain, present on the catwalks at 080 Barcelona Fashion and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid,” IWEC said in a statement. “Additionally, under her stewardship, the business has grown significantly and expanded to international markets through commercial partners in Europe and America. The company, which has more than 550 multibrand sales points and an e-shop in Spain, is already present in nine other countries, including Andorra, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Portugal and Ireland. Currently, the international market accounts for 13 percent of Lola Casademunt’s business.”
The judges also took into account Maite Casademunt’s firm commitment to corporate accountability and sustainability. The Catalan fashion designer devised the company’s CSR program, LOLA LOVES LIFE, which focuses on combating breast cancer, fighting loneliness amongst the elderly, and supporting families at risk of social exclusion and vulnerable people, similar to those affected by the conflict in Ukraine. In the area of sustainability, 35 percent of the company’s production is local, and it has set a goal to have 100 percent of its collections be sustainable by 2025. The company managed to save over 8,800 kilos of plastic and more than 35,700 kilos of CO2 with the production of the last three collections of 2021.
Casademunt was trained at the Advanced School of Image and Design in Barcelona and is also the lead designer at the firm. She worked alongside her mother from an early age until she finished her design studies. The company changed course after she was hired, with the creation of a fashion line. Since 2018, she has been the owner and chairwoman of the firm, established by her mother in 1982.
Founded in 2017 with headquarters in New York, IWEC is a global network of leading women entrepreneurs who advocate for business ownership and who cooperate globally through chambers of commerce and business organizations in order to engage with and develop female leadership. IWEC has recognized 460 businesswomen from 47 countries.