Welcome to The Director’s Cut, an interactive column featuring fashion, beauty and career advice from RGNN Director and Founder, @isabelevabohrer.
She’s a regular at The Ritz during Paris Fashion Week. But that is not where Isabel Sanchís, a native of Valencia, started her eponymous fashion brand. And it is certainly not where she is stopping. Specializing in glamorous, eye-catching designs, which yes, are still crafted by hand in Benaguasil, Valencia, Isabel Sanchís Costura has been termed Spain’s Oscar de la Renta. A few years back, she caught the eyes of international, and specifically, U.S. and Middle Eastern buyers, which is precisely the reason why she, and now her daughter Paula Maiques, who has successfully joined the family business, have kept flocking to Paris season after season to showcase their collection. Now, Asia, and particularly China, is on their radar.
Before popping up at The Ritz, – the brand will be there again from October 3 through 5, 2025,- Isabel Sanchís Costura always shows at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid. It really is go, go, go for them all, producing one collection and one runway show after the other. Already back in April 2025 at Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, Sanchís was quoted saying that Asia is high on their priorities. As much as we would all love to see the fashion industry exclusively for its glistening gowns and alluring accesories, politics, and this case, the tensions between the U.S. and the Middle East, cannot be ignored.
If it was a glance in April, the Madrid fashion show in September is a clear look to Asia. While past collections have been set against the backdrop of an olive tree, for example, – the family, including Paco, Isabel’s husband, who was also backstage, has not forgotten where they come from,- this year’s backdrop was a Japanese temple. But that’s not all; the models walked, or should I say floated in all those opulent robes and suits, across an orange bridge that brought me straight back to the similarly colored gates at the Fushimi Inari-Taisha shrine in Kyoto.
In fact, one of my top picks from the collection was also orange – this maxi dress, which with a tan and matching heels would look spectacular for any nighttime event next summer.
Another favorite – this mini dress suit, what a dream. Can you tell they have not forgotten their Spanish roots? The volantes…
And while the general impression of Isabel Sanchís Costura is always glamour, glamour, glamour, – the bow detail on this dress, reminiscent of those iconic Self Portrait mini bags, was another one of my favorites, – there was a certain aspect of wearability when it comes to this collection.
Take the accessories, for example; models in previous collections donned sparkling evening bags (think Rosantica Milano style), whereas this time, the bags by Ubrique, another Spanish brand from Cádiz, could easily be worn with a suit, out and about for daytime, not only evening events.
But that’s not to say there’s no exclusive evening wear here; it would not be Isabel Sanchís Costura if that weren’t the case. The nod to origami came through in immaculately constructed gowns that are clearly for special events – think galas and perhaps even the red carpet. So did the embroideries take reference from Japanese murals and ash trees.
The accessory that topped it all – the hats, a gesture combining tradition with modernity, which could even be a metaphor for the brand in general. Isabel Sanchís Costura just launched its online shop just this summer and already 20% of sales account from digital customers, read WhatsApp and email. What to expect next? The brand is actively scouting out locations to open up shop in Madrid. And because the fashion world never stops working, let’s hope Asia welcomes the Spanish couturiers as well.
Thank you, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid, for inviting us.
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