UNIQLO and Gaudi Foundation Celebrate Gaudí's Centenary With a Collection Inspired by His Legacy

A Contemporary Reinterpretation of Gaudí

The collection starts from the concept "Casa UNIQLO: A Contemporary Modernist Vision", imagining what a hypothetical Casa UNIQLO might look like within a contemporary, Modernista Barcelona.

To develop the different pieces, Ugo Boulard drew on details, materials and techniques found in some of Gaudí's major works, among them Casa Batlló, Casa Calvet, Casa Milà, Casa Figueres, Casa Vicens, Park Güell and the Sagrada Família.

The result is six proposals that reinterpret elements as characteristic of Gaudí's language as trencadís, stained glass, wrought iron, floral motifs, organic architecture and sculptural forms.

Craft as a Starting Point

One of the project's most striking aspects is the artisanal process behind the designs.

For "Passeig de Gràcia Trencadís", for instance, a ceramic mosaic inspired by the colours of Park Güell was created first. The mosaic was then transferred onto cotton paper, preserving the textures, irregularities and small imperfections of handmade work.

In "Stained Glass Light", the designer explores Gaudí's relationship with light and stained glass by building a three-dimensional model lit from different angles. The colours and reflections produced during this process later become the garment's graphic motif.

"Ironwork" draws on the tradition of ornamental forging. Various hand-embroidered and hand-coloured elements were then used as stamps to build the final composition.

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From the Sagrada Família to Nature

The Sagrada Família also holds a prominent place in the collection.

"A Century Between Two Towers" sets up a dialogue between two towers built roughly a century apart. Working from drawings inspired by Gaudí's original sketches, lines and structures are layered to show the evolution of a work that is still being built more than a hundred years on.

Other designs focus on nature and decorative elements. "Flora" revisits the floral and ceramic motifs of Modernista architecture, while "Portal" interprets the sculptural, organic forms of some of the entrances Gaudí designed through lines drawn repeatedly by hand.

Returning to the Origins to Design the Future

Beyond its aesthetic references, the collection seeks to convey a way of understanding creation.

Gaudí found in nature a constant source of learning and developed a way of working in which craftsmanship, experimentation, function and innovation coexisted within a single creative process.

This vision connects directly with one of the messages the Gaudí Foundation is championing during the centenary: returning to the origins does not mean looking only to the past, but understanding the essential principles that can help us design the future.

The collaboration with UNIQLO carries these values into a new language and brings Gaudí's legacy closer to new generations through fashion, design and contemporary culture.

Gaudí, a Hundred Years On

For the Gaudí Foundation, projects like "UTme! Gaudí 100" show that Antoni Gaudí's legacy continues to evolve and to inspire designers, artists and creators around the world.

A century after his death, his influence lives on in far more than his buildings. His way of observing nature, working with materials and combining tradition with innovation keeps generating new interpretations and new forms of creation.

"UTme! Gaudí 100" is available from 10 September at the UTme! Studio spaces in UNIQLO Passeig de Gràcia (Barcelona) and UNIQLO Gran Vía (Madrid), as well as in various company stores across Europe.

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