“We must internalize reuse”

It all started on January 26th. Madrid was experiencing a few days of unusual weather, a mini-spring that brought people out to the parks, removed bulky coats and lifted spirits. It was Friday, there was sun and good humor. Perhaps that lightened the impact of the change that was coming and that was noticed when Alba Lago entered the press conference for the relaunch of ‘Noticias Cuatro’ with a A completely innovative outfit for a news presenter, with navy blue stripes, large shoulder pads, almost masculine although fitted at the waist with a black cord. Absolutely aligned with the “oversize” fashion, with the genderless style and the breaking of rules. A declaration of intent that did not need to be explained because Alba’s image said it all: the news on Cuatro would also communicate through clothing. But what did they want to tell us?

Was Mayra del Pilar Arnáiz, Mediaset stylist for years, the one who devised the revolution that we tell you about in the documentary that we are presenting to you. For some time now, she has been trying to contribute something of what she has been researching, as an expert in trends, to the costume design of the channel’s programs. But moves are risky and the news always comes first. Until ‘Noticias Cuatro’ decided to face the new year with new presenters, a new set, and a new image. And there was the key to change: “They wanted to communicate a personality through everything that could be communicated (set, image, etc.) and also the wardrobe, and they gave us some room to try things. And that’s when I said ‘this is mine'”says Mayris, as everyone in the company knows her, in the video that opens this article.

For Mayra, “clothes should not be the center of attention.” Nor “women’s bodies.” “Anything that is too short, too tight or too low-cut, doesn’t fit,” she explains, adding to the list of what is left out “anything that is not comfortable.” “Alba can’t be worried about a shoe or whether something is visible when she moves, she has to be comfortable.”

Another of the rules of television has to do with patterns: “A pattern, depending on what it is, is distracting,” admits Mayris. However, We’re going to see Alba that same afternoon in a very elegant and modern white striped suit: “When I saw it I said ‘I don’t know if that’s going to fit’, and now look,” The presenter comments: The magic is in the eye and the highly trained nose of a television costume designer with the experience of Mayra Arnáiz.

For the journalist, what she wears in each broadcast of ‘Noticias Cuatro a las 14’ is a message: “The news is a reflection of society. I want people to see themselves reflected in the style I wear.” This is how we are going to see very often both Alba Lago and Mónica Sanz, presenter of ‘Noticias Cuatro a las 20’ alongside Diego Losada, wearing the most popular and comfortable street garment of all: jeans. “It used to be unthinkable to have a cowboy in a newscast,” says Mayra, while promoting the use of second-hand jeans: “You have to buy second-hand jeans. Because creating a pair of jeans requires a huge amount of energy and water.”

“Being sustainable in styling is not easy. You have to internalize reusing. We have a general store and it is used a lot. News clothing is the most worn in the world,” Mayra tells us, on a tour of the changing rooms that takes us to the place where They repair and transform garments to give them many more lives.

Dressing consciously on television is betting on local designers, who work in close proximity and with sustainable materials. It means reusing and prolonging the useful life of garments to reduce consumption and emissions. That’s why Mayra has chosen some local firms that really fit into that vision. One of them is Blanam, author of the now famous outfit that Alba wore on the day of the press conference. Its creator, Ana Maria Moreno, She is an expert in quality control and when she decided to start her own business she set very high standards for her production. So much so that she offers her customers the possibility of returning the garments if they find any fault. “We take a long time to choose the fabric, the pattern that we are going to put on it, thinking that the customer can use it for a long time. We want the blazers to last for many years.“, dice.

Ane Mendinueta lives in Pamplona and is the creator of From AM to PM, a brand that makes restructuring vintage men’s suits and turning them into blazers that can be used by men and women alike. “I am very excited about your project, you are doing something very powerful, with a very clear concept of sustainability, with a real discourse”comments Mayris.

The young entrepreneur also has the mission of claiming the production of clothing in her city. She hires a workshop there, with local seamstresses, and defends the possibility of launching a brand that becomes a trend from Pamplona: “By using garments that are 30 years old and restructuring them I know that those garments will have a minimum of another 30 years of useful life. fast fashion You can’t find good fabrics, that’s why they don’t last many years. I think that’s what you have to value.”.