Celia B., the Spanish brand that has conquered the costumes of 'Sex Education': "Many people recognized our dresses instantly"

If you are one of the many faithful followers of Sex Education, one of Netflix's current series, it is more than certain that the collection of printed dresses, with a vintage aesthetic in full color, will have caught your attention. Well, in that case, you will like to know that these designs are much more at hand than you think. This is Celia B., a Spanish brand with 12 years of experience and for which appearing on the small screen has been a dream come true. “When the second season came out at the beginning of 2020, I thought that my clothes had to be in the series,” Celia Bernardo, founder and creative director of the brand, tells us, “I found out who the wardrobe director was (Rosa Dias) and the I contacted to introduce myself, he responded immediately saying that he loved my work. Months later, in the midst of a pandemic, the series production team contacted me with a selection of 10 garments that Rosa herself had made. The garments were from the Resort 2019 and Summer 2020 collections (which had just come out).” A real pride on a personal level, Celia confesses to us, and a milestone that represents great visibility for the brand because, although there are no logos of any kind on the dresses, "there are many people who recognized them instantly," she says.

There is not much difference from the Celia B. brand that started in 2012, "the hard core remains the same, I have the same trusted people as at the beginning, but the experience has helped me to professionalize the project." The designs loaded with color, prints, patchwork, crochet, the retro aesthetic synthesized with more avant-garde and experimental fabrics remains the same, she says.

A collection that is inspired by travel, in all parts of the world and in nowhere at the same time, "I collect these ideas in a very natural way, I absorb images like a sponge and when creating I don't know exactly where they come from the creations. There is a specific example in the Voyager of the Sea collection, which arose after my first visit to Singapore and learning about the Peranakan culture (created from the fusion of Chinese and Malaysian culture brought by merchants). I was very impressed by the color and the ornamental motifs that I saw in the architecture, ceramics and fabrics and even the food, all of which was reflected in the collection that I designed during that trip”. Cinema and series also influence Celia Bernardo when sitting down to design her collections. Without going any further, her latest autumn-winter collection is inspired by the Anne series: “I wanted to create a winter collection reflecting the spirit of the brand. It wasn't easy because our forte has always been printed cotton dresses that work very well in summer. I was inspired by the Anne series, and I continued to pull the thread of the aesthetic that the series evokes. We use Liberty-style floral prints (as opposed to the brand's signature maxi florals), warmer, neutral colors, continuing our signature silhouettes with ruffles and puff sleeves."

Along with prints, crochet or embroidery applications also have a strong presence, another element that comes from Celia's travels around the world and her love of crafts, "for several years I traveled to places with ancient textile cultures like Guatemala, Mexico, India, Thailand or Bolivia, it saddens me enormously that these trades are being lost and I always had in mind that my brand would pay tribute to these ancestral traditions that connect us as a human species”, explains the founder of the brand.

His firm, despite being considered a niche brand of independent production, is present in points of sale such as Harrods or the online platform Anthropologie and has a strong presence in the United States, with almost forty points of sale, but in Spain it maintains its the only showroom in Oviedo, something that catches our attention and we ask him if opening new points of sale in Spain is part of his plans: “Yes, of course, I would love to. We made a business plan years ago thinking of Madrid. The retail business is a very big challenge, but I would love to have a concept store that, in addition to my clothes, shows everything that surrounds the Celia B universe through decoration, books, art...”.

One of the dreams to be fulfilled, added to others already fulfilled in a year that is full of opportunities, "we are particularly excited about the home collection that we have just launched and the collaboration with the iconic bag brand Lulu Guinness", and we are account that he has traveled again after a long time without leaving Asturias. We are looking forward to seeing in which designs the experiences that Celia B will bring with her from her new trips are captured.