AVO interview with Lolita designer Fidel David

Fidel David is a young and very talented fashion designer from Spain. His passion for the Victorian style and his love for the well-known Japanese based Lolita fashion has made him one of the most promising designers from that country. He is a very professional and diligent but yet humble man that has gained a name in the fashion world thanks to his effort and through very detailed and romantic clothing.

His designs have attracted a lot of fans in the last years. He has also worked on the costume design of the main character Alicia for the movie “Magical Girl” that made him gain a review in the website of the famous clothing Japanese brand “Baby The Stars Shine Bright”! Would you like to know more about such an incredible artist? Take a look!

AVO: When did you get interested in the fashion world?
Fidel: To tell the truth, when I graduated from elementary school and then went to high school I didn’t know I could work one day in the fashion world. I also didn’t think of it as my future job. In fact, I decided to study Science but you never know where life will take you. My final purpose was to study Marine Biology but when I finished the eleventh grade I asked myself: “What are you doing Fidel David!?” And then I started to put all my efforts into studying something more artistic. I decided to have a sabbatical year and I studied dressmaking. That was when I thought that designing was interesting and that it made me completely happy. From there on, I continued step by step and I studied fashion designing. And I also discovered something I didn’t know before: Lolita fashion world!!

AVO: Who has been your biggest influence so far?
Fidel: My three main influences have always been Thierry Mugler, John Galliano and Jean Paul Gaultier. They’re the biggest influences in my work since I started to study Fashion. But if you want me to mention my “real” influences, from where I take ideas, I want you to know what I search whenever I can to find new muses. I like art from the past. I look back at Rennaisance, at Baroque, at Rococo, at Regency, at the Victorian age and even at the 20s and 50s. I like paintings, sculptures, different tools, mansions, decoration, etc. Everything helps me to work.

AVO: Tell me one person you would love to see with your clothes.
Fidel: Well… That’s a tough question! I have never thought “I would love to see this person wearing my designs.” Nowadays there’s a singer I like a lot and I’d love to make clothing for her. Her name is Melanie Martinez and her music helps me a lot. There’s also that “something” in her lyrics that I love. She tells stories in each song that are like chapters of a bigger fairy tale. She’s an artist I admire a lot.

AVO: If you could recommend anyone that likes gothic style how to coordinate her/his clothing, what would you say to him or to her?
Fidel: Having a gothic style is very easy. If you just dress in black, people will call you “goth.” An advice? Just try to wear as simple as possible and take care of the silhouette and combine clothes! The most important is wearing black.

AVO: Tell me one of the most emotional moments in your career so far.
Fidel: I’ve cried twice with emotion. One of them was when a girl wore for the first time one of my lolita dresses. I was waiting outside the changing room for her to say something. And her face suddenly went completely red because she was crying. She told me she never felt so beautiful in her life until that day. She also told me she was ecstatic because she finally discovered her “real self.” I was very moved.

The second time was in London in a brunch-tea party. Girls came at different times to tell me how happy they were for having one of my dresses and to congratulate me for my work. I don’t have words to express how important is for me that so many efforts and dedication became such a success!

AVO: If you had the chance to meet Mana-sama (from the clothing line Moi-même-Moitié and guitarist of Moi dix Mois – ed.) in person, what would you say to him?
Fidel: I might probably get stranded and just say foolish things. Because I’m like that, I know that. That’s like when I met Misako Aoki (model, President of the Japan Lolita Association – ed.). She had some fur bunny ears on and I thought that a good idea for the “official photo” was to bite one of her bunny ears. If I knew I was going to meet Mana-sama, I would prepare a few questions for him. Otherwise, I guess I would just “be myself and let’s see what happens next”, hahaha.

AVO: Nowadays what you can see on streets is just “fast fashion.” Don’t you think that kind of fashion is a disadvantage for a young designer like you?
Fidel: “Fast Fashion” just represents what is in Vogue and what people tend to dress because of the globalization and consumerism. Personally, I don’t aspire to make “street fashion”. I mean, my pursue is not to do a large-scale production of clothing for everybody to buy it. I do what I just like to do the most in the world. And that usually means that my special clothing has a particular meaning. You can use it daily (if you dare to do so, haha). I think that having your particular and personal style involves knowing what you should wear at any one time. Well… I’m straying from the question. The answer is: “No, it doesn’t affect me.”

AVO: What are you working on right now? You work daily with a fixed schedule or it depends of the time and day?
Fidel: I’m currently working on my new collection for the “Carnival Masquerade Tea Party” in London in where the special guest will be Angelic Pretty. I can’t say anything else. I would like to keep the secret before I release it to the public. It’s a kind of ritual I have, haha.

I try to have a working routine but it’s IMPOSSIBLE to be a fashion and a costume designer for theatres, musicals and opera at the same time. I always need to have things done yesterday, and I usually end up like crazy because I have so much work.

AVO: Please now send a message to AVO Magazine readers. Thank you a lot!
Fidel: Thank you so much for reading! As an advice I’d like to end this interview saying to all the people who live in a different way: KEEP ON BEING YOURSELVES! LET YOUR EXTERNAL APPEARANCE MAKE YOU HAPPY! Just see in the mirror how being the person you have always longed for makes you stronger. How it gives you strength to confront all the problems in your life.

I want to thank Fidel David for his time to answer the questions. I thank B.R. for her help to arrange this interview. If you want to know what Fidel David is doing right now, you can follow him on Instagram and Facebook.