He celebrates his more than four decades at the helm of his clothing brand by touring Spain with 40+1, the retrospective of a company that was born from the hand of sustainability long before it became fashionable. Even if this meant more than a displeasure with the financiers. “From the very beginning, we wanted people to buy quality products for an emotional wardrobe – he says. More than nostalgia, these memories make us understand the success that many of our proposals have become norms.’
Any of the pieces in the exhibition could be in a shop window today. Timelessness is its success?.
It is that this is one of the characteristics of the Verino style and it makes our speech authentic, which in no way tries to monopolize the current situation. It is there from the beginning and shows that timelessness is only built when working with functional models. Appearance covers everything, right?. This exercise in simplicity, functionality, good qualities and finishes allows pieces made 40 years ago to remain valid today. I insist a lot on the need to make a good investment, not a bad expenditure in the face of the single-use concept, which has degenerated so much that there is no other choice but to say enough. We are destroying a lot of raw material and entering into a wicked game. It cannot be that a piece costs less than a loaf of bread.
The exhibition collects campaigns with almighty top models of the 90s, from Christy Turlington to Yasmeen Ghauri. In millennial translation, it’s like hiring the Hadid sisters. This is Roberto Verino and the fashion history of this country.
Unfortunately, the circumstances of recent years have not allowed us to continue in the same line. The 2000s were very tough financially. We suffered crises and overcame them by being better, like now with the whole maremagnum of the pandemic. We have already improved compared to 2019. And why? Because we are real and we are managing to give the consumer, who is very intelligent, what he really needs with the best level of quality and service.
Have they exceeded pre-pandemic sales levels?
Fortunately, last year.
It was very hard for the sector.
And it continues to be. Not all problems are over. Life is a boomerang: if you give love, you get love. Having the consumer at the center of the target generates these returns. Faithfulness has helped us not to be as impaired as others. Customers remain our best allies. Sometimes I say that my client is the king, but not the king of Spain.
Well, the queen is.
[Riu]. My clients are my queens and if I have the chance that the Queen of Spain is too, great. In the end I am able to convince many different social strata. I really appreciate the ones that I can only buy on sale because maybe they put more effort than the ones that I buy at the beginning of the season.
Does fast fashion have a long way to go?
As much as we argue, it seems that there is still more competition in this area. And this is surprising, because the younger ones demand that we be ecological in the use of raw materials that, although noble, are already convenient. Then they go to a low cost store and with 20 euros they leave with a full bag. It’s not easy to change things overnight, but they will come to understand it.
What is fashion for someone who has been creating it for 40+1 years? .
Fashion is first ethics and then aesthetics. I’ve never been interested in the most important thing being the business figure, but that the consumers are happy. Obviously, my size is what it is, but I prefer to be small and recognized.
He now leads an accelerator, VíaTextil, with the Vigo Free Zone. In his presentation he defended the search for the common good. Where does this vocation to train come from?
I, who have had to go through all the learning phases, understand the importance of collaborating with young talents. They are the guarantee of the future. I haven’t discovered anything. It is a consequence of this vision of seeking the general good.
And in this generosity…
It is not generosity. Both parties benefit from it. We live in such a Cainite country that, instead of helping each other, we are always stabbing ourselves. It’s very sad. I want to be happy and I try to make others happy.
In this pursuit of happiness, I guess you need to take a deep breath after such a tough loss [la filla de Roberto Verino, Cristina, va morir al juliol a causa d’una leucèmia].
Look, this is the saddest, the most fucked up thing, but I can also tell you that now Cristina is demanding that I not give up, because this whole project was directed by her. If I have to multiply, I do it with as much enthusiasm and desire as I can. Being in the struggle every day I avoid thinking about the sadness of having lost a daughter.