Ave (Jose) Maria
Over an aperitivo in Florence, industry legend and M.J. Bale’s Barcelona-based fabric design partner, José María García-Planas Marcet, shares his life, philosophy and why he decided to copy himself.
I am Catalan. My roots come from the 16th century, in a small town in the mountains of northern Spain. My ancestors were creating textiles for homes, and they were taking advantage of the colour of the earth to dye these textiles, as well as the quality of the water from the Pyrenees. Over the years they created Artextil, which was our vertical weaving worsted mill based close to Barcelona. We bought the finest wool from Australia, including Tasmania, and created the yarns, the blends, did the dyeing, weaving and finishing of the fabrics to deliver initially to tailors, and then garment makers and retail chains. Wool flows in my blood. My fondest childhood memories are of the smell of washed wool. When I was a boy in the 60s, my grandfather and inspiration, Josep, would bring me to the mill and I would spend all day jumping on the wool bales. In the 90s I remember going into a tailor’s shop in Savile Row, London, and smelling something incredible – the same scent of wool washed with Marseille soap. I closed my eyes and the lady asked, ‘Are you feeling bad?’ I told her ‘Yes, I am,’ just so I could stay for a few more minutes enjoying my old memories.
I am the eldest boy of eleven brothers and sisters. My father was a very strict man, and very demanding. He was willing me to be just like him. He wanted his son to be number one in class, but I was not. I was just studying to pass and have fun. Anyways, I did two degrees at university, speaking four languages, and then afterwards I became a professional hang glider. I won the Spanish hang-gliding championship in 1979, then competed in the World and European Championships for some years. My mentality, as a hang gliding pilot, was ‘freedom.’ In those early days, I was flying even without a helmet. One time, I landed in the Barcelona football stadium. I had jumped from a balloon 1000 metres off the ground as a trial for the opening ceremony of the Soccer World Cup in 1982.
I have always been coming to Australia since I was young to meet my hero, Bill Moyes. He was from Bronte, Sydney. In the 60s, he built the first hang gliders with another Aussie, John Dickenson, using NASA technology. Bill was my reference, my God. He is 90 years old this year. I have had a lot of fun with the Moyes family over the years. I remember flying hang gliders off the back of a boat in Lake Como in Italy with Bill and his son, Steve. My other passion has always been designing fabrics. One day a customer, a very famous retailer, probably the biggest in the world, told me ‘I don’t want to copy from you anymore’. I knew that he was copying my fabrics, and he was so honest by telling me. He said to me, ‘Why don’t you copy yourself?’ That was in 1998, the year in which I told my father ‘Either you retire or continue the company without me.’ Our family company Artextil was one of the most creative worldwide mills, but we were losing money. It was so difficult. So, my father retired, and I closed the industrial unit to start producing in Asia. I paid nearly 300 workers and opened a design studio, United Weavers.
"I Dont have any rules for dressing, aside from my classic values, which are untouchable"
I spoke with my three most important customers, Ralph Lauren and Gap in the USA, and Massimo Dutti in Spain, and asked them to follow me. And they did. Over the years, many of the world’s top fashion brands have been my customers, including Hermès, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabanna, Paul Smith, J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and, of course, M.J. Bale. I first met Matt Jensen about ten years ago, when I was designing as a freelance for Italy’s [linen-cotton weaver] Tessuti di Sondrio. One of the things that has always impressed me about Matt is his sense of colour. So, I design two fabric collections a year from which he is choosing, but he always requests small changes, mostly in colour. I value that. Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and Matt Jensen – those are the three guys in my professional life who are the most demanding in terms of choosing the proper colour touch. I have never been interested in ‘fashion,’ moreover, I would say that I hate fashion. I am not interested in ‘trends.’ I am interested in ‘lifestyle’ as a social reference in my creative process. Although it may seem contradictory, conceptually I consider myself ‘a classic,’ because all I do is take advantage of the classic masterpieces of the men’s wardrobe to recreate and update vintage stuff.
I don’t have any rules for dressing, aside from my classic values, which are untouchable. I like a clever and functional wardrobe. Everything matches with everything else. My wardrobe is based on just four colours: midnight blue, charcoal grey, military green and khaki. I love certain browns and I wear ‘antique white’ in the summer. But you will never see me wearing bright colours, and if I dress in black it is just when wearing a tuxedo. You are not going to see designs nor prints in my personal wardrobe. I am much more interested in architecture and light, rather than in decoration. And that is result of a certain ‘lifestyle’ – mine. I’m still in love with my wife. I married her when I was 34. I was a playboy, and when I married, I had done mostly everything in this life. Anyways, my wife says I better not retire, because I am a very intense person and I had better keep working and travelling. Therefore, I am hoping to keep designing for M.J. Bale for many years in order to keep Matt and my wife happy.
