Emerging Designers Barcelona is a video project meant to uncover what not many know about being an entrepreneur within the fashion industry: the grit behind the young creatives fighting to carve out their own space. “The documentary tries to uncover what lies beyond a brand’s Instagram and the hard-working people behind the scenes.”, the director and filmmaker Tom Anlezark tells us. With the purpose of inspiring others by reflecting how rewarding pushing the boundaries can be, Emerging Designers Barcelona has been his most challenging project so far. Sit back, relax and let the ambition flow.
You graduated with a Bachelor of Media Arts and Production and a Bachelor in International Studies from the University of Technology Sydney. You later spent a year at The Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina researching historical photography and culture in Buenos Aires, but are now based in Barcelona. How did you find yourself in Barcelona? And what do you personally think this city has to offer to emerging creatives?
I moved to Spain to be with my partner Clara, who I met travelling in Central America. I couldn’t be happier in Barcelona: the food is delicious, there’s a lot of sun (important for an Australian) and the streets have a certain energy to them. I think that although the creative economy isn’t as strong as it could be, the city itself is very creative. The lower cost of living allows people to collaborate on personal projects that wouldn’t be feasible in larger, more expensive cities.
Your latest video production, Emerging Designers Barcelona, features the director of Blend Showroom, a space for emerging designers, and four fashion entrepreneurs from three different blooming brands. How did the interest in creating this project and telling such story come about?
When I first moved to Barcelona, it seemed like everybody had their own project in the works and was busy creating. I began shooting a lot of fashion campaigns for work and wanted to create a film that dug a little deeper, one the showcased the grit behind the young creatives fighting to carve out their own space. I was lucky enough to venture behind the brands and work closely with several talented designers.
As a professional within the visual arts yourself, do you find it especially hard to get visibility these days, even with the ever-growing use of social media?
Absolutely. I’ve never had much love for social media but I recognise the springboard it has offered to a lot of people. The idea behind Emerging Designers Barcelona was to create a project that mutually benefitted everybody involved. A showcase of the brands and their respective designers whilst creating digital content for their feeds in the form of mini-fashion films featured within the documentary.
Javier Girón from Jnorig, Elisabet Vallecillo from Colmillo de Morsa and Rubén Hidalgo and Alex Gómez from Lool. Could you tell us a little bit more about the creative process of Emerging Designers Barcelona and the selection of creatives to be featured?
They’re all such lovely people, I was very lucky to work with each one of them. I knew that I wanted to create a documentary that focused on the designers themselves, so the people I chose were essential to the story. I spent a lot of time researching new brands in Barcelona, who was being featured at 080 and narrowing down the search to find the right subjects. Working with the very creative Lucia M Guerrero (art director and stylist), we developed concepts for the mini-fashion films that reflect their brand identity.
What do these stylistically-so-different designers have in common according to you?
Although the three brands all vary stylistically, the designers all share certain determination or perseverance. The documentary tries to uncover what lies beyond a brand’s Instagram and the hard-working people behind the scenes.
“Specifically in Barcelona, designers can risk more”, says Carlos Marán at the beginning of your video. How do you want to inspire the viewers with Emerging Designers Barcelona?
From the very start, I wanted to present Barcelona as the creative and dynamic city it is. While the documentary highlights the struggles faced when kickstarting a new project, the aim was to also show the sense of fulfilment felt by the designers and how rewarding pushing the boundaries can be. If the documentary inspires a few people to push their creative ambition further, I’d be very happy.
What was the most challenging aspect of producing this project? And the most rewarding?
The film was a personal challenge to complete the entire production process myself. From research, location scouting and filming all the way to the final colour adjustments – I have a new-found appreciation for each step of production. That being said, working with the designers, models and crew that assisted me was by far the most rewarding.
You are specialised in fashion, food and documentary filmmaking looking for other creatives with whom to work. Where do you find the inspiration to create on end?
Inspiration for me comes sporadically, but I find most ideas pop up when I’m on the road travelling.
And just to finish it off, what are your aspirations for the future?
I’m working towards creating cultural documentaries that explore the far-flung corners of the world. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel with work and I want to begin to showcase the incredible places, people and perspectives I encounter along the way. If you have an interesting story that you think needs to be told or would like to collaborate, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at tomanlezark.com