Nine years after it is now time to see the movie under the same name which now reached movie theatres worldwide.
The book tells the story of Gregorious, a man who incidentally bumps into a woman about to commit suicide on a bridge. Much to Gregorious relief, he manages to prevent the woman from putting an end to her life. The woman disappears out of shame or just to leave the man with a piece of paper in his hands which will change his life in the years to come. Left alone in the bridge Gregorious sees the bit of paper, written in an alien language, pretty similar to Spanish. He takes to a library to try to understand the words and comes across the book ‘A Goldsmith of Words’ by the Portuguese writer Amadeu de Prado. He soon decides to take the long journey south to Lisbon in order to find out more about this writer and to learn the language.
The book is the story of this journey and of a man who, by trying to find more about this writer, comes up with questions and the need to find answers to his life.
Lisbon is once again the final destination of a character, played in the movie by Jeremy Irons. It is not the first time this actor films in Portugal and it is not the first time Lisbon is the stage for the story of a man trying to a find a new path by going through his past in the process. This movie and book somehow take us back to Erich Maria Remarque’s “One night in Lisbon”, where a man recalls his past and tells his story to a stranger in one night in a city he was supposed to spend just a couple of days before pursuing his journey, but which ends up being his final destination.
Two years after the death of the iconic designer Jesus del Pozo, New York was the stage for the third presentation of the re-baptised DELPOZO brand, now a Spanish venture with major international aspirations.
The Gypsy spirit seems to have taken hold of DELPOZO for its new collection shown today at the New York Fashion Week. Inspired in the painting “Gipsy woman with tambourine” by Corot, Josep Font created a simultaneously elegant and relaxed collection rich in nature-inspired patterns and profuse flower prints, voluminous skirts with high waists. This is the second Spring/Summer presentation under Font and after a first DELPOZO collection full of detail, embroidery and applications. Contrary to that first collection that seemed to show a too abrupt rupture with the original brand’s past, this collection does bring back some of the elegant austerity of the late Spanish designer, without failing to bring a fresh look and details. It is clearly a Josep Font collection, where we can clearly see his mark and legacy as an experienced haute couturier, but it is a more balanced work for the brand, thus appealing to old and new DELPOZO clients.
The Gypsy spirit seems to be present also in the current brand’s strategy, considering the brands “nomadism”: After showing in Madrid, New York was the city chosen for the second time to present a collection and chances are that one of these days a new city will be announced as stage for the next presentation. DELPOZO has a clear international strategy and after having opened a first flagship store in Madrid some six months ago, Moscow, Dubai, Shangai and New York City are some of the cities where the brand wishes to establish a foothold. Nearly a week before the Mercedes-Benz Madrid Fashion Week, the Spanish capital will not have the possibility to see this collection live, something many Spaniards we spoke to consider unfair given the brand’s Spanish origins, the legacy of Jesus del Pozo and the fact that Jesus was for years the president of the Spanish Designers Association whose members regularly show their collections in Madrid.
Carlos Tomé Sousa
