Meet the winners of Spain's #MOMADTalentsbyISEM competition

#MOMADTalents by ISEM is a competition organised by Ifema Madrid, the organiser of Spanish trade fair Momad in collaboration with fashion business school ISEM. It is aimed at new brands and designers, which have been on the market for a maximum of three seasons, and have innovative ideas.

The Spanish brand Magno Montero has won this year's edition, and the Colombian brand Disorder Urban came in second place. Both were able to exhibit their brand's new collection at the most recent edition of Momad, which took place from February 3 to February 5, 2023 at the Ifema exhibition centre in Madrid. In addition, the first-place winner will have the opportunity to enrol in the Fashion and Creativity Management course at ISEM.

FashionUnited wanted to find out more about what makes both brands remarkable and deserving of this recognition.

Magno Montero

Two years ago they embarked on the adventure of registering the brand in Spain and the EU, as well as investigating the business model and how they wanted to develop their work, Jesús Montero, founder of the firm, says.

The launch came later, in December 2021 with a capsule collection of nine garments with which they first tested the market. After a rewarding trial, they decided to go ahead with the project.

At Magno Montero they create fashion with a very architectural aesthetic, influenced by the training in the field of its creator, which is reflected in their garments with volumes, textures, geometry and movement, according to each type of fabric and its qualities.

This they consider to be what primarily distinguishes them as a brand, but also their exclusivity in terms of quantity: "we are not interested in mass production, as it is not in line with our brand values", we are talking about 10 to 15 garments per product. Nor does the label follow the traditional fashion calendar when presenting its collections.

In addition, they define themselves as a responsible and conscious brand, "but not a sustainable one", Montero stresses during the conversation. And the fact is that its founder argues that "the only sustainable thing is that which has not been created". They make what they consider to be "efforts in sustainability" through the materials and processes they choose, opting for local production, for example, to reduce their carbon footprint.

Single material pieces that are easy to recycle

Their pieces are made from a single material, they are made from organic cotton or certified Lyocel, so that when the garment reaches the end of its useful life, it can be easily recycled, a fact that means it is difficult to mix different fabrics.

They rely on certifications when choosing their suppliers, as it is the only guarantee they have, although they also say that a more positive aspect of working in close proximity allows them to closely control the processes and know the conditions in which the closest links in their value chain work.

They work with two channels, although their goal is to move towards omnichannel. In Barcelona, they operate in a physical multi-brand shop. They are also present in a concept store in France - in Perpignan - at retail level, "the store buys a certain amount of garments from us and they are in charge of marketing them", the founder explains. They also have an online shop, where they usually receive customers who find them through social media channels. Moreover, they can be found on the Finnish marketplace specialising in sustainable fashion, Ívalo.

Moving towards the Mallorcan market

Their aim for this year is to expand into the wholesale channel, something that encouraged them to participate in trade fair Momad, as they consider wholesale to be a segment in full resurgence and which adapts very well to the needs of their product. "People have to see it, touch it, try it", hence the importance of this stage, because it will allow them to explore another channel, allowing their product to be located in a physical shop and the brand to start to grow and become known, especially in Europe, their main market.

They currently have an international presence on their website, but most of their sales are concentrated in France, Germany, the USA and Finland.

Disorder Urban

Disorder Urban has been operational for about a year now. Its founders Yei and Bibi started the project with the aim of creating an attractive, eye-catching and recyclable product that was also affordable. They became interested in participating in Momad after learning about the Momad Talent project as they saw it as an opportunity for their product to reach a wider audience, outside Colombia.

They chose PVC as a material, which has a striking variety of colours when transformed into footwear, seeing as they did not want to make a "conventional product", they explain to FashionUnited.

"Buy, use and recycle" is their motto. The PVC they buy, for quality reasons, must be new, but after being used, it can be recycled, and that is the part of the process they are currently concentrating on.

When the product that any customer buys from Disorder Urban reaches the end of its useful life, it can be returned to the company, which will shred it and arrange for it to have a second useful life, especially in the agricultural sector.

Prices, when converted into euros from Colombian pesos, vary from around 16 euros for the cheapest flip-flops to 26 euros for boots or 24 euros for trainers, and they also sell bags worth around 40 euros.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.ES. Translation and editing from Spanish into English.