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Blanca Miró used to steal her mother’s and grandmother’s blazers. She’d sneak into their closets at home in Barcelona and emerge with jackets designed by Dries Van Noten and Jean Paul Gaultier, wearing them gleefully and channeling the inherent style born to her family’s matriarchs. Today, as a stylist and fashion entrepreneur, Miró believes that blazers have the ability to “give power to women and make us feel more secure and empowered.” This is one of the main reasons Miró teamed up with fellow Spaniard and designer Maria de la Orden to create a line of made-in-Spain blazers called La Veste (the French term for blazer).
The fledgling label was launched late last year with a collection of very playful jackets. Think bright gingham, animal print, and vibrant stripe. The blazers are oversize—much as one imagines Miró’s grandmother’s might have been—and delightfully detailed with mismatched buttons and mixed fabric. Each blazer is meant to look and feel like something one might have stumbled upon in a vintage shop, or like a handcrafted, homemade garment that’s one of a kind. “We really want our blazers to be the statement pieces in your wardrobe,” Miró explains. “We’re inspired by women who were fearless, yet always sophisticated, in the way they dressed, like Diana Vreeland, Loulou de la Falaise, and Lee Radziwill.”
Aside from those iconic women, plus Miró’s mother and grandmother, Miró and De la Orden have always pointed to each other when asked to name their respective muses. The two became fast friends after meeting six years ago at an event in Barcelona for De la Orden’s own Mau Loa. Back then, De la Orden was working full-time on her brand, and Miró was quickly becoming a well-known influencer, on top of styling for smaller Barcelona brands. They’d reconnect twice a year at Paris Fashion Week; Miró would stay at De la Orden’s home, and they’d spend days and nights discussing potential projects. “We always knew we wanted to create something together,” De la Orden says. “But we weren’t in a hurry. The idea for La Veste happened very naturally last January as we were dressing for the shows.” Miró was having a hard time finding the right jacket to go with her Miu Miu dress and was struck by a sudden thought—why not just make her own?
“We wanted to design blazers, but nothing typical,” Miró notes. “We want our jackets to be the main statement piece in any wardrobe.” Both Miró and De la Orden are focused on the idea of individuality and carving out a niche for themselves in the increasingly crowded contemporary market. Miró has even cofounded an online platform called Vasquiat, which allows its members to preorder future collections from small, up-and-coming labels such as Chufy, Heimat Atlantica, and, of course, La Veste. The designers hope to continue to push stylish women from around the world in a more playful direction—at least as far as their top coat is concerned. “We wanted to create a strong piece of fashion,” Miró says. “When people think of blazers, they tend to think of it as something buttoned-up or serious. We wanted people to realize the versatility behind a blazer and, most importantly, have fun with it.”
