Where Art Meets Fashion Arena Martinez
Claudio Filippo Interviews Designer and Creative Arena Martinez. Arena Martinez was born into a family of art lovers and has been exposed to the contemporary art world for as long as she can remember.
She studied in Switzerland and later moved to London where she focused on International Business while working at key auction houses. After her degree, she studied fashion management, marketing and manufacturing at Central Saint Martins while also working for Art Dubai. Having attended so many art fairs and partaking in discussion about art collecting, Arena felt it was her time and purpose to create a new way for the world to access contemporary art, by creating one of a kind wearable pieces of art.
Tell us about yourself Arena
I established my brand, "Arena Martinez" in 2017. The label brings Contemporary art to another dimension. To our bodies, to our skin.
For me, fashion and art are worlds where creativity is oxygen and talent is water. We merge these spheres together, creating a new platform for these worlds to coexist.
We are based in Madrid and have participated in art fairs such as Artmarbella, Justmad, JustLx.. opened the MBFWM in July 2019 and had a google talk a few months later. We collaborate with artists like: Marina Vargas, Mister Piro, Juliao Sarmento, Okuda and many others.
Your greatest inspirations or influences?
The one that has inspired me the most in life is my favorite artist, my father. He has inspired me since day one to create. His studio was my playground and crafts and paint were my toys.
In fashion; Galliano or Alexander Mcqueen and I am a big follower of Jacquemus.
Also artists such as Papartus, Scully or Adriana Varejao , and many others.
Favorite websites?
I am definitely a fan of cultura inquieta, I always find new interesting things from them. I recommend following them on insta, they will for sure surprise you with interesting creatives around the world.
Your brand its concerned with slow fashion, tell us more about this concept.
Having lived abroad for many years, I decided to come back to Spain to create my label because it was very important to contribute to my country and to produce quality “Made in Spain”. Slow fashion is important because we make sure the work is well done, by people who are paid properly and in good conditions. I believe fast fashion is killing the industry and I am very happy with the movement, many young Spanish designers are following. Also we are lucky to have the platform Es fascinante, they make noise and speak out to people about the importance of slow fashion and sustainability.
Does your brand support non profits?
Yes, I want to contribute in this world so I came up with “one bag many smiles project”, a project which I’ve been working on for almost 3 years now. Realizing I have many contacts in the art world, I decided to design 20 bags made of canvas and send it to 20 different artists so they could paint whatever they wanted on them.
These bags will be auctioned by Christie´s and all the proceeds will go to Juegaterapia, an organization that specializes in making kids with cancer happier by renovating hospitals and transforming them to a joyful, hand happy environment. The money of this project will specifically go to build a garden at the hospital Nino Jesus de Madrid.
How are you dealing with the current situation we are all experiencing?
Since I can’t go outside, I am going inside, and it is working well, I am not bored and I am happy. We are also busy creating what we hope people find interesting, and fun, as well as interactive content on our blog and instagram from art, to fashion, even recipes.
