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LETIZIA

Spanish royals register ‘Queen Letizia’ brand

Spain's Royal Family have already trademarked the 'Queen Letizia' brand to make sure its use remains firmly in the hands of the country's future Queen.

Spanish royals register 'Queen Letizia' brand
'Queen Letizia' is just one the trademarks registered by Spain's Royal Family. Photo: Cristina Garcia Rodero/Spanish Royal House/AFP

The Royal Family registered the 'Reina Letizia' trademark almost eight years ago, Spanish newspaper La Expansión reported on Tuesday.

At the same time, the family also registered other names including that of Letizia's husband, Spain's Príncipe Felipe (Prince Felipe).

Other names and titles registered included Prince Felípe's title of Príncipe de Asturias (Prince of Asturias), Princesa de Asturias (Princess of Asturias, or Letizia's current title), Princesa Letizia, and that of the Infanta Leonar de Borbón.

In 2007, the royal family added the trademark Infanta Sofía de Borbón to that list. 

Leonar and Sofía are the children of Prince Felípe and Princess Letizia and the the grandchildren of the current King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía.

La Expansión also noted that Kate Middleton's name had been registered at the UK Intellectual Property Office several months ago. This was done so that only products to be sold by the charitable Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry could bear her name. 

In Spain, trade names are registered at the Office of Trades and Brands (OEPM). Registering a single name costs €500 ($645) for a period of 20 years but the practice is rare in Spain.

Occasionally, the names of famous people are registered fraudulently, as was the case with Spanish goalkeeper and team captain Iker Casillas.

In December 2012, Casillas attempted to register his name as a trademark so that he could sell clothing and footwear. On doing so, however, he discovered that a Portuguese man had already beaten him to it.

Casillas then had to prove that he greater rights to use of the trademark than the other party involved in the matter, La Expansión reported.

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FASHION

Queen Letizia’s fav designer stuns with Madrid comeback

The Queen of Spain's favourite designer Felipe Varela made a stunning comeback to his native Madrid this week with a daring collection that mixed peekaboo and plunging necklines with metal and Swarovski - but in his trademark impeccable style.

Queen Letizia's fav designer stuns with Madrid comeback
Varela Autumn/Winter collection presented at Madrid's Fashion Week. Photo: AFP

Varela first took part in the Madrid Fashion Week in 1996 but stayed away from the city's catwalks for 14 years and his return was the highlight of the event.

The intensely private designer is the preferred couturier of Queen Letizia, a former journalist who has donned his suits and gowns several times – a fact painstakingly followed by glossies and newspapers the world over.

 

 

Just a few of the many Varela outfits the Queen has worn appear in the tweet above.

The British press noted this month that the 43-year-old perennially chic royal sported a snazzy red Varela skirt suit for a fourth time recently.    

She had first worn it on an official trip to New York in 2009.

The head turners from Varela's latest showing included a white wool crepe jacket with an eye-popping red fox fur collar and clingy decollete gowns with bold thigh-high slits that recreated the glamour of Hollywood's golden era.

Peekaboo net jackets were embellished with metal and fur and lingerie-style dresses with 1960s hemlines with an aluminium look – harking back to Paco Rabanne creations from that epoch.

The 2016-2017 autumn-winter “Crystal Army” collection also has an abundance of glittering baubles –  185,000 of them and mostly Swarovski – but does not descend into bling.

That is one of the reasons why he is favoured by the intensely stylish Spanish royal, whose wardrobe is keenly followed by fashionistas around the world.

“It is very difficult to separate the classical and very chic” style of the queen and Varela, said Laura Luceno, a professor at Madrid's Higher School of Fashion Design.

The queen became a new royal fashion icon after her husband's June 19th 2014 coronation, featuring in global glossies as a style idol and trendsetter.    

She appears to champion mainly Spanish designers who base their houses in the country rather than those who operate from abroad, like Balenciaga, Manolo Blahnik and Paco Rabanne.

“Letizia is also drawn to him because he is discreet,” said Luceno of the designer who shuns smart parties and can slip incognito through the streets of Madrid.

Varela, who divides his time between Madrid and Paris – where he had worked for Dior, Lanvin and Mugler – appeared at the end of his Madrid show, dressed in a black suit and sporting sunglasses.

But the queen ditched her usual classic look for a more rock and roll image when she attended the opening of ARCO, Madrid's art fair on Thursday.

 

By Anna Cuenca / AFP

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