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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.

Published: 26 February 2016 12:15 CET
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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WORKING IN SWEDEN

Swedish Royal Guards scrap ceremonial helmets over safety concerns

The King’s mounted Royal Guards will no longer be able to wear their iconic ceremonial helmets on parades, after the Swedish Work Environment Authority warned of serious safety concerns.

Published: 7 July 2023 13:53 CEST
Swedish Royal Guards scrap ceremonial helmets over safety concerns

“We take the safety of our employees extremely seriously and we are going to address this immediately,” colonel Stefan Nacksten, head of the Royal Guards, wrote in a statement. 

Employed by the Armed Forces, the Royal Guards are the King’s cavalry and infantry units and are a well-known sight at ceremonies in Sweden, including at the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace of Stockholm every day in summer – a popular spectacle for Stockholmers and tourists alike.

The helmets will no longer be used by Royal Guards on horseback from July 7th, as they do not conform to safety standards for riding helmets, although guards parading on foot will still be permitted to wear them.

They are part of the 1895 parade uniforms and were last modified in 2000. The Armed Forces will now create an entirely new helmet which looks the part, but is also safe for riding.

“We’re working on finding an alternative solution as quickly as possible which meets safety requirements and can also be used during parades,” Nacksten said.

“We’ve been working long-term with this issue but now that it has been assessed [by the Swedish Work Environment Authority] we need to take measures immediately,” he added.

“This is good, and now we’re working to make sure something good comes out of this and we can get a safe riding helmet for parades in place as soon as possible.”

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