Iara’s designers, chosen by Mirtha Legrand: “We already did everything”

Mario Vidal and Edgardo Coton are the designers of the Iara brand, with more than 43 years in the world of haute couture. With several Scissors under their belt – deserving of the first “Golden Scissors” awarded by the Argentine Chamber of Fashion, a “Silver Scissors for the Best Collection” and the “Lifetime Achievement” award – the Iara, as they were baptized Mirtha Legrand (one of her emblematic clients) took a relevant step in 1989 by opening her own house on Peña Street. In this space they continued making haute couture, with wedding and party dresses.

They started in Galería del Sol, in front of the Harrod’s store. Why are they called Iara? They thought the name was cute, short and had an interesting meaning: Iara or Uiara comes from Portuguese and means Mother of Water or Mermaid.according to Brazilian folklore.

They had the dream of opening a boutique and they were two twenty-somethings who met aboard the race steamer, which sailed between Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

“We got together 45 years ago. I was traveling to film a film by Olmedo and Porcel, and the gig was on that boat – says Mario -. Edgardo was a passenger and was a modern dancer, he performed at the Solís theater, the Colón theater of Montevideo. We passed the phones and when we returned to Buenos Aires we talked to each other. And here we are. Together since then.”

That of Mario and Edgardo is a story of love and shared work. “It is something very strong. Things get mixed up a little, we go home -Edgardo adds- and we argue about work issues. But there are things stronger than work discussions.”

Mario is the artist who has been sewing since he was a child, since kindergarten. “My grandmother gave me buttons, a needle and thread and I sewed them on the curtains of the house. I was 6 years old when my aunt got married and wore that dress (shows a photo, with a beautiful woman and a stunning outfit) that made my head explode. She had it made by a dressmaker from San Justo and it was huge. My learning was experience, trial and error; always as self-taught. When I realized, I was doing collections and fashion shows AND dressing Mirtha Legrand! In 1981 they gave us the first Scissors and that made us realize what we had achieved. But it was in 1989 – an initiatory milestone – when we created the fashion house we wanted, this one we are in.”

Edgardo says that after his time in modern dance, he was a Greek dance teacher for a long time. “When I met Mario, he suggested fashion to me and I loved the idea. It was to continue in art with another format. He does everything that is seen and I do everything that is not seen. I take care of people, I also do image consulting and I run the company in terms of administration and purchases, imports, sales, whistles and flutes… although I also design.”

Over time, what has changed and what remains in Iara’s wedding dresses? “What remains is the style, because we have our own style,” Edgardo answers. They look for us for that. And although the brides sector changed, we continue to maintain Iara’s imprint. It is the dress that every woman dreams of since she was a child, with high impact. Spacious, princely, languid, sensual and siren-like. Let her give prominence but let the bride preserve her identity. That the bride is not dressed as a bride. We take care of proposing everything from the shoes to the veil.”

How do you interact with the girlfriend who knows what she wants and you are not totally on board? Mario and Edgardo look at each other and smile. “We tell them directly!” they respond. They have a rack with different proposals and there will always be something to try on and see. That opens your head. But what we don’t negotiate is our seal. We have stopped making dresses because we did not like what the client asked for. “A dress has to be beautiful for the client, but first for us.”

Given the They are unique pieces -they make haute couture- What is the path that connects the client who arrives, until the moment she leaves with the dress in the box? “We have a first interview for a couple of hours, we talk about the dress we are going to make and we take its measurements. From that interview, the bride leaves with the date of her next test. By that time there will already be a toile of the dress. It is tested and changes may or may not arise here. These are molding adjustments so that the dress is anatomical. If everything is ok – says Edgardo – I cut the dress and from this moment on there are four more fittings. Ten or fifteen days before the wedding she has her dress finished.”

The Iara have a stable staff of helpers. “But I didn’t delegate the dress,” says Edgardo; I do it with my assistants. There is an issue with the trades. Great, expert people stopped working with the pandemic. The young woman wants to be a designer, and there is no one to sew or embroider. Therefore, having your own team is important. Although during the pandemic I made the dresses myself, from the first to the last stitch.. I can, I have the ability to do it; I can do every step.”

Where do you get inspiration? The inspiration to design comes from seeing the world. “New ideas come up all the time, but there will always be something we already did, Over so much time, we’ve already done everything!”, they both say, laughing satisfied. By having a defined style, they recreate around that axis. “We draw, we solve the design, sometimes we work with the fabric on the mannequin, then it is rectified. “Our constant inspiration is women,” says Mario, “a woman who wants to be dressed in fashion and does not want to go unnoticed. We use imported fabrics, there is no national textile industry. For party dresses, embroidered fabrics, some that we embroider by hand… We also buy embroidered fabrics but we intervene on them. In this way we achieved something unique. We like muslins, chiffons, natural silks…”

And prices? Let’s agree that the dresses are haute couture, both bridal and party dresses. The Iara are not willing to give figures, but they say that What has always saved them – in times of economic crisis – is not to be delusional about prices.

In Europe it is driven by the same customers who no longer see the throwaway culture as logical. Do you see it as feasible to make sustainable haute couture? “Sometimes you can. There are dresses that some clients bring us and we reverse them. There are also those of us who undo and reuse gender” they say.

Without a doubt, it is the clients who become aware and do not buy a dress to wear only once. Royalty – Letizia of Spain and our Maxima of the Netherlands – give eloquent proof of this. If it is about applying the zero waste philosophy, that is to say that the leftover fabric, when cut, is not enormous, the Iara say: “We take care of that detail. When we can work with the molds, taking care of the thread or the drape of the fabric, we do it.”

She has just turned 97 and the Iaras made the dresses she wore on her program and at the party, to which they were invited. “She was absent from TV for ten years; When she returned to ATC in 1990, with scenery by her husband Daniel Tinayre, we dreamed of doing a fashion show for her on her program, Mirta para todos. The phone rang and it was Héctor Vidal Rivas (responsible for her wardrobe) saying that the lady was inviting us to do a fashion show on her show. We couldn’t believe it! We touch the sky with our hands. She had seen us since our beginnings. She is our number one client and our fairy godmother. We also went to Susana’s program. They gave us a great boost. We dressed many protagonists of soap operas of that time, such as Grecia Colmenares, Araceli González or Luisa Kuliok,” says Mario. As designers, they admire Valentino, Lagerfeld and Chanel.

Do they exist objectively? “Yeah. It has nothing to do with money or brands. It is a wrong aesthetic criterion that leads you to wear what does not look good. Freestyle, wearing what you want instead of wearing what looks good, is misguided. Taste, good or bad, is also in whoever designs the garment. The workmanship, the chosen color or an impeccable seam, that is good taste. A poorly made ring is bad taste,” they add.

Edgardo and Mario prepared black dresses for their parade in Argentina Fashion Week, at the Palermo Hippodrome, and their upcoming presentations in Córdoba. And they continue creating for their new clients, because people continue getting married and celebrating. Great news.