Daniel & David Megias Warburton created their brand Warburton in 2019 to show the world through his designs his Murcian and Scottish roots. His technical and functional garments have conquered artists around the world. Singers like Young Thug, Recycled J, Blxst and countless names already trust in his already consolidated project. More than 8 years learning the industry in a self-taught way, his brand is postulated as one of the most prolific of the country at international level (if then the brand is on top, do not say that we have not warned you).
In a frenetic week in the capital, in which the brothers came to see first hand the new album of their friend Cruz Cafune, I met with them to talk about what it was like to create an exclusive collection for Anuel, their roots between Scotland and Murcia, parading in Paris, and how it is to establish themselves in an international scene being a brand still very small.
HIGHXTAR (H)- How about the listening party of the new album MMCD by Cruz Cafuné? How is it that you came specifically to see him?
WARBURTON (W)- A real madness, a great project. We know him through Jack(@j_higgz), who met him going to the Velada 1. In the end we move with Jack as if we were one, so when he came to sing in Murcia we met him. Also through Ana Sotillo, who asked us for a Pearl necklace for him a couple of years ago. Then the relationship has been evolving until today, where we already have love for the islands. In fact there is a very good connection between what is happening now in the islands and what we are creating in Murcia..
(H)- You have a great relationship with both national and international artists, whom we have seen wearing your pieces. Making an exclusive collection for Anuel has probably been the most important milestone in your career. How did it come about?
(W)- It was crazy. It’s actually something we had been working on since November. We were contacted by someone from his team via DM. It was funny because it was like a message that maybe you wouldn’t take too seriously. They didn’t even mention Anuel at any point. One day we got into conversation and this person told us that worked with international artists and asked me if we could develop some customs for Anuel. We saw the possibility of doing it, and a little later in November we met for the first time here in Madrid. At the meeting we were told that they really liked the aesthetics of the brand and that it would fit well with the styles that Anuel wanted to start wearing, so what was initially going to be a few customs became an entire collection for his tour.
We were not able to do a fitting in person, so the sizing was more complicated. Then on the leather issue, we include our embossing in the jackets. Ours is well done because we have already done many tests and we know how to proceed. But for Anuel we created two, the A with star and the G27 -which was from a group he belonged to before- and the leather broke at the beginning. After all, these are things that you test for many weeks and we only had two or three weeks to get everything ready. But in the end we were able to do it and we are proud of the result.
(H)- A real madness, of course. I imagine it must have been super challenging but very satisfying at the same time. How has it been for you?
(W)- It has been an incredible experience. We love all these projects with artists because they put us to the test. Even when an artist is not from the Warburton universe, we managed to make a hybrid between the artist and the brand.
From their team they gave us a lot of creative freedom and the collection represents us a lot. We are very proud, but also logistically it has been a challenge. Although all the conversations began in November, the project was finalized in early April with a delivery date on the 28th of the same month. Three weeks of real stress in which we had to make a fitting, order fabrics, modify patterns, make samples and finally produce the 40 pieces that make up this collection, all this with Easter and Spring Week in Murcia in between.
There is something that happens with our brand, and we believe that with most that are emerging that, you always want to give maximum confidence and professionalism in each project, but, for example in our case, we are three in a studio, so the collection has been a very challenging project but that has managed to get the best out of us; and we have performed at a high level.
We have taken the opportunity to document the whole process of the development of the collection in order to show a little from the inside how a project of this type is lived. Among other things because we think it is interesting to see how a collection develops as you work on it.
They asked for a collection of 30 looks, but 30 looks in 3 weeks was unfeasible for us logistically. So, we decided to create pieces like the nylon bomber or the modular vest from which you can get different combinations and thus have a different garment. It is something that they also liked a lot.
(H)- You never got to meet Anuel?
(W)- We were going to bring the collection in person to Miami, but we only had the final version two days before we had to deliver it. On those dates Anuel had different commitments and was already preparing the shows so we have agreed to coincide when he comes to Europe, in fact he is coming to a festival in Murcia in mid-July. We are particularly excited so that he can perceive and know us as the brand that we are. We would love to discuss the collection with him and let him see that we are still a brand from Murcia composed mainly by three people; and that we have developed this with all the love in the world.
(H)- Let’s see who is the next victim, who would you like to dress?
(W)- Drake, Drake would be great; or some artist from the British scene. We for example admire Skepta for what they represent culturally in the UK although in our studio lately Cench(Central Cee) sounds a lot. Not just because of who they are but because on a creative level they fit our vision very well; their style is very technical, very functional. Plus they’re the kind of artist we’ve been listening to for as long as we can remember. If we ever get that opportunity we are sure that something very interesting would come out of it.
(H)- When artists wear Warburton, do you already know that they are going to wear it or do you often find it on social media?
(W)- Normally if we are asked for a placement for a specific occasion we usually know because we have direct relationship with the stylists or talent. On some occasions we have found in social media that an artist has worn Warburton.
The most recent case is that of Reezy, a German rapper who has visited Barcelona several times during the year and went to The Garden to buy, which is where Warburton is sold. Karim, who is one of the owners of The Garden wrote to me the first time and told me that a famous German rapper had just come in and had taken several pieces of Warburton. Days later I saw that in one of his concerts he had used our clothes. After a while he came back to Barcelona and spent a lot of money on the brand. That’s when I wrote him and said: “Hey, we would love to make you a piece and take it to Germany to a concert”.
Our dream was to meet him in real life and have that personal contact with a person who had invested so much in the brand. Also to see what was happening in Germany on a cultural level because for some time now we have seen how the German music scene has been breaking down borders. In the same way, fashion there is also positioning itself and we were very curious. So last week we traveled to Berlin, gave him the vest and saw the show which was crazy. Then we had some time to talk to him about both music and fashion and to feel that mutual admiration was an incredible experience.
(H)- Who was the first big celebrity you dressed?
(W)- YOUNG THUG. It was also a crazy surprise because between the time we sent the jackets to her stylist and the time she put them on, almost a year passed. We had even forgotten about it. So the day we received the photos was a celebration, because for us it was not just any artist but an artist we have been listening to since we were kids.
It was the first time we experienced what it was like to have a celebrity wear one of our pieces.
(H)- There are pieces that get lost along the way, isn’t it?
(W)- There are no pieces that are lost. There are pieces that we have given away because at the time we understood the position we were in and sometimes you have to give away your work in order to establish a relationship. We have always been realistic about the moment we were in and I think that is something very important for people who are starting out. Thanks to that we have been able to mature relationships to the point that they stop being professional and become great friendships. Sometimes it all starts with a gift of a piece.
Likewise, for us it is very important to take care of and support the people who always trust us. You may think “yes, they’ve given a jacket to YOUNG THUG”, but on the other hand he has trusted a brand from Murcia. And if we have that opportunity, we want to work the relationships from the point where we are, not where we want to be. I may want to be creative director of Louis Vuitton but I can’t behave like that; right now I have to understand the point where I am and treat my relationships from that perspective.
(H)- Let’s talk about your collaboration with UCAM, is it because you love basketball and it came about or how did that come about?
(W)- That’s because we are promoting culture in Murcia (they laugh).
The succession of actions that we have been developing over the years made Ucam interested in starting a collaboration with us, also because they, led by Juan Pablo Mendoza, are looking to develop projects outside basketball that promote culture. So, since September or so we started working on this capsule. Before us our brother J-Higgz also collaborated with the soundtrack of the season.
They are looking for the same as us, to create links with people from Murcia who are doing interesting things. Our capsule was developed for the Champions League. We developed at the collection around the competition, to encourage people to support the team and to be a bit like that extra UCAM player.
We love to do these things because we feel that we are positioning the city of Murcia, and also that we have that commitment to them.
J-HIGGZ- In fact our initial plan was putting together music with fashion. We also wanted to join a little bit with sports, so the occasion of UCAM has been perfect. I was given the opportunity to make the soundtrack of the year, and in the end, bringing together various branches is super enriching.
(W)- Right now, it’s just the beginning, but in a few years the cultural impact in Murcia is going to be very interesting because people with a lot of talent of the same age range are coming together. Examples are, The Murcia Finest collective, El Cielo, Ángel Toren, Soge Culebra, Trikko, Ganga, Naddot, Jambo… there is a lot of talent.
When people are going to laugh at Murcia in the future, they are going to think about it.
(H)- You had “Murcia” caps restocking, right?
(W)- Yes, we are already on our third one. The caps came out of our ambition to take Murcia out of the meme. We wanted it to be like the typical tourist cap you see in Madrid or Paris. We didn’t know how people would react, we just thought it could work well. But the truth is that it has been awesome and we love to see how people from Murcia feel proud to be Murcia. It also reinforces a lot the message we want to give that we are from Murcia. We want to carry Murcia a little bit as a flag. Thinking globally but acting locally.
(H)- In Murcia you have a lot of support, do you feel the same at national or international level?
(W)- As much as in Murcia we still do not have that support at national or international level, but it is normal. In the end all the actions we have done over the last two years especially have generated a much greater impact in Murcia than anywhere else. But however and wherever, we are always open to do things with people who share our values and also help us grow as designers, whether in the field of music, sport, art or any other.
Look at Virgil, that’s what he stood for. It was something beyond design, it cut across culture. He would suddenly take a designer from New York to help him create a piece for Off-White and he would act as a loudspeaker for that artist. He was always looking for these people or associating things, he was like a Cruzzi (Cruz cafuné) of fashion, because he’s always looking for that new talent and bringing out names that people don’t know. I respect him a lot. Just like there are a lot of people who are afraid to show people’s work, then you find people like Cruz, or like Virgil at the time, who are people who are not afraid because they are so confident in their talent and in their possibilities, that they are really not afraid to bring someone else to the scene, because also when they do it people are usually very appreciative.
We connect a lot with those kind of people because in our own way we try to do that with our project as well and that is how we envision WARBURTON.
(H)- Although you have Murcia very much in mind, you are also British. Is Scotland going to continue to be present in your universe?
(W)- No doubt about it. Scotland is always present, you can see it for example in the colors we use, our aesthetics, the technical fabrics… The way we present the clothes, that darkness that we sometimes present or the coldness when we communicate reflects our Scottish roots and more specifically Edinburgh. In this FW season we brought out T-shirts that had the lion rampant, the tartan…. all of that is always going to be in the DNA of the brand.
We are always looking to make a perfect hybrid between our British and Spanish roots. And I think that little by little we are achieving that line. It’s our way of trying to differentiate ourselves in Spain. We are British and we are Spanish and in a totally organic way, our clothes respond to that.
(H)- How did you learn to run a brand?
(W)- On a trial-and-error basis. We started in the fashion world at 17 (Daniel) and 19 (David), and since then it has been a continuous learning process. In the end to learn how things work there are no shortcuts and that’s what you have to be clear about.
During the process we have had to face all kinds of adversities: project financing, lack of resources, total ignorance of the fashion industry and a long etcetera. But over time we have been able to identify our weaknesses and found a way to solve them in order to move forward and continue scaling the project.
A key point is also knowing how to prioritize which actions to carry out within the brand. Since we started until now we have worked in all possible positions in the brand and we have had to leave aside functions that we liked the most because we had to focus on others that are more relevant.
Currently we are at a point where we consider that we have created a solid base from which we are building the entire brand universe.
(H)-What’s next for Warburton?
(W)- We are ready for a fashion show on June 23rd in Murcia. We just had the summer drop on June 1, and now the next thing is to get ready for the next Fall/Winter, which is something we are looking forward to, because in fact, since we left Paris in January we have had: the UCAM, the Southside pop-up, the Anuel tour, now we have the fashion show and we just did the summer drop… From November until now it has been crazy and we have not had the space to sit down and have those creative conversations that in the end is what we enjoy the most.
(H)- Do you consider doing a fashion show in Paris?
(W)- Yes, it would be our biggest challenge. To go to Paris and do fashion shows and put on a good show. The fashion show is something that allows you to live the whole experience of the collection, from the sound, the aesthetics, the location… it allows you to put people in the Warburton movie.
Paris is the big goal, but we also want to come to Madrid and get into the EGO catwalk to be able to measure ourselves here on a national level. More than anything because yes, people are starting to know us, but going to that event and showing what you do, I think it’s a way to position yourself in Spain. It is something we are considering for February, yes.
Sigue toda la información de HIGHXTAR desde Facebook, Twitter o Instagram
You may also like...
