1. Please introduce who you are and what you do in 2 sentences.
I’m Ana Rodriguez, creative director of the brand Pomeline. I’ve been related with the world of fashion for about 40 years, but my label is young, it’s only 3 years old.
2. How would you describe your current mood?
My current mood is a little contradictory; when the alarm state was declared I was in a highly stressful situation taking care of the last details of my collection and I thought that I wouldn’t make it to the deadline – I breathed relieved when we were “forced” to stop. On the other hand, when I think about the future, I see it all quite uncertain. This is an unprecedented crisis and we don’t know what will happen from now on.
3. What effect has Covid 19 had on you and your business?
The effect on me has been to become aware of what has real value – that sometimes goes unnoticed with so much stress.
This situation has served me to be grateful for the family I have. As for my business, at this moment it is completely stopped, because outlets are closed.
4. What effect had Covid 19 had on your supply chain (if relevant)?
My company is very small; I only have two people collaborating with me occasionally and at this moment, since we can’t see each other, it has stopped everything.
5. What has been the biggest challenge during this period of lockdown?
My greatest challenge is to remain positive and trusting; to wake up each day appreciating what I have, and to enjoy it healthily, is a great gift.
6. What have you done during lockdown to innovate?
I haven’t done anything to innovate, although I have thought a lot about giving it a different approach, as nothing will be the same from now on.
7. What small act of kindness has someone shown you or that you have shown someone during the lockdown?
I feel lucky because both myself and my family are healthy. I wanted to contribute with a small part to society and during this time I’ve been making face masks round the clock – altruistically of course!
8. How do you think this crisis will affect the fashion industry?
I think there is going to be a complete change, we will be more conscious of what we consume, and we will value the work done with care and handcrafted much more.
9. How do you think you will need to do things differently in your business post lock down?
I’ve been giving it much thought and I’ve decided to confer a higher importance to local handicrafts. We have a great potential that we haven’t appreciated enough, such as the embroidery, the handcrafted fabrics like silk, linen, “traperas”, etc all hand made on the island.
10. What would you advise our/your followers to keep their spirits up during lockdown?
Personally, it has been good for me to stay active and have a routine of exercise, work, leisure…
To take this time we have extra to do those things that we always kept postponing due to a lack of time; it is especially important to find out how many things we are able to do. Now is the time to strengthen our abilities and to stay always positive; from bad experiences we can always extract positive things.
VIDEO LINK
https://youtu.be/nG5kSuPCzmQ