Last month Pepa Pallarés, from the magazine Con Estilo (published every month by the editorial group Prensa Ibérica with the regional newspapers El Día and La Provincia) and I talked about one of my favorite cities (next to Paris, of course): London .
If you can get the April issue, in addition to reading a part of what I shared with Pepa, the figure of Pepe Dámaso, the artist also played a very important role in this issue, as its coordinator, also in the issue an interview with the model and actress Pino Montesdeoca, the latest jewelry designs from 3nueve Studio, and the winners at La Palma Fashion Talent, and a fantastic interview with the well-known and always wonderful Raquel Sánchez Silva, presenter of the RTVE talent 'Maestros de la Costura', who didn´t miss a detail at the Isla Bonita, La Palma Fashion Week.
I want to take advantage of this post to leave you with the questions that inspired the article for the magazine 'Con Estilo' and I hope that I can also share with you more interviews that I am doing throughout this 2023. You already know that everything you do, you can find here, on this website and always also at @mslupecastro, my Instagram profile.
Pepa: Give me a brief review of when you started with digital platforms like Instagram and others that serve as a showcase for you.
Lupe: I think I started in 2010 or 2011 because I love exploring new ways of communication, but really got serious about it when I started tours around the world on a motorbike. It was a way of telling about the designers I met along the way. At that time I had the name in networks "mscastroonamotorbike", after the accident I changed it to "mscastrorides", but, finally, at this point in my life, I have felt that I connect more with my own name, which is why I am now like " mslupecastro”.
Pepa: What made you choose London?
Lupe: The city itself; the Thames, the mixture in a few kilometers of the ultra modern that is the city and canary wharf and the medieval, like St. Brides Church or Southark Cathedral and, of course, the theatre, lots and lots of theatre, which I love. The mix of tradition and rebellion, the monarchy and the Sex Pistols… All these contrasts.
Pepa: Are you considering going to live there?
Lupe: Well, I already live part of the year in London; it is how I have chosen to live my life now, based in various cities for several months of the year.
Pepa: What differences do you notice between an English perso and a Canarian, for example?
Lupe: I think that the canarians don’t queue like the English. For example, the English say sorry for everything, but it is not the same as pardon. Also a canarian has another kind of warmth its impolite not to say “good morning” or “smile”. It's different, in London, if you smile for too long or say good morning for example, they look at you as if you're crazy (laughs).
Pepa: Places that speak to you.
Lupe: When I'm in London I love to visit the Victoria & Albert Museum, and have a knickerbocker glory at Fortnum & Mason and, without a doubt, the markets of Portobello Green, Spitalfields and London Fields Market.
Pepa: Do you have the same social network followers in London?
Lupe: Yes, I post to my social networks in both English and Spanish, so my content has a similar reach where these languages are spoken, so I think I reach quite a large audience around the world (laughs).
Pepa: When are you planning to travel to London?
Lupe: In June, for London Fashion Week.
Pepa: Who would you take chose to take as to your travel companion and why?
Lupe: I like my job so much that lately my ideal partner would be my photographer because, in addition, he makes me laugh a lot. Actually, I would take anyone who can keep up with me, so maybe not so many people who can do that (laughs), but I am very lucky to have many friends almost all over the world. Also, I am a person who values time with myself very much, so alone I can go anywhere and enjoy it.
Pepa: Food or fashion? What would you do as soon as you arrive?
Lupe: Always fashion.
Pepa: Start day dreaming now and tell me. Where would you have a coffee or whatever you fancy but above all, with whom? Describe the environment, the light, the landscape, and whatever comes to mind.
Lupe: Oops! Well, it would have to be in one of these two places: Seacontainers or Riverside Café Hammersmith but I'm going to stay with Seacontianers, in Southbank, which is near where I live, and near the Tate Modern which is an inspiring art space. It’s a place where you can see the river and at sunset when the sun goes down the reflections on it, is something wonderful. At the table there would need to be a matcha tea, since I don't drink coffee, and the company... Well, I have special friends in each port I go to, like sailors, so I'll always be in good company (laughs).