Brighten up your autumn wardrobe with Etrala: an interview with Maria Rodriguez

Eco-friendly Etrala is a colourful and luxurious fashion label based in London. Their new Autumn/Winter collection is inspired by vintage London and is themed in a gorgeous Autumnal palette of colours. The collection includes a blue velvet mini dress, mustard yellow cape and high waisted woollen shorts, to name a few. 

Created by couple Maria Rodriguez and Emilio Portes, the pair uses only the highest quality fabrics to create their items. The Upcoming spoke to Maria about Etrala and their new collection to find out just what makes them so unique.

How did Etrala come to be and where did the name derive from?

Etrala sourced its concept from our backgrounds. I’m an environmental engineer that studied fashion design after that and Emilio is an MBA and has always been interested in luxury. Both of us together decided to create Etrala. We decided to move from Spain to London to start the business in this amazing city. The name derives from a Spanish word backwards al arte which means “from art”, we were looking for a name that could be read in every language and has an inherent meaning for us.

How would you sum up Etrala in three words?

Young, slow-fashion, high-quality.

What can you tell us about your Autumn-Winter 12/13 collection? 

It’s a 16-garment collection, sourced from autumn colours (beige, pumpkin, olive green, mustard) and inspired by the 70s with a twist in the inside. All the linings have crazy prints in organic cotton. The collection is handmade in London from 100% natural fabrics, velvets, silks and pure British wool.

How is Etrala unique from other brands?

It’s unique for its combination of ethical concept and design, we aim to be respected for our designs and their wearability. On top of that the ethical concept can endorse the most exclusive people that want to have exclusive garments designed to last longer than a season.

Its slow-fashion, we only produce the garment that the customer already has ordered, with the ability to customise each garment, combining colours, fabrics and linings throughout the collection, giving a tailor made meaning to every Etrala garment.

What are the best perks of being co-founder of the company?

Working everyday in the things that I love, and having the ability to drive our business from an idea to a real thing being the soul of its success.

Bethan Williams

Stand out in the coming cooler months by shopping at Etrala here.