Potipot is a remote island getaway located near Metro Manila. The small island was the inspiration for potipoti’s spring line. The collection captures the exoticism of the tropics. This season’s color palette is aquatic, yet the collection still remains quite graphic. Bearing in mind that potipoti’s design duo, Silvia Salvador and Nando Cornejo have a background in Fine Arts, it is not a surprise. The studio-label, created in 2005 combines the best of “fashion, graphic design, visual arts, and product design.” It is this sense of interrelated arts, that make potipoti so compelling as a clothing label. Instead of mere clothes, a story is sure to accompany each collection. Nando Cornejo was gracious enough to share this season’s story.
How did your interest in fashion begin?
We actually both studied fine arts, but we have always been attracted to fashion, particularly to textile design and stamping, so we’ve been gradually taking steps to reach the current situation by designing collections every 6 months.
What is your fashion background?
We are self-taught, we like the philosophy of do it yourself. At the end of 2005, we began to exhibit our drawings in empty premises in Berlin. We held parties. People didn’t buy pictures, but they did buy skirts and shirts. That’s how it all began.
Personally, what are your own shopping habits?
We really like buy in small shops with character and we don’t like shopping malls. We usually buy through internet too.
What designers do you like?
Walter Van Beirendonck, El Delgado Buil, Henrik Vibskov, Peter Jensen, Bjork & McElligott…
How did Potipoti come about?
Potipoti used to be Silvia’s nickname. It made us laugh. One day we realised it was just the right name for our company. Simple and fun. Later, we found out that it means “varied” in Catalan, and “dots” in Japanese. That made us laugh even more.
How does your partnership work?
Everything is easier at the level of communication because we know each other very well…we share tasks. [However], Silvia has more items associated with style, patterns, fabrics. And I [deal more with] the graphics and brand image.
What inspired this collection?
Surfing on the net we discovered a lost island in the Pacific Ocean called Potipot. This finding, together with a recent trip to Costa Rica, inspired us to produce a very exotic and tropical collection, The Potipot Island.
Our goal is to eventually conquer Potipot Island and live there for ever, drinking avocado milkshakes and having a good time.
The prints remind indigenous cabins, bamboo, palm trees, volcanoes and ancestral monsters and we have used light and fresh fabrics like silk, cotton, linen…
When you think of the new collection, does a song or particular story come to mind?
Yes. A trip to Costa Rica and exotic music like Esquivel, Martin Denny, Panda Bear, Ruby Suns, Vampire Weekend, The Thieves of Kailua, El Guincho…
Do you take a different route when designing for men versus women?
In general we think ideas must be valid for both genders. If a piece of clothing is nice and looks good on you it shouldn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman if you want to wear it. We often wear each other’s clothes, so I guess this has to do with our tendency to design unisex clothing.
Anything else you would like to add?
If you come to Berlin don’t forget to visit us at our shop!
potipoti Shop
Oderbergerstr. 34
10435 Berlin
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