Cazadores de tendencias

A sunny Saturday morning, waiting to be called into work (it's the waiting that's the worst), I popped into the jaw-droppingly beautiful Palacio de Cibeles, once the home of the Spanish postal service, now the centrocentro cultural centre.  Just in time to catch one of the final few days of its exhibition, ¿Cazadores de tendencias? (or "trendspotters") - Essential names of Spanish fashion.

The exhibition was an A to Z of the 67 biggest names in Spanish fashion, beautifully laid out along the oranate interior of the palace.

Spanish fashion is famous the world over.  But until seeing this exhibition, I hadn't realised just how many of fashion's biggest names orignated in Spain.  It ran from famous names like Aldolfo Domínguez through to less-internationally known Victorio&Lucchino, via Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada, Loewe and, of course, Balenciaga.

Adolfo Domínguez (left): "Designer clothing has to provoke emotions.  Simplicity with a breath of poetry." Josep Font (right): "Fashion is a means to reinterpret the world on my own terms." Sybilla Photograph: Juan Gatti, Madrid 2012 You may not agree with Adolfo and Josep, but the exhibition showcased some stunning photography and the best of Spanish design: classic and timeless, yet with its own eccentricity. But despite the beauty and intrigue in every photograph on display, somehow the setting itself stole the show...

www.centrocentro.org