Merit Roses

I was born and raised in Barcelona with spanish and french nationality. I Actually lived my childhood between the two countries, so I became used pretty soon to cultural contrast and change.

The first memory of myself is being 4 years old and drawing, with my little hands, a dragon’s killer princess warrior dressing splendorous garments and standing triumphant handing a blood dripping sword. That’s what my mom said I explained to everyone who asked, curious to see a little girl drawing unrecognisable lines with such passion.

Few years later I went to action crafting those dresses for my Barbies, and building rudimentary models for the stories I was going to make them perform on set.

So I’d studied an Art Bachelor degree at Barcelona University, an Electronic Arts Degree in ESDI Art School, and in my career I became a multiplatform designer who worked in several positions in the TV industry, and which experience teached me skills that I apply to new jobs: From craftsmanship to multimedia arts.

In the last few years I’ve developed more dexterity, learning from seamstresses’ dressmaking basics, I learned leather work from Ibiza’s artisans, artisanal textile dyeing, and taught myself to create garments with a 80’s knitting machine, and with it Id started my own sustainable fashion brand. On my obsession to be prepared Id even study cinema direction for 1 year to learn about visual language and its connection with Art direction.

The craziest things I did to learn a new skill? Worked for 7 months as Carpenter assistant restoring a XVII Century mansion in Bavaria’s mountains.

When I design a costume, or a single garment I imagine who is wearing it, what feeling, and I see him or her having a life in it. To me Costume design is a language that expresses a time, emotion, or a circumstance that the character is living through. All that can be shown using a rough handwoven linen fabric, washed several times to underline the character’s uninterest in life and or his humble origins… That deep psychological work fascinates me, as I got immersed in Jungian symbology very young.

Since last September I am living in the U.K. under European Settlement status scheme, and collaborating in different projects on film and tv.