1000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers

Cora Groppo 77

020

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Cora Groppo was born

in Argentina in 1971

and studied fashion

design at the University

of Buenos Aires. After

working for well-known

Argentinean labels

like Vitamina and

Yagmour, she started

her own, Coragroppo, in

1987. At  rst, she sold

haute couture gowns

and wedding dresses.

For the past seven

years, Coragroppo has

presented itself as an

urban fashion label with

two stores in Buenos

Aires. Groppo opened

the  rst of these in

Palermo Viejo six years

ago and the second, in

the Recoleta district

four years ago. Cora

Groppo’s collections are

sold in countries such

as the US, Spain, the

Netherlands, France,

Britain, Indonesia,

Mexico, and Chile,

and have appeared as

features in international

publications, among

them Elle, Vogue, and

Cosmopolitan. Cora

Groppo opened her  rst

European store in Rome

in 2009.

Cora Groppo

www.coragroppo.com

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192 DEVELOPING A COLLECTION. As the

concept always has something to do with

one or several construction techniques, it’s

easier for me to apply it to other products.

It is also very interesting because the

different materials generally enrich the

technique.

193 M

ATERIALS. I’m not biased. I

like to try out new things. I am very

demanding with quality–not only with the

raw materials, but also with how the fabric

is made. I like noble fabrics, generally with

Lycra. I also like to work with knitted

fabrics. Fabrics inspire me.

194 C

OLORS. I generally choose the

same colors. I very much like and am

interested in working with single colors

in one garment, only changing the nature

of the material. I don’t like strong colors,

and those that are “in” even less. I have

my own palette of grays, beiges, naturals,

blues, blacks, and browns. I don’t normally

work with color contrasts and I take the

liberty of repeating myself on this point.

195 B

RAND VA L U E S . Cora Groppo

promises intellectuality.

191

I

NSPIRATION. For me, every collection comes out of the previous

one. The  rst step is to continue researching the last theme to  nd

a new technique that lets me start again. My search is related with

inventing a technique for construction. To  nd it, I do tests on a

mannequin that turns and that enables me to work the body by

going around it, by handling fabrics, and experimenting.

78 1,000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers

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Cora Groppo 79

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196 TRADITIONAL MANUFACTURING

VS. EXPERIMENTATION. I prefer

experimentation based on tradition and

making use of technological resources.

Success comes from designing something

that can later be manufactured without

hand  nishing. I think designing a

signature piece is fundamental. I often

achieve this at the end of the collection,

when all the resources I was researching

are brought together.

197 C

OMMUNICATION. I am personally

in charge of publicity. I’m not particularly

interested in knowing a lot about the rules

of marketing. I’ve come to realize that the

most important thing is the product. It

has to be able to communicate everything

you think. At the heart of things, my

form of publicity is the tool for expressing

ourselves. I’m not trying to convey pre-

meditated messages.

198 E

VOLUTION. I feel that I have to

push myself to excel every six months.

It’s incredible how untiring it can be.

Con dence and consistency are two basic

rules for building up a creative space and

for putting a team together that identi es

with the project.

199 S

TYLE. With time, I’ve come to

understand how important it is to hold on

to certain things without losing the ability

to surprise, which isn’t easy. In order

to create an identity, you have to keep

working on certain elements that interest

you, such as the palette, the study of

morphology, textures, and proportions.

200 A

CKNOWLEDGEMENT. Whereas the

 ve minutes of glory during the runway

show are pure adrenalin, the real approval

or genuine success is in a product that is

irresistable to clients, and that they  nally

end up choosing to buy.

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