Palomo Spain wins National Fashion Design Award 2024

When Alejandro Gómez Palomo, known as Palomo Spain, first appeared on the Madrid runway in 2016, he was an unknown designer who dared to give men the right to wear ruffles and bold openings with an audacity he insists was simply “designs without fear, using today’s language.”

This Tuesday, the Ministry of Culture awarded him the National Fashion Design Award for having “established a unique perspective within the fashion design sector, giving a voice to inclusion, diversity, and advocating for new formats of artistic expression through a disruptive proposal.”

This youthful audacity has since led him to showcase his work in New York and Paris.

“I am incredibly excited and immensely proud of the work we have done,” Palomo told EFE minutes after learning about the award from his workshop in Posadas, Córdoba. 

“This recognition is beautiful for my team and me. I certainly have the merits. It’s the most prestigious award one can receive in Spain,” he added, referring to his fearless creations.

The jury also valued that the brand is “rooted in its territory, with its workshop located in Posadas, from where it has contributed to the international promotion of Spain’s image.”

At 32, Palomo is already part of fashion history. In 2019, one of his designs was displayed at the Metropolitan Museum in New York alongside pieces by John Galliano, Gucci, Balenciaga, and Karl Lagerfeld, during the MET Gala dedicated to the “camp” style, which blurs the lines between masculine and feminine garments.

Despite his youth, Alejandro Palomo, born in Córdoba in 1992, had always been a contender for the National Fashion Design Award, which in previous years has been awarded to Teresa Helbig, Antonio Alvarado, Ana Locking, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, and David Delfín.

“Just a few days ago, I was reflecting on my career and thought about how fortunate I am to dedicate my life to what I’ve always dreamed of and that what I do reaches people, transcends, and brings new spaces to a generation that lacked a reference of freedom,” said the designer.

A dream come true, which entails “tremendous responsibility and very hard work. It is incredibly demanding,” he admitted while putting the finishing touches on his new collection to be presented in New York in September.

What many saw as “feminine designs on masculine bodies” has been a comment he has shrugged off.

“We have established ourselves as a men’s brand, with a male clientele open to feminine design, gender, and sexuality,” emphasizing that his garments are for “a gentleman like my father or the most modern man in New York.”

He was hired by Jean Paul Gaultier when the French designer announced a collaboration with young creators to relaunch his ready-to-wear line, a project in which Gaultier was a reference. “My style is influenced by his heritage,” he noted in an interview with EFE.

“I have been labeled a provocateur, but to me, it was natural. I created without fear, using today’s language, translating it into the current way of communication, with a sense of freedom and the desire to impact people,” an attitude he acknowledges has been key in his development.

The designer has turned his brand into an independent label, dressing celebrities like Beyoncé, when she announced the birth of her twins; Eduardo Casanova, Harry Styles, Rosalía, Rita Ora, Miley Cyrus, and Chanel for Eurovision, in a suit adorned with over 50,000 Swarovski crystals.

In 2022, he created costumes for the New York Ballet’s “Play Time” by Gianna Reisen, alongside Raf Simons and Giles Deacon.

As a judge on the TV show “Maestros de la Costura,” Palomo has successfully reached a broad audience with his charismatic and approachable image. Despite his success, he has kept his workshop in the place where he grew up, and it is with his team that he will first celebrate the award.

“It hasn’t been an easy path, but we have received rewards along the way,” he fondly recalled the “trust, energy, and money” invested by his parents to fulfill his dream in a profession that was completely unrelated to their environment.