Abra FW25 Pays Homage to Hometown Fashion Boutiques
We speak with creative director Abraham Ortuño on the lore of shopping and why his “clothes are the accessories to his accessories.”
Abraham Ortuño, creative director of Spanish label Abra, is as obsessed with the lore of shopping as he is with clothing. For his Fall/Winter 2025 collection at Paris Fashion Week, the designer looks to mannequins, packaging and shopping bags to inform his “Fashion Boutique” concept. Honoring ’80s village boutiques and his mother’s beauty rituals, the collection includes earrings still set in their packaging, newspaper graphic print and mannequins’ wigs.
Continue reading to hear more from Ortuño on his FW25 inspirations.
Before you go, check out our recap of Milan Fashion Week FW25.
This season feels like a true sophistication in your garment offering. Can you tell us about the design process?
I went full on fashion. Normally, I focus more on my accessories. I always say to people that my clothes are the accessories to my accessories. But this season, I wanted to do a crazy homage to all these women with dreams in their villages — dreaming of a French fantasy and going to their local store with import clothes from Paris. I remember when I was a child, my mom used to go to these stores, and she would feel so insecure, like, “oh my god, I’m not worthy of this.” I wanted to bring back this feeling and show her that she is.
You work with the objectification of fashion, can you tell us a bit more about where that interest comes from?
I come from a small village in the middle of Spain and we always gave so much value to packaging. We didn’t have access to luxury bags but we could buy perfumes, and the packaging of the perfumes felt like a purse for us. So, I always try to recreate these bags that I used to wear as a teenager — the ones that made me feel like “fashion.” I would carry my Chanel paper bag for a week until it disintegrated.
I always think about my past and fashion items aren’t necessarily real — it’s more about what is around them. The shoes are inspired by paper bags and the clutches have plastic bags. It’s not ironic — it’s about humble experiences.
Do you remember your first experience with fashion growing up?
My first contact with fashion was Barbie, for sure. I saw pictures of me at two years old just playing dolls. From the moment I touched a Barbie for the first time, I probably had 50 Barbies a year later. My parents thought that I was going to grow up and still play with dolls — and I kind of do.
For beauty, why did include ’80s punk looks and mannequin wigs?
Like many people of my generation, I’m obsessed with fashion from the ’80s. There is a movie from Kim Cattrall called “Mannequin.” She’s plays a mannequin and then becomes a real person and I just love that depiction of a woman. It’s really a homage to my first memories of ’80s fashion — the makeup, the volume, the craziness.
