Interview with Helena Dylan "As an artist and as a person, I would say that I am a nonconformist, a fighter, curious, demanding and passionate"
Beyond what she reflects on her social networks, Helena Dylan is a young Galician with a lot of world and stories to tell. After fighting and getting what she had always considered the ideal job in the fashion industry, she decided to leave everything and return to her homeland, to her origin, where it all began, to be able to freely develop her most artistic side.
He tells us what this whole process has been like, what it feels like when you have achieved what you thought was your goal and what his life is like now.
Today we know a little more about Helena Dylan , where she comes from and where she is going.
We follow your content on Instagram very closely but we want to know more, we want to know what's behind it.
Q.-You studied Fashion and Styling at the IED in Madrid with honors, what was the experience like? What would you advise someone who doesn't know where to start in this sector?
A.- I suppose the experience was good in the sense that it is always good to train, learn different fields, and cultivate yourself. But for me studies are not everything.
Training on your own, researching, adapting your eye to art, to what is different, soaking up what is alternative and accepting it. Hard work, respect, passion, struggle and sacrifice, the ability to adapt to the field, those things seem much more important to me than a title. That is not taught in school, that is learned in life.
Hard work, respect, passion, struggle and sacrifice, the ability to adapt to the field, those things seem much more important to me than a title.
I'm not much for giving advice, because honestly I've never followed any. I have always stopped being carried away by what I felt or what my body asked of me. What I would tell someone who is starting out is not to stop fighting for their dream, not to extinguish their passion, and that it is never too late. That if you dream, dream hard and fight, the rest will come alone. The road is going to be difficult, but not impossible, that will make you stronger and turn you into the person you dreamed of being.
Don't stop fighting for your dream, don't quench your passion, and it's never too late. That if you dream, dream hard and fight, the rest will come alone.
You have a lot of experience in the industry and have worked in England, Spain and Portugal,
Q.- Tell us a little about what your job consisted of; on the pros and cons…What would you like people to know?
A.- My career started from the bottom, in a clothing store. I moved to London and started moving up pretty quickly. I became in charge of managing the image of all the stores in the country for a large Retail company, which figuratively amounts to being a Visual Coordinator. I was also in charge of analyzing trends and product rotation in the market and opening new stores in Europe.
I became in charge of managing the image of all the stores in the country for a large retail company.
After four years there, I returned to Spain for a job offer for another large company. Here I was also in charge of managing the Area Coordinators teams in both Spain and Portugal, creating new ideas and aesthetic initiatives, commercial strategies and adapting the brand to the new market. Summarizing a lot.
Well, first of all I would say that it is a very competitive and aggressive field. Especially in the large Retail companies for which I have worked. Everything revolves around money, competitiveness in the market, prices and sales. It is a very demanding, exhausting and very changing environment. In addition to sexist.
Everything revolves around money, competitiveness in the market, prices and sales.
I have lived through the evolution of the market, and everything has gotten worse. Companies are increasingly manufacturing with lower quality and raising prices. Others lower prices and quality so much that they turn the product into a throwaway item. The collections are becoming faster and faster due to the pace of the market and life, and in this process of unnecessary demand everything good is lost , what is human, what is necessary, and what is ethical.
The good thing has always been the possibility of traveling and meeting many people, different cultures, different lifestyles. It's amazing how different the ways of working are in Sweden, Germany, England, Spain … Each country is a different world of personality and forms. I remember one of the first times I went to Sweden to do a store opening. They warned me that when talking to them I had to speak slowly, calmly and not gesture with my hands. I was amazed, but then I understood.
A brand can be a source of inspiration and good work or a hostile place with decisions that you do not agree with (as in any job).
Q.- What pushed you to leave your job in fashion retail? Under what conditions would you return?
A.- As I explained in the previous question, that whole process of demand, pressure, and aggressiveness made me reflect and realize that I was not happy working in that type of environment that had taken over my life.
I needed to create, feel free and have fun with fashion and art again, as I had always done. Assess the good work of the garments and the design, the quality of the product, of the artist.
The truth is that I haven't completely left. Thanks to Instagram, in my case, I have started to get to know smaller brands, with a wonderful philosophy, with innovative garments and with a special and unique design, not a cut and paste like big companies do.
We have to realize that this, although it has a higher cost, is much more necessary in the end. It is not necessary to have as much, if not less, but of higher quality and with a special design.
It is not necessary to have as much, if not less, but of higher quality and with a special design.
I would like to help entrepreneurial brands, with my experience in the market, advise them and help them find their place in the market, their strengths, that will always be within me, because there have been many years of experience, of hard work in very different countries and very competitive markets.
You explain to us that you decided to go back to the root of everything, to stop and start a new path. And that is precisely what we wanted to highlight in this Aw20, Right Here campaign. The power of origin and how it influences us when it comes to transforming ourselves.
Q.- In that process, what did you discover? How would you summarize your experience?
A.- Most importantly, I discovered that I was not happy. That I was in a whirlwind of activity and unnecessary personal demands. That I had fought to achieve a good job position and a good salary, which is supposed to be what the world educates you for, and that when I had it, nothing happened. I didn't feel fulfilled, I didn't feel happy, just an internal emptiness.
I had struggled to achieve a good job position and a good salary, which is supposed to be what the world educates you for, and when I had it, nothing happened.
I discovered that I needed to rethink my life in a different way, to have time to think, without fear. I decided to return to where it all began, when I was eighteen years old when I set out into the world from my homeland. Rethink it again with the experience I had now achieved. And it all started again, but in a different, freer way.
You now have an art studio where you create abstract works based on color as a key element, using oil paints on canvas.
Q.- What do you draw inspiration from? What is Helena Dylan, the artist, like?
A.- Inspiration comes in many ways. Sometimes visually, a film, an exhibition, an image on the street... and other times it comes through a phrase you have read in a book, a melody from a song, the stories that people tell you. A feeling, a texture, an emotion…
As an artist and as a person, I would say that I am nonconformist, fighter, curious, demanding and passionate.
Q.- We would love to know your influences and references. Of any kind (music, painting, cinema,... We like to hear people talk about their tastes and passions and we would be happy to know more about you.
A.- I could go on for hours and hours answering this question. Since I have many influences and I am very curious. I am also a person who likes all types of art and styles. To say something:
- Painting: Of the great artists I will say that Matisse, Picasso and Hopper fascinate me. I love Helen Frankenthaler. And I love the colors of Rothko and Sonia Delaunay.
- Cinema: Aesthetically any Wes Anderson film. The dialogues of Woody Allen and the stories of Sofia Coppola and Lars von Trier, and Tarantino for being unique.
- Music: I like music of all kinds, and in this field I usually get a lot of advice. I could say that I love everything about the 60s and 70s, musically and aesthetically. And I have beautiful memories of the music of the 90s because it was when I started to discover and love it, especially thanks to the fact that I have a brother who is eleven years older than me and he discovered many wonders for me when I was very young.
- Fashion: There are many themes of inspiration, from characters like Chloe Sevigny, Jane Birkin, Frida Kahlo, Blondie, Diana of Wales... Going through big brands like Prada, Jacquemus, Commes de Garcons, to innovative brands like Paloma Wool, La Veste, House of Sunny, Uoooy, La Manso... and above all everyday people, the kind you meet on the street or on Instagram.
- Literature: I am inspired by books and the people behind them. Character like Simon de Beauvoir, Rosalía de Castro, Virgina Woolf, Hemingway. to more current ones like Rupi Kaur, Almuda Grandes, Haruki Murakami...
- Another of my great inspirations and passions is interior design. My Pinterest is full of images and references about it.
Q.- What's next? What are your medium-long term plans?
A.- For now I am happy as I am. I have stopped thinking about medium-long term plans, since in my case it is of no use and only creates pressure. I prefer to live in the now, and enjoy what I have. Whatever has to come, will come and I will receive it with open arms.
Now I prefer to settle for less, but with something that gives me things that make me happy.
Your most personal side
In our latest Right Here collection of autumn-winter footwear , we wanted to give importance to origins. Memories, places and customs that have made us who we are today...
Today we know the origins of Helena Dylan.
Q.- A value you learned from your family?
A.- I learned love above all things. The sacrifice of fighting for what you want. Humility and generosity.
Q.- Favorite homemade food and whose .
A.- Difficult to choose one since my family is very cooky. I could say that from my mother, you saw the Galician style, from my brother, the black spaghetti with cuttlefish and shrimp, and from my father... I guess anything he prepares, because he always does everything with a lot of dedication and love.
Q.- A place that identifies you.
A.- More than with a place, I identify more with an element, Air, like a good Gemini. I like freedom, changing places, starting from scratch, letting myself go...I couldn't choose a specific place.
Q.- We know that you are Galician, what are your 3 favorite places that everyone should know if they visit the community?
A.- It is difficult to choose three. Although I have lived abroad for many years, every time I return home I am surprised by the beauty of my land. But if I have to recommend three, they would be:
- The Cíes Islands, because it is one of the most beautiful natural places I have visited.
- The Grove, for its beaches, its food and my memories at the Náutico concerts with my friends. ( The beaches of Cangas are also spectacular). - Finally, I would recommend doing the Camino de Santiago as an experience. It is a good way to get to know the deep Galicia, its people, its mountains, its colors...
Q.- Your 3 favorite restaurants,
A.- I am a breakfast person, addicted to avocado toast, so first I have to recommend:
- The Toma Café bar in Madrid. They are my favorite toasts and the coffee is delicious.
- The Regato restaurant in my town. It is a fusion food restaurant with different and balanced flavors. It is located a few meters from the beach. Its magic is the views. Seeing the sea and the island of San Simón while you eat, a luxury.
- Finally, I would recommend the Othilio restaurant in Vigo. A very cozy place in the center of the city with a ten quality product.
Q.- Define your land in three words:
A.- Cozy, humble and beautiful
