For Bonia’s Creative Director Pepe Torres, the brand always meant one thing. Quality. 

“When I started working in Bonia, I got surprised by the quality behind it,” said Torres in a recent interview. He was speaking to The Edge, as Bonia prepares to launch its Spring/Summer collection, which according to Torres was inspired by a trip to South America. 

“The Mayans, the Incans, Peruvian fabrics, the ruins of Machu Picchu, I drew on all of these things to make a collection. It’s a tribute to those cultures,” said Torres. 

“But the big challenge for me is to choose the right material to work with that would reflect what I saw on my trip,” he explains. 

Indeed, the theme of the Lost Empires is carried through the collection, from its historical sophistication and heritage that was once virtually forgotten until the 20th century. 

All this is echoed in the stitches of Bonia’s well-known craftsmanship and reflected in the contemporary nature of the pieces. According to Torres, he looked for ideas in every corner of the archaeological sites he saw on his trip. 

At the heart of his collection though, Torres said that his prime goal is to ensure that it speaks to Bonia’s aesthetic as well. It fits in with his main aim of bringing the more than four decade-old brand to a new audience. 

“My future vision is to keep all of the brand’s heritage, but still looking to the future and to a new generation,” said Torres. 

Torres eye on the future seems to fit in with Bonia’s strategy over the past couple of years. Beyond just brick-and-mortar, in 2015 the fashion retailer made its debut online at www.bonia.com, which recently celebrated its first anniversary in October this year. 

It proved another way for the brand to engage with its buying audience, through exclusive items, events and promotions, and various incentives for its frequent customers.   

Torres on his part said that working with Bonia opened up parts of the business that he had not had the chance to encounter before. 

“Bonia gave me the opportunity to know certain parts of the business that I didn’t know, and the chance to work with a whole new team of buyers and merchandisers,” he said. 

Torres has been creative director of Bonia for just over two years. The Spaniard flies frequently between Barcelona, where his consultancy, Twelve Design Consultants is based, and Asia. It was by sheer chance that he and Bonia executive director Datuk Seri Daniel Chiang had met in Paris at a lunch, which eventually lead to his appointment as creative director. 

 “On my ends, I brought my background in terms of commercial version and personality. It is very important to share with my company a little bit of my personality, my vision of this market,” said Torres. 

After two years with Bonia, Torres unabashedly praises his team for their work and dedication, and feels that the brand can even compare to the names that sit in the higher echelons of the industry.

“We can compare with the top, top brands. We have the same quality, we work with the same suppliers. We have very good resources in terms of people, pattern makers, we do everything in house,” said Torres. 

Torres himself has had experience with high-end brands, having spent 10 years with British-born Burberry, where he was head designer for accessories, womenswear and menswear. He also had worked at Loewe, Mango, Antonio Miro and Carolina Herrera. 

As for the future, Torres says that his mind is already past the Spring/Summer collection, and has already started to draw inspiration for the Autumn/Winter pieces. He adds that the blessing, and curse, of being creative is that your mind never stops working. 

“You never stop having ideas, you could almost go crazy with the number of ideas that you have. But when you have a brand like Bonia behind you, who give you freedom and support your creative ambitions, that is important to have,” said Torres. 

The full collection can be seen at www.bonia.com