Asunción Bastida(1902-1995)
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
Asunció (Assumpta) Bastida Pibernat was a Catalan costume designer. She was born in Barcelona in 1902. Her father, Alexandre Bastida, owned a fabric shop in Barcelona. She married to Marcelino Mases, they would have two sons and would later divorce.
During the mid twenties she opened a house specialized in knit garments at carrer Girona and took part in the Barcelona 1929 International Exhibition. She moved to the Gran Via, an ample fashionable street, and changed the house name to Modes Mases - Asunció Bastida (Mases was his husband's surname), turning to the haute couture business. She succeeded and in 1934 opened a Madrid branch at Hermosilla street. In 1936 the Civil War broke out and both shops closed. She travelled to Rome and Milan and when the war ended in 1939 reopened first the Barcelona and then the Madrid shops, also showing her collections in Sevilla. In Barcelona she was now located at one of the most fashionable streets (Passeig de Gràcia, 96), the former atelier of the modernist painter Ramon Casas.
She was costume designer for several Spanish films along the 40s and 50s, and one of the "Big five" Haute Couture Cooperative (Cooperativa d'Alta Costura) founded in 1940 to promote Catalan fashion : Pedro Rodríguez, El Dique Flotante, Santa Eulàlia and Manuel Pertegaz. Mirrioring Parisian designers they organized two yearly regular fashion shows known as "Salón de la Moda Española", first held at famed Barcelona's Coliseum cinema's dome and later at the Ritz Hotel, intended to keep local wealthy customers instead of going to Paris for their season shopping.
She obtained permission from Christian Dior to officially reproduce and sell his models. She also created an association with French haute couture designer Jacques Heim to launch the Jeunes Filles line in the 50s. During the 60s her collections were also shown in the USA, and she was one of the first Catalan fashion houses to include a boutique, sports and prêt-a-porter lines. She officially closed in 1970 but continued as Asunción Bastida SA until 1975. She was technical director of "El boletín de la Moda" fashion magazine.
From the 30s on she popularized cotton and linen fabrics for street and evening dresses as well as for summer outfits. She made elaborated embroideries based on Catalan modernist and traditional styles. She favoured straight lines, dresses fitted to the body and avoided overtrimmings, much in the Catalan style. Her archives were donated to the Museu de la Indumentària de Barcelona.
She obtained permission from Christian Dior to officially reproduce and sell his models. She also created an association with French haute couture designer Jacques Heim to launch the Jeunes Filles line in the 50s. During the 60s her collections were also shown in the USA, and she was one of the first Catalan fashion houses to include a boutique, sports and prêt-a-porter lines. She officially closed in 1970 but continued as Asunción Bastida SA until 1975. She was technical director of "El boletín de la Moda" fashion magazine.
From the 30s on she popularized cotton and linen fabrics for street and evening dresses as well as for summer outfits. She made elaborated embroideries based on Catalan modernist and traditional styles. She favoured straight lines, dresses fitted to the body and avoided overtrimmings, much in the Catalan style. Her archives were donated to the Museu de la Indumentària de Barcelona.