Nonoloa concept & history

concept

Nonoloa is a creative platform designing clothing from urban art.

We launch a new collection every 6 months building on the creations of urban artistsworking under Nonoloa’s art direction.

Our artists include:

. nano 4814, eltono and Nuria [Spain], currently at the Tate Modern[http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/streetart/default.shtm]

. Boris Hoppek: German artist living in Barcelona, creator of the bimbo sculptures

. ipunx: dancefloor destroyers from Germany

. G.O.D. collective [Spain], founders of BELIO magazine

. Eva Solano [Spain]

. Gabriel Moreno [Spain]

and more: Steve Tsang [UK], a1one [Teheran], borraska [Spain], Boxmati [Lebanon],Tono Merinero [Spain], ...

nano4814, works ofhttp://www.fotolog.com/nano4814

eltono, works ofwww.eltono.com

boris hoppek, works ofhttp://www.borishoppek.de/bh-blog/

ipunx, some images of

www.myspace.com/ipunxwww.ipunx.com

eva solano

http://evasolano.blogspot.com

gabriel moreno, some works of

www.gabrielmoreno.com/http://gabrielmorenoillustrating.blogspot.com/

GEE-OH-DEE, works ofwww.geeohdee.com/

nonoloa in shortApril 2004. It all started with two friends. Félix, tired of the city, decides to move to the coastand open a t-shirt store. I, Juanjo, graphic designer, volunteer to work on the collection. The storenever happened. This is how Nonoloa got started, although the name came later.

Félix followed his own path, but I decided to give it a try on my own. I put together some money,and a few designs which I then produced and sold to a few stores and friends. I wanted the t-shirtsto be more than just a graphic on a piece of fabric. Soft cotton; fitted tees; long-lasting inks.…Theideas started to spawn and to intertwine. It seemed to me like a volcano roaring to show off itspower. That’s how I liked to think about it. Mauna Loa, the most powerful volcano –“big mountain”in the aboriginal language. But I needed something to counteract all that energy. I remembered howI used to fall asleep to that voice that whispered “nono” to me, like a mantra. The idea of joiningboth concepts appealed to me: the energy of a volcano out of control and the unpolluted dreams of achild. The name Nonoloa was born.

Summer 2005. Producing the first collection turns out to be a bittersweet experience. Burstingsymmetries, Manila roses, Japanese tattoos, contemporaneous expressionism and ancient symbolism.Poetry. Not just a collection of empty verses.…We are talking here about feeling the fury of living.

Then I just had to sell the collection. The season had long started, so I put all my emphasis onIbiza. I loaded the whole lot in the car truck, grabbed some tapes, my pet and set off. The resultwas a complete disaster, I barely sold 40 tees. It was not as easy as I had thought itwould be.

Then came the first website, selling to friends and acquaintances, getting a stall at the entranceof the Benicassim music festival, next to the dealers with their colourful pills. Anything tofinance the project: Nonoloa.

For the 2006 collection I took the first designs further, introduced new oriental graphics and createda new logo. I experimented with special printing inks. I had my first catalogue on print and revampedthe website.

Tired of working on my own, I moved the workshop to Area, a creative studio made up of illustrators[gabrielmoreno.com], graphic designers [ivanlogra.com, lomatolola.com], painters [evasolano.com],fashion designers [Miguel Fernandez from malamujer.es], urban artists [eltono.com, myspace.com/nano4814],photographers and creative translators [wordlabtranslations.com]. Immersing myself into thisenvironment full of creativity and cross-collaborations turned out to be one of the major hits inNonoloa’s history.

2007 collection. The carp remains the most popular design and ends up being part of the brand’s image.I developed different versions of the logo and delved into other cultures, like the Mexican one. Atthe same time I started collaborating with urban artists and agreed on an exclusive design by eltono.

I kept experimenting with inks and materials: foil, flock, iron-silicon, embroideries, lycra, foam,nylon, tyvek...

Once again I updated the website. In the new catalogue, by Pablo de las Heras, once again photographsare replaced by illustrations in an effort to suggest rather than being explicit.

2008 collection. After a few years of hard work and sleepless nights, the quality and design havebecome Nonoloa’s strong points:

. Remaninig faithful to Turkish cotton and Spanish printing craftsmen.

. Combining my own designs with others from renowned illustrators [Gabriel Moreno], graphic designers[gee.oh.dee: the collective founder of the BELIO magazine], urban artists [eltono, Nuria, nano4814and borraska], as well as musicians [ipunx].

inspiration

We are inspired by the creativity and excellent work of the following brands:

. LRG

. Upper Plaground

. Carhartt

. Skunk Funk

. Loreak Mendian

... and we’d just like to say how much we admire all those who maintain theseprojects alive and kicking.