Marta Navarro founder of Tocoto Vintage Around twelve miles from Barcelona, in a brick building with huge windows that remind us of industrial London, we find the headquarters of children’s brand Tocoto Vintage. Marta Navarro, its founder, decided to launch her own brand in 2010 following more than nine years on the design team of a well-known fashion multinational. We chat with her about how it all started, about the brand’s day-to-day challenges and about her plans for the future. MARTA, HOW DID THE IDEA TO CREATE WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE TOCOTO VINTAGE COME ABOUT? PROCESS? WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE WHERE DID THE NAME COME FROM? PART OF YOUR WORK? 17 The brand came about through a set of My favourite part is thinking up every story, professional and personal circumstances. which is when I let my imagination soar. For me, it was the right path to take, and I I create a world and the colours associated was very excited to create it. Tocoto was with it, and from there everything flows. one of our eldest son Jan’s first words. I usually take inspiration from adult collec- He wouldn’t stop saying “tocototocototo- tions and try to adapt them to children’s coto”… and it stuck! Then “Vintage” because fashion. We design all the prints ourselves I love the whole vintage feel. When I was little,and we make the pieces in workshops in I loved going into my neighbour’s sewing Spain and Portugal. Our collections are room. I liked watching her work, in amongst special and unique because we pay atten- all the fabric and buttons. And, my sister is tion to all the little details and do everything ten years older than me. I loved putting on ourselves, with the help of our wonderful her old clothes, which were already a bit team. vintage because of the age difference. WHAT ARE THE BRAND’S BIGGEST HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE THE BRAND’S DAY-TO-DAY CHALLENGES? DNA? HOW IS TOCOTO DIFFERENT FROM OTHER CHILDREN’S BRANDS? One of the brand’s biggest challenges is how to be present all over the world. I think it’s a highly personal brand. People This is both a challenge and a source of say it’s very “Marta”. I couldn’t have done it great satisfaction. Meanwhile, we have to any other way. It’s an eclectic mix of music, be reactive to all day-to-day problems. film, art and photography. We rescue old There are many people involved in the pieces and patterns, and dresses from my process, so little issuesalways come up, and childhood. The difference compared to we need to sort them out quickly and other brands? It’s very Tocoto… effectively. dnarb eht dniheB