Barcelona has lost one of the great references in fashion, Toni Miró. The couturier, designer, and businessman, who passed away this Thursday at the age of 74, contributed to the projection of the city from the world of fashion and through his clothing and accessories brand Antonio Miró.
His designs paraded for years on the main international fashion runways, in Milan, Tokyo, New York, and especially in Paris, where he triumphed with his menswear collections. From all these stages, he disseminated the image of the city as a design capital, to which he also repeatedly contributed. Noteworthy are his collaborations in events of international significance, with the design of the costumes for the Olympic ceremonies of COO'92 and the attire for the celebrations of the Forum of Cultures, in 2004. He was also one of the promoters and pioneers of the defunct Pasarela Gaudí, which years later formed the current 080 Barcelona Fashion.
Son of a tailor and born in Sabadell, one of the cities in Catalonia where the textile sector has been rooted for decades, Miró opened his first store at just twenty years old, Groc, on Rambla Catalunya in Barcelona. His vocation for design already led him to create a different establishment and he commissioned its interior design to Xavier Regàs i Pagès, also the author of the decoration of the Bocaccio nightclub.
The success achieved with the store led him to create in 1979 the Antonio Miró brand, for men and women, and to establish the company of the same name. From that first enclave, already with its own brand, in the eighties and nineties of the last century, he positioned himself among the main designers of Spanish fashion, contributing his imprint, and the seal of cosmopolitanism and modernity of Barcelona.
Aspects that he transferred to his clothes with an urban design, with which he reinterpreted the tailored suit for men. He also created collections for plays, cinema, and television. And he dressed important celebrities, among them, actor John Malkovich, with whom he also shared a good friendship, or George Harrison. He also dressed personalities from Catalan and Spanish society, such as Ricardo Bofill, Miquel Barceló, or Óscar Tusquets. In 1990, the couturier signed an agreement with Ermenegildo Zegna for the international launch of his designs.
The brand became a great reference in the fashion sector and expanded in such a way that it created its line of furniture, stationery, leather goods, home clothing, fashion accessories...
The success lasted for years, until entering the 21st century, but the 2008 economic crisis shook the business and Toni Miró decided to sell 70% of his company to the company Nuevos Valores Textiles, controlled by the Nassia and Arquero families. The economic downturn of covid ended up punishing the firm, already only in the hands of Toni Miró (30%) and Andrea Arquero (70%), and had to file for bankruptcy and its definitive liquidation at the end of last year.
Throughout his career, Miró received many recognitions. In 1988, he was awarded the Cristóbal Balenciaga prize for best Spanish designer and in 2000 he received the FAD medal, granted by the Industrial Design Association of the Fomento de las Artes Decorativas for his professional career. He also received in 2003 the Antoni Gaudí medal, Moda Barcelona, from the Pasarela Gaudí.