Biscuit

Biscuit doesn't chase seasonal trends. Instead, it puts out limited runs with unusual patterns, offbeat prints and its own original designs. That's because every Biscuit piece exists to help a woman express who she really is. The brand's founder, Katia Bandolovski, felt different from everyone else since she was a child, and in a good way. The clothes she designed for herself back then helped her feel more confident and stronger.

Katia started learning garment construction at fourteen. As a teenager she looked up to Thierry Mugler and Azzedine Alaïa, while her grandmother Carmen taught her to sew and cut patterns. Later she got into dance and made costumes both for her own performances and, at one point, for a tour by Nacho Cano, one of Spain's most popular musicians. After that came stints in makeup, styling and even aviation. Then she moved to Bali, where she spent nine years making clothes with her own hands. She sewed everything herself, picked out the fabrics, colors and prints, and put together small collections with a friend. Those collections sold well at markets across Spain, Portugal, France, England, Belgium, Switzerland and Japan, and made it into international fashion shows too. In 2005 Katia came back to Madrid and opened the first Biscuit store in the bohemian neighborhood of Malasaña. Her husband, Paul Buquet, handled the accounting, staff and hunting for locations, while Katia kept designing.

These days Biscuit's collections include dresses, shirts and tops, pants, skirts, jumpsuits, knitwear, denim pieces and jackets. Everything gets made in local family workshops, using natural fabrics with confirmed origins and sustainability credentials.

The brand runs three stores in its hometown of Madrid, plus one each in Barcelona, Palma and Ibiza. If you're in Madrid, we'd point you first toward the boutique on Corredera Alta de San Pablo in Malasaña. Back in the 1980s, this neighborhood became one of the centers of the Movida Madrileña, the cultural movement that reshaped the city's art and music scene. Ever since, Malasaña has stayed a creative pocket of independent shops, local bars, concert venues and street art. So there's no better place to get to know clothing built around the idea of being unmistakably yourself.