LOIS: THE LEGEND CONTINUES

LOIS: THE LEGEND CONTINUES

By Laura Martínez

This Valencian brand, one of the first to introduce denim to Spain in the 60s, launches a new collaboration with The Concept Hotels.

It isn't easy to imagine life without jeans today, but they are a recent favourite in Spanish wardrobes. I remember wearing my first pair of Lois flared jeans in 2000 when finding the right pair for a 12-year-old teenager was mission impossible. These jeans marked a before and after in my relationship with denim, along with many other girls who wanted to feel good in a constantly changing body they didn't yet fully own. Lois made it easier for us.

In the early 60s, brothers Joaquín and Manuel Sáez-Merino started to hear about a fabric that was making waves in the USA: denim. This durable fabric, designed for jobs involving physical labour, was taking over the streets of the States. The brothers thought; if it was popular there, it had to be available here, so in 1962 they created Lois. It quickly became one of the first brands to design and produce jeans in Europe.

Johan Cruyff, ABBA, Rod Stewart and Bjorn Borg all wore Lois jeans during their public appearances. The brand rose to success and launched its first denim jacket in 1965, opening up possibilities for other denim designs. This is the moment when Lois: The Spanish conquest opened new markets in Holland, France, Great Britain, Germany, etc.

In the 1970s, Lois was one of the four major denim brands in the world. Its image is one of rebelliousness and non-conformity, attitudes that can be shared by people of all ages. Throughout this decade, women broke with the conventional attitudes and traditions that restricted them and liberated themselves in denim miniskirts. Denim is part of a critical social change in Spain, with people from all walks of life wearing it. Its unprecedented success caused a flood of brands on the market that became unsustainable by the 80s. After a period of restructuring and internal changes, Lois returned at the beginning of the 90s, more buoyant and enthusiastic than ever.

Fascinated by the family history of these two visionaries - which continues today with Fernando Sáez-Merino - and a brand with a passionate identity based on equality, The Concept Hotels and Lois join forces to provide the uniform for our staff and create different brand initiatives together this summer. You can already see the first fruits of this collaboration at Dorado Hotel: an exhibition of vintage advertising posters from the legendary brand with the black bull logo that you can visit until 20th June.

Lois was, and still is, the first jeans brand for many teenage girls. It was part of the change in attitude among women in Spain and continues to make them visible in its campaigns such as 'Girls Play', where gender discrimination in male-dominated professions is challenged. The elite sportswomen Marina Abalau and María Pérez and the gamer and streamer Jen Herranz tell how they survive in a man's world and lay the seeds for a new, more egalitarian beginning. Once again, thank you, Lois.

Here's to many more years of success! We look forward to working with you!