When Passions Unite with Belén Hostalet
New to the entrepreneurship world is modern-day, self-made woman, travel influencer and fashion designer, Belén Hostalet, who just launched her eco-friendly luxury activewear brand — Manola. Based in world class Barcelona, this media maven discusses how she was able to blend her passions and her pastimes together to create something for everyone.
Photographer: Georgina Millet
Core Legging $71 | Crossed Back Top $59
Not just a fashion brand, but a healing movement that aims to spread happiness and wellness to its community.
Founder and creative director, Belén Hostalet, was not seeking popularity, yet her aesthetically pleasing online content captivated a growing audience around the world. From a young age, Hostalet had a love for fashion, but life charted her to different territories before she reached her latest destination of international fashion designer. The road to success started when she began posting her travel photography and modelesque selfies on leading social platform, Instagram. “It was very natural,” explains Hostalet. “I wasn’t really looking for any attention. I started posting my images while I was traveling, always mixing a little bit of fashion in between, I was 22 at the time” she laughs as she reminisces the evolvement of her style over the years. Admittedly, gaining popularity was at first intimidating for this influencer, who coined herself as a bit shy when first garnering recognition. “What did it mean? What should I do with that? What’s the future for these?” she further questioned with an infectious grin. However, all paths merged triumphantly when this young entrepreneur and economics major realized, “the future was creating something of my own, and since that time I always looked for many things to create. Until finally now, six years later.”
Always having a love for the arts, it was her mom that influenced her love for fashion. “My mom always paid so much attention to every detail and taught me so many things,” admires Hostalet. Growing up, the now designer also had an admiration for sports. “Sports has been a part of my life since I was seventeen,” shares the influencer, “and I decided I wanted to be the best version of myself. I discovered how good [sports] made me feel physically, but also and most importantly, mentally.” Once Hostalet had her mind set, she went on a quest to find the right athleisure wear. It was then she realized the only athletic clothing brands that she could find were monopolized by major European corporations. Every individual has their own methodology for approaching a problem, Hostalet’s solution was to develop and formulate her own unique and sustainable athleisure clothing line, which incorporated her classic and minimalistic style. Enter Manola — not just a fashion brand, but a healing movement that aims to spread happiness and wellness to its community. “I believe less is more” says Hostalet. “We also wanted to translate this in Manola too. Our pieces are very versatile, and you can use them as we say: ‘from lunge to brunch’. Minimal, but classic cuts you can combine in your everyday life.”
Core Crop Top Sleeveless $64 | Core Cycling Short $64
Manola’s mission is to make all women feel splendid in their own skin, to be the best version of themselves and to build a community of powerful souls. “Our aim was creating pieces for every woman, so every one of our pieces are designed to suit everybody and to make them feel confident,” beams the designer. This clothing line offers a stylish take on fusing fashion and sport, while keeping the environment eco-friendly. Hostalet’s primary goal for her label is to allow every woman to express their individuality. “[The Manola girl] is loyal and likes to spend time with friends. She can be both a university girl or a young mom who appreciates a classic and fashionable piece,” heartens Hostalet before she continues. “I could say she is also an entrepreneur, an ambitious woman who will always try the hardest to achieve her goals and also help her loved ones to achieve theirs. She loves traveling, she loves being informed, she cares about nature and a better world. She reads, she writes, she meditates, she knows the importance of being in peace with oneself.” Having every woman in mind, Hostalet launched her first collection.
“For our first collection we wanted to create the basics everyone needs, but with a twist,” shares the designer. “Our essentials, as we wanted, can be both used at the gym and outside of it with a pair of jeans or a blazer. We wanted comfortable, classic pieces, but at the same time make them look beautiful and have recognizable shapes.” Hostalet also knew that for her first featured collection she wanted to stay neutral with basic colors. “We didn’t want to produce many different color-ways” she explains. “We opted for a basic black, our signature ‘Avorio’, which is a flattering off-white — the first thing that comes to mind with white is ‘NO’, but we promise it’s SO GOOD — and our signature ‘Riad’, this color looks amazing on every skin tone. It’s playful, it’s young, fresh and super easy to combine.”
Incorporating her Spanish roots within the brand, it is beautifully evident that Manola is also about identity and culture. The origin of the name “Manola” exemplifies how Hostalet pays attention to every detail, just like her mom. “‘Manola' comes from a very Spanish name, which is ‘Manuela’,” shares the designer. “Many cities in the north say ‘Manola’ instead of ‘Manuela’, and so we fell in love with the name, the pronunciation and the origin: Spain. And that it also included the word ‘ola’, which means ‘wave’ in Spanish.” The name is as flowing as the subtle simplicity of each garment highlighted on the Manola website. “We love our traditions” states Hostalet as she touches on the obvious Spanish nuances displayed in each design and style. “Our fashion matters. Since we have really good materials and really good manufacturers, we love a good old classic, but high-quality item, which we believe Manola is all about. Of course, different countries have different necessities. Australian people are buying shorts and we are buying long tights, but since we’ve started with a CORE collection, meaning it’s all about basics, all of our customers are looking for these kinds of styles.”
Manola will be incorporating more colors and many new styles for their next line. Investing in technology for materials and diving into more of a green brand, “we are still learning, but for us sustainability is what we believe in,” states the designer. “I see Manola with a big range of products, providing everything to every type of women.” Hostalet shows great appreciation for all of the support over the years. “I put a lot of effort and love in everything I do, I do it from my heart,” shares the designer-influencer. “It feels amazing when you build a beautiful community who shares the same values. I just want to say thank you for always supporting me and now Manola, which is an extension of me and my world.”
“I put a lot of effort and love in everything I do, I do it from my heart.”