SHOP STORIES: ÄMMÄ
We are launching our 'Shop Stories' with Marta, the wonderful woman behind the ämmä project. Ämmä is a fantastic store in the old town of Bilbao, which was also one of the first to bet on Naguisa. From then until now, Marta has become a special person for us, a friend and a reference. Today she opens all the doors of her store to us.
N.: Who is Marta? How would you define yourself? (Or we can briefly explain something about you)
M.: I really like the word “equilibrist”. I feel very identified with it. I have always been accompanied by that feeling of searching for balance and beauty. My interest in aesthetics and art led me to the Faculty of Fine Arts and I graduated in Graphic Techniques, perhaps the specialty that gives the most importance to the creative process. I think that the enjoyment of the processes is something that I apply to everything in my life, from making lentils to changing a shop window. Composition, color and small details obsess me a little. Until I was 6 years old I spent a lot of time in a neighborhood hair salon surrounded by women's conversations. If you add to that the voyeuristic streak that came to me in my adolescence with fashion magazines, Fine Arts studies and the interest I have always had in how we show ourselves to the world, you have no choice but to dedicate yourself to offering great products to wonderful women who want to enjoy a shopping experience.
N.: When did you open ämmä ? Could you briefly tell us the story of your shop? What inspired you to take the step of setting up your own business?
M.: In 2001 I came back from one of those long trips and started working wrapping presents in a shop. That's where it all started. 2 years later I opened a small shop with my partner LULA, on a small street in the Old Town of Bilbao. The first few years were very exciting. We sold clothes and accessories from national and international brands and a few crazy things (we even sold toasters!) After 2 shops, 3 children and a few setbacks, I started again, with my most personal project, ämmä . ämmä comes from the archaic Finnish word meaning woman. It is also mother in Basque and the imperative of the verb to love. It is one of the words I have heard the most for 12 years and the one that melts my soul the most. It was a great success to find it to call my new space like that!
N.: A moment you will always remember.
M.: I have a lot of memories! Life goes by!! Being part of my clients' lives is a gift. Sometimes I remember with them that item of clothing they bought years ago and that they still wear, a dress for the same day as the wedding, a change of sandals because their sister had just bought the same ones, the grandmother, the mother and the granddaughter all together in the fitting room, the Christmas when the power went out and we worked by candlelight. There is another part of my job that I also enjoy a lot! Fashion fairs are my amusement parks. My travel companions say that my eyes light up as soon as I enter a fair. And meeting Claudia at the New York fair and chatting for a while about sandals, daughters and life in general is one of those cool moments to remember. There have also been hard times, like the day they call you from customs and tell you that to deliver the shipment of your new Korean brand you have to pay 1800 euros in duties and you burn your steak while holding the phone. Or that moment when you have to hide the way your boobs are dripping while you sell shoes and you hear your daughter crying from hunger at the door. Self-employed mothers have enough stories of conciliation for a successful Netflix series! And the pandemic of course. The day I went down from home to cover the shop windows with plastic, closing the blinds without knowing when I would return, the exciting return we experienced...
N.: What do you think our philosophy brings to ämmä ? And to your clients?
M.: I love the meaning of Naguisa, it's almost poetry! It brings emotion and authenticity. My clients value comfort and design. When they buy a product, they are aware of who they are buying that product from, they demand all the information and I feel calm and confident that what I am offering them is a quality product that they will enjoy.
N.: How would you define working with the Naguisa team? For you, what makes us different?
M.: I have seen the company evolve since its beginnings and it still maintains the same essence even when designing winter footwear! I really like inspirations related to nature and the fact that I am here telling you about these little things in a corner of Naguisa makes this project more human. Being connected and feeling that we belong, even though we are very small, to such a special project is great.
N.: Of our designs so far, which is your favorite?
M.: The Soc model was my first Naguisa. Since then, it has been with me every summer. Perhaps my love for the Mediterranean is to blame. This year I am going to choose it in lilac, as I need serenity after everything I have experienced. Enjoying a sunset in Menorca this summer, with my children fluttering around me wearing them, keeping that memory. That is what I want.
