Celebrating 40 years of Guillermina Baeza with Belén Larruy, director of our Master's in Fashion Design
Sílvia Viudas, General Director of LCI Barcelona; Estel Vilaseca, Head of Fashion; and Mariele Violano, PR and Event Manager, attended the brand's anniversary celebration.
Last week, the brand Guillermina Baeza brought together friends, press, and collaborators at the iconic courtyard of restaurant Gala in Barcelona to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The connection between the brand and our School has a name: Belén Larruy, daughter of the founder and current Creative Director of the brand, who also directs our Master's in Fashion Design.
Representing LCI Barcelona at the event were General Director Sílvia Viudas, Head of Fashion Estel Vilaseca, and PR and Event Manager Mariele Violano, who wanted to be by Belén's side on such a meaningful occasion for the brand that changed the way swimwear is understood in Spain.
Guillermina Baeza was born in Barcelona in the early eighties around an idea that was far from obvious at the time: that a swimsuit could be real fashion. The brand was among the first to bring swimwear to the runway, to build collections rather than sample ranges, and to invest in a coherent brand image — with iconic campaigns shot by Manuel Outumuro in urban settings from Tokyo to New York. In 1993, long before Victoria's Secret made the image global, its models were already walking in angel wings.
Belén Larruy has led the brand creatively for two decades and makes no secret of what this anniversary means: "The most important thing is pride — pride as a daughter, pride in the journey, pride that she taught me how to do things: perseverance, the fight, never losing your values." Alongside that comes an awareness of the responsibility of carrying it forward: holding the position the brand has earned, innovating every year, and continuing to manufacture entirely in the country. "I am proud to have maintained 100% manufacturing in Spain, zero kilometers," she says.
The brunch also served to announce that the brand's 40th anniversary will be marked with a dedicated exhibition at the Museo de Artes Decorativas in Madrid in March 2027.
From LCI Barcelona, we send our warmest congratulations to the entire Guillermina Baeza family, and especially to Belén Larruy, on this very special anniversary. Here's to many more!