New Rock shapes up its total look with ready-to-wear

The Spanish footwear brand has signed designer José Matteos as creative director for its new clothing line.

The origins of New Rock date back to 1929, but it was not until 1978 when this family of shoe crafters based in Yecla (Murcia) decided to use their expertise to launch a footwear line aimed at a new market niche: the rockers and headbangers of the day. Now led by the family’s third generation, New Rock has evolved with the ‘metalhead scene’, catering like nobody else for the aesthetic needs of alternative subcultures. From rockabillies to cybergoths, the brand has a broad client base and its products have featured in films like “Matrix”, “X-Men”, “The Fast and the Furious” and Spanish film “The Witches of Zugarramurdi”. It exports more than 90% of output and has more than 1,500 points of sale all over the world, as well as showrooms in Tokyo, Las Vegas, Moscow, Hong Kong…

Now, New Rock has taken another step in its global expansion, with the launch of a new line in ready-to-wear. It hopes that the new collection will help boost its multi-brand sales network and lead to double-digit growth in turnover, and is already getting ready to take part in the next London Fashion Week.

The designer behind the new collection, presented on November 2 at the New Rock head office in Murcia, is Galicia’s José Matteos, a regular at the OFF section of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid. Over the last year, Matteos has dived deep into the brand’s identity to develop a collection that is unmistakeably New Rock and in keeping with its emphatic look. Zips, spikes, skulls, chains and, of course its iconic planet logo decorate this “Black Metal” collection. Materials like new-age vinyl, leather and tulle contrast with flowing silk and organic cotton to create silhouettes in total black, designed with careful craftsmanship, contrasted with origami-style volumes. New Rock ready-to-wear, which in its first phase will go on sale in exclusive limited series, plans to extend its colour palette and introduce a denim line.

The New Rock Fashion Weekend saw presentation of its updated online customisation service, available from the brand’s e-shop, which offers infinite potential to personalise soles, leather and detail for all models of its shoes.