Mothers and daughters

"Aren't you taking your boots?" asks the mother.

-No, mom. They are a little wide on me, answers the daughter.

"Wouldn't there be a way to ask for a smaller number?" asks the mother.

"If I were to replace the game, yes, but they require a minimum of eight pairs for a replacement and right now it is not feasible," I explain.

-Don't worry. It was in case you had a warehouse or something like that, my mother reassures me.

"Look, honey," he adds, "the brand of bags you like so much." Can you show me the one in the corner, the one on top?

-Clear-

I lower her bag. The daughter sees a similar but smaller model on the rack.

"I like this size better," he confesses.

"I'm giving it to you," says the mother.

-No, mom! Why? - the daughter is indignant.

"For your birthday," the mother justifies.

"It's in December!" exclaims the daughter.

-Come on! Then I never know what to give you, the mother insists.

They negotiate quietly and I walk away. I don't want to bother you. Soon, the mother asks me satisfied: “Can you play this one for me, please?” She takes out her wallet and her daughter scolds her a little more. “Mom, you are always the same. “I don’t go out shopping with you anymore.”

"Come on, shut up," says the mother affectionately.

At this point, I intervene. “Let yourself be pampered, woman. That's the good thing about shopping with your mother, she always entertains you. My mother does it with me and I do it with my daughter,” I admit.

-Yes, when I didn't work and I was younger, I abused more. But now I earn a living and you don't have to buy me anything," says the daughter.

-And what does it mean for your mother to give you a gift? It's not a question of money, it's a question of affection, I tell him.

"That's true," he admits.

Mothers and daughters. What a beautiful relationship. The old Iriarte is a mother and daughter business. Vane and me with mom. Always. And Lu, from time to time. More like visiting or collaborating on a photo shoot. We work together, we shop together, we debate, we argue, we encourage each other, we hug each other, we get angry, we throw flowers at each other or we throw each other in each other's faces. Whatever fits. And when it closes, many times, the three of us (or four of us) still go to have a little wine around the neighborhood.

The relationship between a mother and a daughter is a strong relationship. Often complicit, difficult at other times, tender, empathetic or, who knows, highly competitive. It is a unique, rooted, lifelong relationship that marks you and defines your character. I really love. In the store we have many mother and daughter clients and it is a delight to witness their relationship. How they know each other, how they buy, how they are similar or how much they are different.

I had been wanting to give visibility to that beautiful bond for a long time. More than a year ago it occurred to me to do a photo session with a group of seven or eight pairs of mothers and daughters of different ages. The idea was to invite them all to have a snack together, bring up a couple of cool conversation topics, the kind that interest us women, and take note of what each other thought. And at the end, when everyone was integrated and relaxed, take photos of each family group with clothes from the store that they had chosen themselves, with which they were themselves and felt comfortable. Complicit photos that capture a look, a gesture or a smile. Images that conveyed their mother-child relationship. And write. Write about that women's meeting. Tell what interests them, how they see life, what clothes they feel comfortable in, what they feel, what interests them, what their coexistence is like. That text and those photos would star in a campaign titled Mothers and Daughters that I planned to make public on Mother's Day. But Mother's Day caught us all confined and scared to death and the pandemic ruined my initial intention.

Now I return to my project but with variations. Every month, from October to May, we will publish a photo with a mother and daughter on social networks (Facebook and Instagram). I will tell you about them, how I met them, what unites them so much. And in May I will collect all those images with their stories and put them together for Mother's Day. Since we cannot have large social gatherings, we will make them virtual. That day, I will also fill the windows of those snapshots with complicit moments from each other.

El otro día, por ejemplo, una madre de mi edad, más o menos (50 años), me contaba que este verano estableció un bonito pacto con su hija adolescente. Durante dos horas al día se iban a tomar algo o a dar un paseo y durante ese tiempo dejaban de ser madre e hija para ser amigas. Creaban así un espacio para hablar de cualquier cosa, sin límites, sin vergüenzas, con total confianza. La hija preguntó a la madre que cómo había conocido a su padre y le contó a su vez su confidencias de amores. La madre abrió su caja de secretos y dio la opción a su hija de tratarla desde la igualdad y sin protección. Pasadas esas dos horas, ambas retomaban su roles habituales. Volvían a ser una madre y una hija y lo que allí se hubiera hablado quedaba silenciado. «Fue un verano fantástico. Atesoro esos momentos como verdaderas joyas», me confesó la madre.

A beautiful story, right? You could count so many...

Cruz (the mother) and Andrea (the daughter) are my first protagonists. Two women whom I adore, because they endear themselves to each other, and the young woman's work circumstances have caused them to live many kilometers apart. Andrea just became a mother herself, a year ago, and Cruz can't wait to get on a plane to enjoy Alejandra, her granddaughter. They see each other much less than they would like, but they call each other every day, watch each other via video conference, and take care of each other from a distance. I took advantage of Andrea's visit to Oviedo to do the session and despite being embarrassed, she agreed without delay. That's how fabulous it is. She even got the place: the closed terrace of La Palmera del Indiano, the restaurant of the Barceló Hotel, where she worked. A beautiful place that suits them.

Conocí a Cruz hace años, cuando vino a preguntar por el alquiler del local de la calle Magdalena, 14. Ya me gustó en el primer encuentro. Alquiló el bajo y abrió By Capella, una herboristería, tienda de alimentos ecológicos y de regalos. Desde entonces soy su clienta y amiga. Cruz es una mujer dulce, generosa, de sonrisa fácil y corazón enorme. Me hablaba de su única hija, de lo que la añoraba cuando vivía en Cuba, donde trabajaba como subdirectora de un hotel. Cuando podía, llenaba varias maletas de cosas inverosímiles y atravesaba el Atlántico para robarle abrazos, arrumacos y cariño suficientes para tirar sin ella durante otra buena temporada. Entretanto, Andrea se enamoró de Pavel, se casó y regresó a España con una oferta de empleo. Desde entonces, ha deambulado por la geografía nacional junto a su marido (que he captado como #chicochic, por cierto) y su madre ha volado una y otra vez a su encuentro. Así lo imponen los tiempos ahora, la estabilidad laboral determina el domicilio y a las madres les toca viajar por amor. Este año vivieron el Día de la Madre la una en Mallorca, en un nuevo hotel, y la otra en Oviedo. Confinadas, como todo el mundo, y separadas, como la mayoría. Andrea me contactó desde las Baleares para agasajar a Cruz a regalos. «Un día es un día», me dijo. Yo preparé los obsequios con esmero y di la sorpresa como si para mi madre fuera, con el mismo cariño. Era la emisaria, nada más y nada menos, que de esa relación hermosa y desgarradora a veces de lo que duele la distancia y la falta de tacto, de miradas y de piel.

Cruz and Andrea look alike. They laugh the same and feel like accomplices and friends. Alejandra just turned one year old and adores her grandmother. Mother and daughter have managed to keep their love and affection intact despite the kilometers. There is no distance that separates a mother from her daughter. That's how special their relationship is.

For the session, Andrea chose a sweater from La Fée Maraboutée and Cruz another from Humility 1949. The scarves are from HC Complementos. Casual, informal and very comfortable, just the way they like it.