She’s the queen of sneakers, nail art and anything that has to do with women’s urban fashion, an authentic guru of social media and a magnificent art director for her own project. Of course we’re talking about Marina Jiménez, better know as the woman behind Miss Kleckley.
Our friend has just taken another step in her budding entrepreneurial career by opening a physical space in her adopted city, Barcelona, stocked with the best and most exclusive brands of streetwear. With the support of the artist and graphic designer Rul Bayo, Marina has been able to not only position herself as a powerful brand with a recognizable line and personality. Just take a look at her Facebook page or follow her on Instagram, to enjoy her esthetic taste and her wonderful videos and you’ll see that Miss Kleckley is stronger than ever before.
Don’t miss out on the interview she gave us recently at So Catchy! Where Fashion Begins and, of course be sure to stop by Calle Robí, 26 on your next visit to Barcelona.
So Catchy!: Marina, before we start I just want to say congratulations on taking this step. You’ve been a consummate entrepreneur and we’re interested to know where you got the idea to open up a physical store.
Miss Kleckley: Thanks, So Catchy!. As with everything since we started working on the Blog, it came to us naturally. We went from being a Blog to working in e-commerce and then we decided to try out a physical space, with a shop in the center of Barcelona. Creating a physical space for the Miss Kleckley Store was helped along by Lazy Oaf, one of our favorite brands from the UK. Our corner was very close to another Lazy Oaf point of sale so we set out to find our own perfect space.
SC!: What can you tell us about the first days in your shop on calle Robí, 26?
MK: The space on C/ Robí 26, is very welcoming, in fact you could consider it to be almost like a little home. The door is done in the London style, as are many of the brands we stock. Neon lights on the sign and in the interior also catch your eye.
Despite being in Gràcia, a neighborhood that isn’t100% the target audience for Miss Kleckley, the girls who come in seem to love the store, which makes our work more gratifying. On the other hand, we can’t deny that until now, we’ve had more men come in for the unisex lines than women.
This has made us rethink are strategy a little bit for the future.
SC!: We especially loved the artisanal work, the neon lights and, above all, the video that you made on how it all came together. Your brand image and the marketing behind your company are impeccable. Could you tell us a bit about your opinion of and how you understand the communication behind the Miss Kleckley project?
MK: Thanks! Miss Kleckley is a very personal project that, even though its public, we always try to grow according to our values; we want it to be fun and relevant for us. I’m a perfectionist, I must admit, but nothing that is happening in MK now would have been possible without Rul Bayo. As a designer and creative force, he’s capable of materializing anything we can think of.
With the neon lights, we were lucky to meet Leo, who was the artisan. We love working hand-in-hand with all kinds of creative processes; it may be a significant investment of our time but its what makes us ‘artists’ feel complete.
SC!: What do you think of the online trend? How are you going to join it with retail sales?
MK: An online presence is the first thing you need, but at Miss Kleckley we’ve done things differently. Normally, you have a physical shop, then online and finally you write a Blog, right? You’ve got to be intelligent about how you use your online powers, or at least objective. If you have a clear strategy, everything else will come together by itself. Just be transparent, natural and spend a little on ads.
We’ve been lucky because with our concept. Thanks to the Blog we’ve spent years developing our ideas, generating confidence and that translates to our physical space.
As for uniting the two, I love that question. This is where we invest more time yet you are less likely to notice. We’re using Magento now, people in the know will recognize it, for online stores like ours there are a lot of problems with the usability. Updating the retail space with the online space is an odyssey in and of itself, but if you count the stands at Sneaker Fairs, more so. We’ll be changing to Shopify soon.
SC!: What can we find in the Miss Kleckley Store in Barcelona?
MK: Definitely more than you can find online, we still have to update some of our products. We’re betting on a concept that is difficult to find in Spain, with women’s brands, mainly from the UK, like Lazy Oaf, The White Pepper, Skinnydip of London, Models Own, or others that we truly believe in because of the way they work in other countries, like BABY-G or Ellesse. We’re also working with national designers, like Krizia Robustella and Ahída Agirre… and, of course, our own brand, Kleckley.
SC!: What are you working on now?
MK: Well, we’ve just opened our store but we’re already planning new things. You can’t ever stop working. We’ll probably increase our Unisex line, men seem to be fans of our concept, which we love, so we’ll think about things for them along the same lines as we’ve been working till now, playing with ambiguity in our clothes.
And, sooner or later, Miss Kleckley Store should also have sneakers, right? I’ve been going over some different things.
SC!: What does Barcelona mean to Miss Kleckley? And to Marina Jiménez?
MK: For Miss Kleckley, Barcelona is about the connection with people who share common values. The viability of launching new creations and finding people who understand them creates a sort of bi-directional communication. This is where Miss Kleckley is settled and finds constant inspiration.
For Marina Jiménez, it’s a way of understanding life. It isn’t Berlin or London, I know, but despite everything that is happening now, when I set it aside, I feel free in Barcelona. There’s something in people that inspires naturalness and you can’t find that in other cities. I love it.
SC!: And before we go, what are you expecting from 2016?
MK: What I ask for every year, to be happy.
Credits
Inauguration Photos: Black n Blondie
Editorial Photos: Jaime Sánchez
Translation and Layout by Michael Padilla
