Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada brings her retrospective exhibition to Uruguay: posters, billboards, and costumes from the Ballet del Sodre

“Every exhibition I've done, and I've done thousands, is completely different,” says Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada a few days before many of her creations are installed at the Torres García Museum, where they will remain for three months. This is the so-called Retrospective Exhibition: 40 Years, which has already toured the world's leading museums and will be in Montevideo from December 20 to March 22. “People love to think that you do everything,” says the Spanish designer with her “brutal honesty” when Domingo asks her what we are going to see. “The foundation has about 4,500 outfits, so all the exhibitions are different, and I would be lying if I told you that I choose them,” she says of the responsibility that generally falls to her cousin, who runs the Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada Foundation, the organizer of the exhibition. Many of Ruiz de la Prada's most iconic costumes will be on display, as well as advertising posters created for renowned international brands and posters from outstanding film festivals around the world. And as a Uruguayan touch, there will be 10 costumes from the ballet Sleeping Beauty that the designer created especially for the Ballet Nacional del Sodre—which is supporting the exhibition—for its 2018 performance, which was repeated in 2023. From that time, she particularly remembers the bond she established with the then director of the ballet, the Basque Igor Yebra. “I grew very fond of her,” she says, and immediately mentions another key person in her return to Uruguay, now with this exhibition: fashion producer María Inés Rodríguez. “She really is an extraordinary friend, and she manages to achieve incredible things all on her own,” she says of a process that began almost a year ago and was not without its obstacles due to local bureaucracy. “You have no idea how much work it took,” she confesses. She also appreciates the fact that she was able to do it at the Torres García Museum because she has always been a great admirer of the Uruguayan painter. “He is one of my favorite Latin American painters,” she says, recalling that the last time she presented an event in our country was at the Plaza de Toros in Colonia, wearing a dress that replicated the national flag. “It was very beautiful,” she notes. Another of her memories of Uruguay has to do with President José Mujica, whom she visited at his farm. “I was impressed by the humility with which he lived. His death made me very sad because I think he is a great figure in Latin America,” says the woman who boasts of having many Uruguayan friends, among whom she mentions Carlitos Páez. It is worth noting that the exhibition Retrospective: 40 Years has been declared of interest by the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Municipality of Montevideo, and has the support of the Spanish Embassy. Agatha, born in Madrid in 1960, wanted to be a painter, perhaps influenced by her father, a renowned architect. “He was a collector of contemporary art, so it's a world I knew very well from a very young age. That's where my love of visiting museums and exhibitions comes from,” she says. She studied at the School of Fashion Arts and Techniques in Barcelona, and at the age of 20 she began as an apprentice to fashion designer Pepe Rubio. Almost immediately, she began presenting her own creations and ended up opening her first store. She did not come from just any family, but was the owner of the titles of Marquise of Castelldoríus and Baroness of Santa Pau. She even went to court to fight for them when her mother died because they had been passed on to an uncle in the succession, but she didn't use them in the end. “The truth is that titles aren't used, it's more that people use them,” she reflects, quickly adding that there is a fear or embarrassment about using them. “They don't know if they're going to put their foot in it because they're not used to it,” she explains, acknowledging that the monarchy is one of her taboo subjects. On the other hand, she has no problem speaking her mind about fashion, which she describes as “too mythomaniacal.” “Mythomania is a topic that is rarely discussed and is very dangerous,” she says, linking the issue to people's obsession with celebrities. That's because it has been said that Miley Cyrus is her muse. “I adore her, but I've done more important things than dress her,” she says. “I love selling clothes and I'm thrilled that everyone wears them, not just celebrities,” she says. Ágatha is known for never—or very rarely—using black in her collections. She doesn't like to wear it either, except when absolutely necessary. “I've only made two black outfits: one with a piano and the one I wore to King Juan Carlos' mother's funeral,” she recalls. She has been a woman who spends her time traveling for a long time, considering that she does about 74 fashion shows a year all over the world. And that's despite the fact that she hates airplanes. “When you love your job, you put up with it, right?” she says with her typical humor. "I really can't think of what you could like about flying, not even in a private plane. I find boats more romantic,“ she says, mentioning Buquebus more than once in her conversation with Domingo. Arriving by boat in Montevideo or Buenos Aires is something that makes her think of the 19th century. ”It's very beautiful," she says. She was in a relationship for 30 years with journalist Pedro J. Ramírez—founder of the newspapers El Mundo and El Español—whom she married and had two children with, Tristán and Cósima, now in their thirties. "They're at that age where what excites them most is not being with their mother. I understand because I was the same at their age. Besides, I don't understand people's obsession with being with their families. I like being with my friends; spending all day with my family is very stifling,“ she admits. That's why she enjoys being in Madrid so much, where she has her home and many friends. ”Besides, right now it's becoming a bit like the capital of Latin America. There are Argentinians, Colombians, Mexicans, Venezuelans... not so many Uruguayans. In my neighborhood, you walk down the street and you can't speak anything but Latin American Spanish. Personally, I'm very happy about that. Since I go there, I'm really excited that they come here,“ she admits. She says she loves walking her dogs and reading. ”Right now I'm reading a book that's a brick, and I'm crazy about it. It's the history of Bertrand Russell's philosophy, which I love, but this book is huge. It's in English, I'm on page 200 and there are 900. But I have this silly habit of not leaving books half-read,“ she admits. Agatha doesn't think about retirement because she says she does what she loves. ”It would be absurd for me to stop doing what I like, wouldn't it?" she argues. And among all the things she likes so much, is there anything left to do? “The thing is, I like a thousand things,” is her quick response. She thinks a little more and then reveals something full of expectation: “Maybe I'm working on a project with Igor (Yebra) to do in Montevideo... it's something we might do. I'd love to. Hopefully it will happen, it would be fantastic,” she concludes, as if inviting us not to lose track of her.