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Bio

In 2012 Montes graduated with honors degree at fashion design ArtEZ institute of the arts Arnhem. The brand Montes was founded with the idea of designing textiles in parallel to fashion. Creating fiberglass materials at his studio resulted into experimental haute couture. Collection Illuminosa debuted at Amsterdam Fashion Week 2014. With support from Creative Industries Fund NL Montes initiated research and development projects. The goal was to learn more about industrial textile producing machines. Projects Velero and Tormenta were developed in collaboration with TextielLab Tilburg. Creating woven fabrics that have a luxurious appeal, mainly by using upcycled ocean clean up materials. In 2018 Tormenta was selected for category fashion at the 33rd Villa Noailles Hyères festival international. The collection was based on the fishing-line that his grandfather used working as fisherman in the south of Spain. The idea of creating filaments became evident and motivated Montes to found Adaptive Skins, a textile architecture studio. This direction led towards international partnerships via EU Horizon and COSME tech hubs. Interdisciplinary teams produced sustainable bio-plastic yarns and zero waste 3D knitted patterns. Initial prototypes have been presented at the Fashion Scout Ones2Watch showcase in London. In 2022 project Marinero was awarded BIAAF grand prize, category A – fashion @ the 8th edition of Bilbao international art and fashion.

Jef Montes {-} ”My signature as a designer is in developing the material. Shapes are amplified by the materials we use throughout the design process. That’s why it’s so important for me as a designer to create my own materials. I dream about shapes and textures. The co-creation of yarns and textiles helps me to visualize those dreams into fashion designs. I devise this ongoing development in parallel based on my technical knowledge and experimental imagination. To design a Montes garment is like creating a sculpture.”

Email Studio Adaptive Skins: adaptiveskins@jefmontes.com