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In the head-spinning age of multistep skin-care routines and mic-drop makeup launches, The One is a space for minimalists to sound off on the single beauty product that’s found a longtime spot in their carefully curated routines.
Though the Caracas- and Madrid-raised Valerie Name Bolaño initially moved to New York City nearly a decade ago to lend her exacting eye to designing apartments, the Savannah College of Art and Design graduate has since traded interiors for outerwear with Spolia, a new made-to-order collection crafted from upcycled upholstery fabrics. “I always admired the weaves on these textiles, which were being discarded after a project was done,” recalls Bolaño. “I saw an opportunity to take them and give them a new life.” Mission accomplished: Since debuting just over a year ago, her one-of-a-kind creations have found fans in the likes of Charlotte Rampling and Dada Daily’s Claire Olshan; for her own part, Bolaño has been gravitating toward a pleated silk dress shirt so intricate that little other adornment is required—especially above the neck.
“The older I get, the more I like myself when I’m not wearing much makeup,” Bolaño notes. In fact, she’s always been partial to a simplified skin-care routine due, in large part, to her grandmother, who was known for concocting her own natural face masks. Still, her family matriarch did pass down one product recommendation, which remains in Bolaño’s arsenal to this day: “She used to have a never-ending supply of Agua de Colonia body lotion in her bathroom,” Bolaño says. Now when she returns home, she stocks up on various sizes of the aloe-vera-based heritage product—created by Alvarez Gómez, one of the oldest perfumeries in Spain—as much for its nostalgic, Mediterranean lemon-inflected scent as for its lightweight, hydrating formula. Perhaps best of all, she adds, it gives her façade an exacting shine—not unlike Spolia’s signature lampas blazers and striped silk-taffeta boleros.
Below, shop Valerie Name Bolaño’s The One.
