In February 2020, as she was nearing the end of her fourth and final year of the Bachelor's Degree in Advertising and Public Relations at UIC Barcelona, Victoria Dios from Barcelona submitted her business project to Reimagine Textile, the textile business innovation programme endorsed by Mataró Town Council, Tecnocampus and Eurecat. She had spent months perfecting The Castle, a platform connecting fashion and influencer marketing that aims to become a melting pot for new digital talent and creatives. “My project was built on three main ingredients: innovation, sustainability and technology”, explained the former student, who says she felt “a huge sense of satisfaction” when her business plan was selected. She was given a chance to receive guidance from some of the sector’s expert consultants and mentors who helped nurture her project into the company it is today.

But in order to understand how a fourth-year student managed to prepare such a consolidated business project, we need journey back a few years.  “I have always been fascinated by fashion, everything it represents, the storytelling behind the clothes, designers’ collections and the creatives behind the campaigns” explained the Barcelona-born entrepreneur, who had known since secondary school that she wanted to work in fashion, public relations and communication.  “When I started the bachelor’s degree at UIC Barcelona, I already knew what I wanted to do, but studying Advertising and Public Relations has helped me apply what I have learned to the fashion industry”, she added.  In fact, all the work placements undertaken by the Faculty’s former student were related to this sector.

Today, The Castle is already on its way to debuting its first “Co-llection” of fashion and products that the new designer will create for her platform. What’s more, Dios is considering expanding the catalogue of digital talent, increasing the number of collaborations and starting to work with suppliers from Barcelona and the surrounding area.  In order to do so, “a bigger team is fundamental”, she insisted. As such, the alumnus is in constant search of funding, having received the news just a few weeks ago that the Government of Catalonia are awarding her a subsidy that supports young freelancers signed up to the GarantíaJuvenilprogramme.

A new opportunity for the fashion industry

It is clear that the pandemic has shaken an industry in need of reinvention to its core.  COVID-19 has forced the sector to rethink how it produces, reuses and consumes fashion, but there is still a long way to go.  For this young entrepreneur, the sector must aspire to become an “influential model that benefits society at large”. She believes it is possible to "put corporate innovation into action and introduce social inclusion and diversity initiatives to both organisations and campaigns”. The alumnus is decisive: “Only when steps are taken in this direction will we begin to synchronise our actions with what the world is asking of us”.

In a professional sense, the pandemic has forced Victoria Dios to delay her business plan as public health restrictions affected negotiations and communication with her textile suppliers.  The young business woman has also seen change on a personal level. “I’m trying to live more in the present and not think too much about the future. I’m happy because I love my job and I want to get my project off the ground”, she said, attributing her success and the lessons she has learned to something that’s as easy as it is complicated: discovering who you are. 

“When you discover who you are and you find what you’re passionate about, you end up finding yourself professionally”, she explained.  “Honing your skills is a hugely enriching process when you have spent so long looking for what really makes you happy” added Dios, who says that when she was younger, she would save the labels and brand logos from clothes and perfume bottles and let her imagination run wild in her numerous notebooks and diaries.  “Once you find what really gets your creative juices flowing, you’ve just got to apply it and try and be the best you can be”, she concluded.