Renowned creative director and bridal designer for Pronovias, Manuel Mota, died on Tuesday aged 46. The Spanish designer headed the Barcelona-born label Pronovias for 23 years and is most acclaimed for having famously created Doutzen Kroes' bridal gown in 2010. President of the company, Alberto Palatchi, said: "The Pronovias family has lost one of its best loved members. "We are left with the memory of so many collections, so many catwalk shows, so much effort and talent. Manuel was a great partner, a great artist and above all, a great person. We will never forget him."
The legendary designer created three bridal collections a year – the Pronovias mainline, a luxury range for edgier and urban brides such as the Vega wedding dress, and a selection of altering cocktail dresses. Born on July 9, 1966 in Tarragona, Manuel Mota was a visionary and master of design from a young age. Precision, detail and sophistication were the key elements to the success of his collections, one of which he recently centred upon sartorial-savvy Kate Middleton as his inspiration in 2011. He also worked alongside supermodels Karolina Kurkova and Irina Shayk who both modelled on the catwalk during Barcelona bridal week, as well as Miranda Kerr and Bar Refaeli.
When asked in an interview where he finds inspiration for his many bridal collections and celebrity clientele, he responded: ''I am a fan of books, I treasure them. I love art books, photography, fashion, jewellery, etc. I constantly refer to them and I always find inspiration. I also like to visit antique shops and look for dresses from the 50s, 40s or early century and discover embellishments, embroideries that I can reproduce for the world today.''
