In the last of our series of profiles on fashion designers from the Spanish-speaking world we look at Adolfo Dominguez, or Adolfo 
Domínguez Fernández to use the Spanish naming custom where, if you remember, Dominguez is the paternal surname and Fernández the maternal one.
Dominguez was born in May 1950 in the city of Ourense, in the Galicia region of Northern Spain. His father ran a fashion boutique in the city which the young Adolfo took over in the early 1970s and where he first started to produce his own designs. Fast forward a decade and Dominguez was ready to take his urban designs further afield. He showed his collection in Madrid in 1981 and went on to open his own store there and subsequently to build a successful chain of stores across Spain and the world. His first collection was launched under the tagline “La arruga es bella” meaning “Creases are beautiful”, a fitting description for his tailored designs from natural fabrics in loose-fitting styles.
Dominguez is as much known for his marketing strategy as for his clothing range. He made the early decision not to take his range into multi-brand retailers, instead setting up his own sophisticated distribution system to deliver his designs straight to the buyers via his own stores, franchises and more recently online. In 1997, in the ultimate mark of success for any business, Dominguez’ company was floated on the Stock Exchange.
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