Maya Hansen at UDIT: "I have a rebellious soul, I was never one for trends".

• The journalist Jesús María Montes-Fernández, Director of Flash Moda, interviews the fashion designer from Madrid at the Campus of Design and Creative Industries of the University.

The Auditorium of UDIT, University of Design, Innovation and Technology, has hosted an interesting meeting between the prestigious fashion designer Maya Hansen and the journalist and director of Flash Moda Jesús María Montes-Fernández. A personal interview, with a relaxed and friendly tone, which the students of the University were able to enjoy.

In it, Jesús María Montes-Fernández acted as a guide on a journey through Maya Hansen's professional career, reviewing her beginnings, her influences and her connection with the celebrity world, as well as her time on the catwalks and the new projects she has focused on in recent years.

The day Maya Hansen fell in love with the corset

The corset is Maya Hansen's emblematic and characteristic garment, but it hadn't always caught her attention. In fact, she herself confirmed during the meeting: "I didn't choose lingerie and corsetry when I studied". It was years later, on a trip to Germany, that this star garment won her over.

"I entered the world of festivals after working in a shop in Madrid and receiving a commission from the group Mago de Oz for the wardrobe of one of their tours. That's what led me to travel to Germany, where I tried on a real corset in a shop in Berlin, which completely captivated me," says the designer.

Now, corsets are more fashionable than ever. Unlike when Hansen started designing them in the early 2000s. A leap into the void that is a reflection of her character. "Ithink I have a point of contrasts, I have a rebellious soul. I was never one for following trends," says Maya Hansen, talking about her beginnings.

Advice from experience

With a career full of successes and goals achieved behind her, the designer is a role model for the students of the UDIT Fashion Department, who have been able to hear first-hand her vision and advice.

Reviewing her collaborations with celebrities and well-known faces, Maya Hansen pointed out that "it is important to count on them and try to select or choose well where and with whom you are. It changed us to be part of a press office, a showroom where they moved the garments for us. It is a fundamental investment to generate impact and brand image".

New projects and future challenges

After showing at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for several seasons, Maya Hansen has taken an important step forward in her career, focusing on her new facet as a teacher. As a result of the pandemic, the designer began to develop a series of workshops in which she shares her knowledge and her corsetry techniques with students of different levels, turning it into a very valuable transfer of knowledge, without leaving new paths to explore such as her great pending challenge "to work with fluid fabrics, because I have always worked with fabrics that exceed 200 grams per linear metre".