No less than a Spanish king prompted its development in the early 1900s, and guests at Madrid's historic Palace Hotel over the decades have ranged from Albert Einstein and Ava Gardner to Mikhail Gorbachev. Long a gathering spot for the city's elites, the property, which recently underwent a two-year €100 million refurbishment and opened as a Luxury Collection hotel, is marking this next phase in its history with the introduction of various experiential initiatives, including one that that will give guests an insider look at Spain's burgeoning fashion scene. "The Palace has always been closely connected to the cultural life of the city, and fashion is another type of culture and art that we wanted to highlight," says Paloma Garcia, a marketing executive with the hotel.
Travelers today, of course, want authenticity, and luxury travelers want, well, luxurious authenticity, and the Palace's fashion program, which the hotel describes as a slow-fashion experience, promises to offer both. The tours, developed by ACME (Asociación Creadores de Moda de España), the Spanish fashion designer association, focus on labels and ateliers that can't be found worldwide, says Pepa Bueno, who is director of the group and a vice-president with FAME (the Spanish Fashion Academy Foundation).
While the happenings in fashion capitals like New York, Milan, Paris and London are lavishly documented and the cities are well established as prime shopping destinations, many style-savvy travelers have yet to add Madrid to their must-scout list. "They may not know that Spanish fashion represents a distinctive creative identity," says Bueno who describes a local aesthetic that blends innovation and artisanal craft, where contemporary pieces are produced with the values of slow fashion. "What makes [Spanish fashion] remarkable is this living dialogue between heritage and modernity, a balance that very few countries have preserved," she notes. "Spanish designers continue to work closely with artisans in textiles, jewelry and leather, trades that have disappeared in much of Europe yet remain vital here." Another bonus she says is the value: "Visitors will find luxury-level standards of design and execution at prices far more accessible than in other international markets."
The ateliers on the itineraries offer a diverse range of styles and "insider" experiences. You can visit the sewing workshop at Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada, a designer known for her use of bold colors and geometric shapes (and whose clients include Miley Cyrus), to see where the most memorable ready-to-wear pieces are produced. At Devota & Lomba, a go-to for innovative stealth-wealth-style, the design team can show how a garment transforms from initial model to completed garment, and demonstrate how a clothing pattern is developed. Juan Vidal, whose clothes are worn by Queen Letizia as well as Lady Gaga and Kendall Jenner, offers romantic, sensual clothing lauded for its exceptional detail. Part of the Vidal experience is interactive, so when visiting the studio, it’s possible to “try on” collection pieces online, and hear about possibilities for customization.
A tour of the workshop at Ana Locking, a designer who has received many industry awards, will show how her collection comes together and prototypes are made. Ernesto Naranjo’s team takes visitors through his creative process and demonstrates how the savoir faire of specialized artisans in Southern Spain are integral to his work. At Moises Nieto, you can try on pieces from the latest fashion show.
While ACME created the Rutas por la Moda de Autor Española en Madrid (fashion tours) as a guide for visitors who want to become more familiar with Spanish fashion, the experiences it develops for the Palace are customized -- a fashion expert from the ACME team works with each guest to create the most suitable itinerary and serves as host, translator and stylist when visiting the ateliers."This ensures a unique experience every time," says Bueno.
The Palace will be offering the fashion tours year-round, but in February and September when Madrid holds its Fashion Weeks, the hotel can also, through ACME, arrange for special invitations to the shows, says Bueno.
In addition to the tours, the Palace introduces another fashion initiative with a unique designer collaboration. Next month, the hotel will debut a small collection (four pieces) created by the buzzy design atelier, Palomo Spain, known for its genderless designs; it is also a label that appeared in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "Camp: Notes on Fashion" exhibit. When discussing the choice of designer, the Palace's Paloma Gracia says that the hotel considered Palomo "to be a disruptive brand, very modern, of high quality. Designers, artists, painters and writers have always felt at home at El Palace. It has always been a very modern hotel despite its 113-year history, and it will continue to support this type of collaboration with artists."
For more fashion while you stay in Madrid, head to the Museo de Traje (costume museum), a site with more than 30,000 pieces of clothing from the soxteenth century to the present, with works by Spanish greats like Balenciaga, Mariano Fortuny, Paco Rabanne and many others.
In addition to the fashion experiences, the Palace Hotel offers a number of other cultural excursions, including a visit to the Warhol and Pollock exhibition at the nearby Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (through January 25, 2026); an early-access tour of this museum before it opens to the public; opera performances with a private backstage visit; and vermouth tastings with samplings of the fortified wine from Madrid and the Catalan and Andalusia regions.