TOUS marks 100th anniversary with several high-profile activities
As told by the Tous family, the documentary, OSO, revisits the history of the company, features its 100 years of existence and explores its four successive generations and international outreach
TOUS, the leading Spanish jewelry brand in the affordable luxury segment, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with several high-profile activities including the release of a special documentary and an artistic project.
The documentary,OSO, debuted at the San Sebastián International Film Festival on September 25. OSO narrates the history of TOUS from its beginning, when Salvador Tous’ father began working as a watchmaker’s apprentice, to the present. One hundred years of existence is the starting point for this non-fiction feature film, produced by Globomedia (The Mediapro Studio) for UM Studios.
“Making OSO has been a fascinating journey through the history of what can already be considered a pop icon. And the great privilege has been to be able to do it hand in hand with its own protagonists, the Tous family, whose fresh, sincere and direct story is the soul of the film,” comments the director of the documentary, Amanda Sans Pantling.
The 90-minute documentary highlights the brand’s accomplishments, controversies and its visionary nature through the milestones that have marked the company’s success: Its jewelry tradition, the debut of the “jewelry store for everyone” and the brand’s big boom in the 1990s, when it was ahead of its time in cooperating with the era’s most famous “faces”. The film also explores its four successive generations and its international outreach, represented by over 700 stores in 54 countries.
The present mixes with the past in a film narrative focused primarily on the family. A trip to Japan to understand the Kawaii style is the basis for the story, which then incorporates intimate family moments, work meetings, a charity gala in Mexico and the search for the most precious gemstones in India. The film features over twenty testimonials from individuals who have a special connection to the family or the company and representatives from the worlds of art, design, media and fashion. These interviews, together with many never-before-seen images from the family archives, complete the journey—in this case, a metaphorical one—by offering an in-depth analysis of a brand and its iconic bear that revolutionized the consumption of jewelry.
“We’re very excited about this project. It’s a tribute to our mother and the company she created together with our father. For the first time, we go behind the scenes at TOUS, exposing all the ups and downs in its history that we lived through, are experiencing now and will fight for in the future. We, and the more than 4,000 people who work for the brand, are proud to be represented in a such a special, very personal project,” says Rosa Tous, Corporate Vice President, TOUS.
Artistic Project
TOUS has commissioned young artists from all over the world and from the disciplines of graphic design, illustration, painting and animation to reinterpret its iconic bear through the prism of their personal creative styles.
TOUS has also collaborated with three prestigious international schools of Art, Design and Creation on the same project: London College of Fashion (London), Elisava (Barcelona) e Istituto Europeo di Design (Madrid). A maximum of 30 projects have been selected from each school. The most outstanding one from each school will be awarded with an academic scholarship and an invitation to Design Weekend: an experiential three-day trip to a European city where they can be around spaces and activities related to the design. The judges have also selected an absolute winner among the three schools, who will be awarded a scholarship at TOUS. Each of the ten pieces made by the acclaimed artists will be exhibited in a TOUS store in Spain, Mexico, USA, Portugal and Russia, both in the window display and in-store. In addition, a mural of the 100 bears created by the students from the three schools will also be in the window display at all the other stores in those countries. All of the artwork will be published on the TOUS website and social media, giving the project as much international visibility as possible.
“The idea of reinterpreting our iconic bear with the participation of young international designers allows us to creatively transmit and reinforce the values of the brand (tender, fun and young spirited) in this year of celebration for TOUS. To do so, we have had artists from different disciplines that have made this project into something very special, the result of which we are excited to share with all our customers,” adds Marta Tous, Artistic Director, TOUS.
