Atlantis celebrates its 30th anniversary
Atlantis celebrates its 30th anniversary
The Atlantis boutique is celebrating, as it has just turned 30 years old. Founded by Elisabeth Múgica, the shop –located in a centuries-old building in the center of San Sebastián, in front of the emblematic María Cristina Hotel– takes its name from a romantic idea, from a time when products were brought from overseas. That nostalgic air reminiscent of the Belle Époque is evident in the shop’s accessories, high-end bijou pieces, perfumes, and jewelry.
Elisabeth Múgica visits numerous European fairs annually, discovering emerging brands and enthusiastically selecting quality pieces with character that fit well with the concept that is Atlantis. Among its latest additions are baroque-style jewelry produced by hand in Florence, fantasy bijou pieces from the maison Gas Bijoux of Marseille, gloves with print designs produced in Grenoble by Brokante house, Parisian hats by Céline Robert, and brass and resin brooches from the “Nellie around the World” collection by Rosso Cuore, paying tribute to the famous journalist Nellie Bly.
Atlantis also works with large firms of prestige like Etro, Missoni, Christian Lacroix, Moschino, Emanuel Ungaro, Elie Saab, Leonard, as well as other select brands like Coolook and Anton Heunis of Spain and Pestelli, Mantero, and Pellini of Italy. This last firm, now led by the third generation of the same family, specializes in the manufacture of jewelry using natural stones in alternation with resins that are colored by hand, and which are set with fine metals.
In addition, Atlantis sells accessories made in the Basque Country, such as gloves produced in Bilbao with Spanish lambskin and mink inlays, Miriam Ocariz’s colorful silk scarves, and the acetate brooches by “Alas de Ángel” that are reminiscent of the 1930s. The shop likewise offers a personalized bag and hat design service in the boutique itself, fruit of the work of Gill Connon, a Scottish national who has made San Sebastián her home and who has extensive experience in the fashion and theatrical costume sectors. She makes all hats by hand –from the structure right down to the smallest detail– using nets, mesh, and dried flowers from England, France, Spain, and Italy, as well as the feathers of pheasants, ducks, and peacocks imported from the USA. She is able to get any color her customers desire by means of special dyes that she applies to the hat’s structure and its decorative elements. Her bags are made with base materials that include raffia palm, silk, string, velvet, and sinamay; semi-precious stones and ornamental elements are subsequently inlaid therein.
With regard to fine perfumes, Atlantis works exclusively with Berdoues, the mythical French maison founded in 1902. Its collection of Grands Crus annually adds two new fragrances, through which they achieve loyalty from a clientele looking for new aromas from the same line or firm. The establishment’s selection of eaux de parfum will take you on a journey through different parts of the world discovering scents with exotic ingredients like rutescens from Japan, jasminum sembac from India, tobacco from Turkey, Jamaica pepper, and vetiver from Haiti. These aromas take customers to another era – to 30 years ago when Atlantis was inaugurated; or, maybe beyond that, to the 1930s; or perhaps overseas; or, why not, to Plato’s Atlantis.
Atlantis
Calle Bengoetxea 1, San Sebastián.
Tel.: +34 943 421 207
