losfelices@concepthotelgroup.es
HANDOVER: GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN
HANDOVER: GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN
By Laura Martínez
A conversation with Ariadna Díaz, CEO and Creative Director of HANDOVER, about fashion, community and a new generation of girls who want to dress to enjoy themselves and have fun.
This summer, HANDOVER has taken over the Los Felices concept store, bringing its distinctive mix of fashion, humour and attitude to the hotel. Born in 2022 from a simple idea — reinterpreting a traditionally masculine garment, the boxer short — the brand has grown into something much bigger than a clothing label.
HANDOVER isn’t just about what we wear. It’s about the girls behind the clothes, the references they share, the community they have built and a rather carefree approach to fashion. We caught up with its founder during her stay at Los Felices to talk about the origins of an idea that continues to make waves — and fill the moodboards of every self-respecting fashion girl.
For anyone who doesn’t know HANDOVER yet, how would you describe the brand in one sentence?
A.D: HANDOVER is a brand created by girls, for girls, mixing fashion, community and that fun, slightly cheeky attitude.
How did the idea for HANDOVER come about, and what did you feel was missing from the fashion landscape when you started?
A.D: HANDOVER was born in 2022 in a very organic way. We started by reinterpreting something as traditionally masculine as boxer shorts and bringing them into the female wardrobe. We loved the everyday idea of stealing your boyfriend’s — or your ex’s — boxers and making them our own.
But from the very beginning, we realised there was something beyond the product. We were missing brands we could truly identify with, not just because of how they dressed, but because of how they communicated and the world they built around themselves. We wanted to create a brand where girls could see themselves reflected and feel like they were part of something.
Your visual identity is very recognisable. Where does all that imagery come from?
A.D: We have so many references, and they’re constantly changing. We’re inspired by vintage fashion, music, film, photography, the girls we see on the street, our travels, the internet… In the end, HANDOVER contains a lot of our own visual world.
We really like playing with contrasts: something romantic with something more rockstar, a very feminine piece with something more masculine, something seemingly polished with something a little more spontaneous or imperfect. I think that mix is what makes the HANDOVER universe recognisable.
HANDOVER has changed a lot since that first collection. How do you manage that growth without losing the essence of the brand?
A.D: It has evolved enormously. We started as a very small project, producing almost everything on an artisanal scale, and today we have a much bigger team, produce on a larger scale and sell internationally. Obviously, that means you have to professionalise a lot of things.
Even so, there’s something we really try to protect as we grow: making sure HANDOVER still feels close and personal. We don’t want to become a brand that simply launches clothes. The community, the way we communicate and making girls feel like they’re growing alongside us are completely non-negotiable.
Many of your pieces have a very free, playful and summery feel. What does summer mean to HANDOVER?
A.D: We really love everything summer represents beyond the season itself: that feeling of freedom, making spontaneous plans, travelling, going out, meeting people, dressing in a more carefree way… Even when we design collections that aren’t specifically for summer, we try to keep some of that feeling of not taking fashion too seriously and, above all, dressing to have fun.
This summer, you’ve been part of the Los Felices concept store. What attracted you to the project?
A.D: We really liked it because we didn’t see it simply as a point of sale. Los Felices has such a strong universe and an experience built around it that really fits with the way we understand a brand.
Ibiza also has that mix of people from everywhere, summer, fashion, music and spontaneity that we really connect with. It felt like a very natural place for HANDOVER to be, and above all, an interesting opportunity to see how an international audience would respond to the brand in a different, physical setting.
Los Felices brings together fashion, design, Ibiza and that Palm Springs aesthetic. Do you feel HANDOVER has found a particularly kindred audience here?
A.D: Absolutely. I think we share a very similar way of understanding aesthetics: very visual, playful and nostalgic.
It’s also been really interesting to meet girls who perhaps didn’t know HANDOVER before and discovered the brand here. For us, it’s a way of stepping outside our usual digital environment and seeing how people interact with the clothes when they discover them physically.
What has been the most special thing about spending an entire season in direct contact with your customers?
A.D: One of the things that always makes us happiest is seeing someone from another country recognise HANDOVER. We’re a relatively young brand that was born in Spain, so meeting a girl from the US, the UK or anywhere else who already knows the brand through TikTok, Instagram or because she owns one of our pieces is really exciting for us.
And we love the opposite too: girls who discover us physically for the first time, try something on, ask about the brand and then start following us. That transition from the physical world to the digital one is really cool to us.
If you had to create an exclusive piece inspired by Los Felices, what would it look like?
A.D: We’d probably take one of our most recognisable codes, like the boxer short, and bring it into the Los Felices universe. I imagine something very retro, inspired by Ibiza and Palm Springs, perhaps with stripes, washed-out colours or a print that looks like it came straight out of a 1970s hotel.
It would have to be a piece you could put on straight after getting out of the pool, but also wear to go for a drink and end up going out that night. Very HANDOVER and very Ibiza.
What’s next for HANDOVER? Is there a dream or project you’d like to share?
A.D: We’re at a really exciting point because we feel the brand is entering a new chapter. We want to continue growing internationally while also taking HANDOVER increasingly into the physical world.
We’re excited to explore new markets, work with international retailers, do more pop-ups and create experiences where we can actually meet our community face to face. We also want to keep expanding our product universe, so that more and more of a HANDOVER girl’s wardrobe can be found within the brand.
But probably the biggest dream is to grow massively without losing that feeling that HANDOVER is still our safe space for the girlies. That, years from now, it can be a much bigger brand, but a girl can still step into our universe and feel like she’s among friends.