The Sybilla dress with which Anna Castillo paid a veiled tribute to Ana Belén at the Goya

A sun, a cross and a bull.

As if it were a Gestalt image, which changes depending on the focus of the gaze, in 1996 the Mallorcan designer Sybilla Sorondo created the España dress, one of the most celebrated in contemporary Spanish fashion, the piece that presided over the exhibition that dedicated to the designer at the Canal Foundation two years ago and which deserves its own technical file in the Costume Museum.

“The originality of her design is focused on its front part, more specifically on the torso, made from cut out and rounded shapes, joined with invisible nylon threads, forming a kind of mosaic without edges,” describes the institution.

Anna Castillo, upon arrival at the ceremony.CESAR MANSO (AFP via Getty Images)

Sybilla, who by then was selling a lot outside of Spain, especially in Japan, had stopped parading and was focused on her most accessible fashion line, called Jocomomola, and on the opening of her store in Paris.

Despite her shy nature, she was the greatest exponent of what at that time was called “Spanish fashion”, the institutional boost that the Government gave to national creators after the Transition to try to sell a competitive aesthetic abroad.

She was the one who achieved it, to the point that Louis Vuitton, which at that time was a brand only of leather goods, commissioned the Mallorcan to collaborate for its Icon series, in which the French house gave and gives creative space to artists. to reimagine their iconic monogram.

Sybilla designed a very contemporary bag with a built-in umbrella.

What she did not know was that, at her presentation event, the dress from her 1996 collection that she would give to Blanca Li would become her crowning work.

Ana Belén, dressed as Sybilla, with Rafa Sánchez and Miguel Bosé, at the AIDS gala held in 2011 at the W hotel in Barcelona. Robert Marquardt (WireImage)

But in the national imagination this dress, made with Sybilla's famous invisible thread, is not associated with Blanca Li, the first to wear it, but with Ana Belén, who has worn it on several occasions, most recently in 2011 at the gala against AIDS or in 2022, during a tribute to Manolo Tena.

Elena Anaya has also worn this collector's piece, she wore it in 2002 during the Goya ceremony.

Sybilla Sorondo, who dressed Marisa Paredes' character in

is a regular in the wardrobe of the great ladies of Spanish cinema, but it had been a long time since the designer had shown her famous invisible thread from the nineties again.

Her always-tailored appearances on the red carpet had focused on mixing colors and geometric patterns.

Two of Sybilla's dresses.

They were exhibited in the exhibition 'Sybilla.

The invisible thread', which opened in September 2022 in the Sala Canal de Isabel II in Madrid.David Benito (Getty Images)

At the 38th edition of the Goya Awards, actress Anna Castillo appeared on the pink carpet in Valladolid wearing a dress very similar to the legendary Spain dress, with invisible thread and a neckline that seems to detach from the bottom.

Since Sybilla made many custom-made dresses using this technique during the 1990s, the date of creation cannot be dated.

In fact, there is speculation that the actress has been chosen to secretly announce the return of the designer, who today lives away from the media spotlight in Mallorca and only designs clothes for trusted clients and friends.

Sybilla has returned to fashion several times, but never with the elements that made her a myth;

black silk crepe and trompe l'oeil effect with nylon threads.

Is Anna Castillo's dress a tribute to Ana Belén, presenter of the gala? Or a nod to the most anticipated return in national fashion?

Elena Anaya, with a Sybilla dress at the 2002 Goya Awards. Carlos Alvarez (Getty Images)