Jean Oltra and Paul Molina: Sharing the Drive to Create
Samuel Kaur
Jean Oltra and Paul Molina are third-year fashion design students at IFM, entering a decisive moment where school turns into industry.
They now approach their final collections with a clear and emerging sense of identity. Jean Oltra’s work is rooted in a deeply personal and artistic heritage. Drawing from his Spanish and Portuguese background, and influenced early on by a family immersed in creative practices, Oltra chose to adopt his mother’s name as a way to reflect the identity he brings into fashion. At IFM, he has found both challenge and opportunity, gaining access to a wider creative network and professional world. His recent experiences, including embroidery work at Maison Margiela and projects within the De Pino, have already placed him inside the industry he once only imagined – winning a Louis Vuitton contest granted him an internship starting next September.
Prosper Panhard, @prosperpanhard
Paul Molina took an unconventional path into fashion. Originally drawn to arts in general like cinema and music, he entered the field with curiosity rather than certainty, something that has since evolved into a growing and deliberate passion. Coming from the suburbs of Paris, Molina describes his journey at IFM as both demanding and formative, shaping not only his technical abilities but also his understanding of his own creative voice. Through garment, drawing, photography, and 3D work, he continues to explore how ideas take form. A recent internship at August Barron further sharpened his sense of direction, helping him define his interests and identity as a designer. Now at a turning point, Molina approaches his final year with a clear intention.
Prosper Panhard, @prosperpanhard
IRK: What is your earliest memory of fashion?
Jean Oltra: For me, it’s connected to movies, both live-action and animated. I was fascinated by how character design and costume design could express a whole personality or storyline. As a kid, I was always excited to go to birthday parties because I could dress up. That was probably my first connection to fashion: expressing something through clothes. So for me, it has always been tied to costume and cinema.
Paul Molina: For me, it was more about the freedom of dressing up as a kid. That’s when I started noticing shapes and forms. Later, when I started modelling, I wasn’t just interested in looking “good”, I was more interested in what was interesting to wear. The shapes, colors, fabrics, that’s what caught my attention. That’s when I realized I wanted to create my own shapes, my own colors. That’s when it became my thing.
IRK: What’s the most overhyped thing in fashion?
Paul Molina: The cult of the artistic director. People hype one figure, but the reality is that collections are made by teams, interns, and designers that nobody knows. The director becomes the face, but they’re not doing everything.
Jean Oltra: I agree. And I’d also say creating images just for Instagram. Creating noise that doesn’t last. It doesn’t survive beyond a season.
IRK: Do you have a personal “bible” – a rule, principle, or reference you return to when the work starts getting messy?
Paul Molina: I take a lot of pictures in the street and organize them into albums. It’s mostly people I see—details, silhouettes, moments. That’s what I come back to.
Jean Oltra: For me, it’s often color combinations. My starting point doesn’t necessarily come from clothing, it can be from the street or films, where everything is curated. Color palettes and compositions are very important to me. One reference I had early on was “Kingdom Hearts”, especially for its strong and specific color palettes.
IRK: If you could be a fly for a day, on whose wall would you love to spend that day and why?
Jean Oltra: I’d say David Lynch. He was such a multidisciplinary artist. Film, music, visual art. I’d love to see how he created. Even if his process was chaotic, I think there’s something fascinating in that intensity and obsession.
Paul Molina: I’d say Nan Goldin and Xavier Dolan. I really connect with how they explore identity and emotion in a very raw, personal way. There’s this mix of intimacy and intensity that I try to find in my own work too, especially in the way I rework childhood and family references into something more emotional, set within a slightly fantasized vision of the night.
IRK: Do you have a quote you live or work by?
Jean Oltra: “Fuck around and find out.” I tend to act before I think, and that’s how I’ve approached my fashion studies. I started without knowing much, just doing things. And it worked.
Paul: I’d say trust yourself, no matter how long it takes to understand who you are. Don’t compare yourself too much to others, focus on your own creativity.
IRK: What achievement are you most proud of?
Paul: Not giving up. Staying at IFM, continuing even when it was hard. If two years ago you showed me the work I do now, I wouldn’t believe it. So I’m proud of the work I’ve done this year.
Jean Oltra: For me, it’s similar, but more about finding a clear direction. Now I feel like I have a “red thread” in my work, a goal I can follow. Since finding that, everything feels more natural. Working, creating, meeting people. I’m proud of finding that path.
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Samuel is a Paris-based creative marketing student and writer. When he got bad grades in school or behaved badly, his parents punished him by making him read - maybe that's where it began. What felt like torture at the time has now turned out to be a great gift.
Two years ago, he moved to Paris for his fashion studies. Since then the urge to write has only grown stronger. When he's not working on articles, he writes mostly film scripts or poetry. Beyond writing, he has a deep-rooted passion for cinema and enjoys engaging in all forms of filmmaking.
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