If you can’t attend the Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris in January, don’t worry. Discover the elegance, glamour and beauty of the jetsetters of the 1940s by watching High Seas – the most fashionable Netflix series of the year. As a fashion editor, I was very impressed by the costumes, the interior design, the make-up, the hairstyling, the jewellery and the accessories of the Spanish series. Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain, Elsa Schiaparelli and Pierre Cardin inspired the costume designers, while the make-up artists and hairstylists were inspired by a series of glamour queens of the Forties: Veronica Lake, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Ava Gardner and Hedi Lamarr.
The Spanish show combines crimes on the high seas with amazing art deco, couture and glamour.
CRIMES ON THE HIGH SEAS – THE MOST FASHIONABLE NETFLIX SERIES
High Seas, an eight-episode mystery-drama series set in the 1940s, premiered globally on Netflix in May 2019. Carolina (Alejandra Onieva) and Eva Villanueva (Ivana Baquero), two beautiful and wealthy sisters, embark on a transatlantic cruise travelling from Spain to Brazil. Three murders as well as intrigues, lies, love and passion await them.
A handsome officer, Nicolás Sala (Jon Kortajarena), a man that fate has put in the wrong place, falls in love with Eva who wants to finish her first novel during the trip, while her sister Carolina is excited to marry her fiancé Fernando Fábregas (Eloy Azorín), a businessman, on the cruise ship.
The transatlantic cruise soon turns out to be anything but a relaxing trip. A passenger whose name does not appear on the passengers list falls over board and disappears in the ocean. Another passenger will soon be murdered and Eva will nearly be killed by the flames in ther first class cabin.
The cover picture of Eva and Carolina on their way to cruise port in Spain in 1946 is stunning and could have been shot by Steven Meisel or Miles Aldridge for Vogue Italia.
The Art Deco style and the glamorous interior design bring all the glamour of the Roaring ’20s to the show. Art Deco is characterized by rich colors, gold ornaments, bold geometry and symmetrical designs in exuberant shapes.
PAN’S LABYRINTH, EL SECRETO AND A MALE TOP MODEL
The cast of the Netflix series features various successful Spanish actors: Alejandra Onieva (30), who plays Carolina, is best known for her role as Soledad Castro Montenegro in the tv series El secreto de Puente Viejo. Ivana Baquero (28), who plays Eva, is bilingual (Spanish/English) and began acting as a child: at the age of 11, she was cast by film director Guillermo del Toro for Pan’s Labyrinth.
Jon Kortajarena (Nicolás) is one of the most succesful international male top models. Eloy Azorín (45), who plays Carolina’s fiancé Fernando, was cast by Pedro Almodóvar at the age of 19 for the film Todo sobre mi madre. José Sacristán, who plays Eva’s and Carolina’s uncle Pedro, is one of the most successful tv actors in Spain. He’s best know for his role as Ana Ribera’s uncle Emilio López in the Netflix series Velvet.
VELVET & CABLE GIRLS
High Seas (original title: Alta Mar) is a tv series produced by Bambú Producciones. The production company created in 2008 by Ramón Campos and Teresa Fernández Valdés develops and produces fiction projects for TV. Bambú is very successful in the international market thanks to TV series like Gran Hotel, Velvet, Cable Girls, Fariña and El caso Asunta.
Bambú produced three seasons of Alta Mar (High Seas) for Netflix. In our opinion, Season 1 is the best of the three seasons.
(This article was first published on 28 June 2019 and recently updated.)
15 FACTS ABOUT HIGH SEAS SEASON 2
If you liked our article Crimes On The High Seas, read our articles about Alta Mar seasons 2 and 3.
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Photos: Courtesy of Netflix
