In fashion
Almost 100 years on, Barcelona is returning to its textile roots and proving to be a fertile ground for fashion and design entrepreneurs. As a creative powerhouse widely celebrated for its culture and innovation, the city’s ability to attract international investment, together with a growing infrastructure for new designers, means that it is both keeping homegrown talent and attracting plenty more from abroad.
Key to Barcelona’s fashion ecosystem are its internationally respected design colleges. With well-rounded courses that embrace the dual entrepreneurial and creative aspects of the Catalan character, they give a solid grounding in business─an essential partner to creativity and flair. Many of these courses are delivered in English, attracting an international cohort. Once graduated, designers often choose to do a stint in international fashion houses before returning home to build their own businesses, adding up to an interesting and varied fashion scene.
This success hasn’t come by chance. In 2011, the Generalitat, Ajuntament, Fira de Barcelona and Barcelona Chamber of Commerce joined forces to create the Plan de la Moda 2011-2015, which aimed to convert Barcelona into an international reference point in fashion and design. It focused on attracting, nurturing and supporting talent by developing the internationalisation of the city’s industry and support for entrepreneurs. It also ensured that the city offers a wide range of training courses, secured international events and improved public-private collaborations within the industry. A new strategic plan is currently in the pipeline.
Always innovating, the city is also looking to the influence of technology. Fashioneers is a new startup accelerator that fosters interactions between the fashion, science and technology industries. Based at Moda22, a fashion and design incubator and coworking space in the Poblenou district, Fashioneers' goal is to “connect the dots” between the different industry elements, and to “build bridges across different industries, disciplines and even continents”, according to co-founder Ryan Clott. From September to December last year, Fashioneers ran its first acceleration ‘capsule’, a 12-week programme offering mentoring, product development, strategic partnership and networking opportunities to fashion tech-related startups, from wearables with embedded digital elements (such as iBreve and Wearable Media) to disruptive fashion brands that reinvent standard fashion (such as Mamquam and Materia Rica).
The best showcase of Barcelona style is 080, the city’s bi-annual fashion week. In January, the post-holiday blues were dispelled by 080 Gener. From designer fashion to commercial chains, glamorous red carpet gowns and bridal wear to urban street style, and dadcore to kids-wear, 080 is a comprehensive showcase for the city’s fashion talent.
This January’s event was held at the UNESCO-listed Hospital de Sant Pau, a Modernista gem that added a true Barcelona backdrop to the catwalks. Deep in the subterranean tunnels leading to the catwalk salon, a static exhibition showcased the young talent emerging from nine local fashion colleges. Progressing along the tunnels, another exhibition—the NEO2 Photo Shoot Contest from the previous 080 in June 2017—displayed work by teams of student stylists and photographers.
Away from the glitz and glamour of Hospital Sant Pau, the Fòrum was the venue of the sixth Fashion Summit, ‘Fashion 2030: A Brave New World’, during which expert speakers examined the future of the fashion industry. Although it acknowledged global uncertainty, the outlook for the fashion industry was generally positive.
ON THE CATWALK
The January edition of 080 was filled with designers who studied at the region’s fashion colleges. Laura Avery reflects on this season’s trends.
Ze García, a graduate of Ramon Llull University, opened this year’s event with his glamorous red carpet gowns and romantic bridal wear. Using bloggers and influencers with more natural body shapes than models, García appeals to potential bridal clients of all shapes and sizes, while giving a savvy nod to the power of online media.
In sharp contrast to García’s glitz, the menswear collection by Javier Giron at JNORIG set the tone for the rest of the week. His monochrome designs were the first indication of one of the main trends to emerge from this year’s 080 shows: easy and relaxed silhouettes with style injections from assorted decades of the 20th century on an urban sportswear canvas. Here we saw Seventies McLaren/Westwood bondage style straps, geometric stripes and even glimpses of traditional Asian fashion with a Dhoti-style pant and a long kurta. Asian culture is a trend that is increasingly popping up on the international stage and made several appearances throughout 080.
Sportswear, thanks to McCardell and Kamali, is the US’s greatest contribution to contemporary fashion. Motifs such as outside leg stripes, drawstring waists, sloppy silhouettes, letter sweaters and hoodies (often rendered in luxe fabrics) appeared throughout the week. Oscarleon, another Barcelona fashion graduate with a concept store on Carrer d’Enric Granados, took the sportswear trend into womenswear. As always, fashion holds a mirror to the zeitgeist and Leon’s slick yet informal tailoring and minimalistic lines had a disturbingly apocalyptic feel, perhaps echoing the current global political malaise. Despite Barcelona’s generally sunny outlook on life, this dystopian air also permeated other collections.
Barcelona-based Txell Miras continued the mood set by Leon with a strong sportswear collection expressed in softly draped fabrics layered with sharp tailoring. This was the first glimpse of the season’s dominating palette of grape and petrol tones.
Mallorquín Pablo Erroz picked up on the shorts suits for men that have emerged over the last few years, and showcased gender neutral sportswear in a mix of pleathers and tweeds.
Krizia Robustella, who has a shop on Carrer de Sant Pere Més Alt, is yet another local graduate. Her collection broke away from the dystopian monochrome palette, featuring comic book brights and Moschino-esque prints to create a playful, sportswear-dominated range in oversized, gender-neutral silhouettes.
Antonio Miró, a major player in Spanish fashion, learned his craft from his tailor father and embodies the creative and entrepreneurial spirit of Catalunya. After opening his first store at 20, he now has a flagship store on Carrer d'Enric Granados. His collection introduced the second big trend of the week: Young Fogey. This featured outside leg stripes in tune with the sportswear trend, corsets worn as outerwear, swirling tartans and cosy, warm-hued tweeds, which paid homage to Gaultier’s 1990 Blonde Ambition, Westwood’s Anglomania and McQueen’s Highland Rape.
Commercial brand Sweet Matitos again featured autumnal-toned tweeds and tartans, along with decadent fabrics. Silhouettes were generally slender with jacket waists cinched by long narrow belts (another leitmotif of the week) and long, sensuous jazz-era printed tea dresses via Ossie and Celia’s Seventies London.
Lola Casademunt took us from the English Home Counties and Scottish Highlands to St. Petersburg. The season’s grapey colour palette appeared here in deep jewel tones on luxe fabrics. Sequins and floaty tulles showed her vision of the Hermitage and confirmed two more of the season’s minor trends: transparent fabrics and extravagant prints.
So, how does all this high fashion manifest itself on the high street? Like most major cities, Barcelona suffers from fashion hegemony. International luxury brands along Passeig de Gràcia seduce shoppers onto the rocks of bankruptcy, whilst the high street names occupy sumptuous flagship stores with designer-inspired pieces at affordable prices.
Two internationally known Barcelona names—besides Mango—are Desigual and Custo, which have both been around since the Eighties. They offer colourful, highly decorated clothes and accessories, which have spawned many copycats. With stores across town, Desigual could hardly be more ‘Barcelona’, with some print motifs echoing the paving stones of Passeig de Gràcia. On the other hand, Custo Barcelona, founded by Custo Dalmau, has just two stores in the city, but its clothing lines, originally inspired by bold Californian surfwear, were among the first to put Barcelona on the international fashion map.
Nevertheless, unlike in other big cities, the boutique shop is still alive and well in Barcelona. Thanks to the city’s ability to nurture its own talent, more established local designers have stores along the smarter Eixample boulevards, whilst the younger ones are setting up edgier back street enterprises. Take a trip to the Born or Gràcia, and you’ll find plenty of small, local designers offering lovingly crafted garments.
A doyenne of the Barcelona fashion scene, Lurdes Bergada is self-taught, although her son, menswear designer Syngman Cucala, did study in the city. Together, they own three stores in Barcelona, plus a few more across Catalunya and in Madrid, as well as selling in niche stores globally. Their look combines a Japanese workwear aesthetic with sculptured clean lines that works for anyone from 18 to 80. Manufacturing is kept as close to home as possible and uses mostly natural fabrics.
Another homegrown brand is Aragaza, whose stores around the Gothic Quarter offer some of Barcelona’s best menswear. Apparel from Aragaza adds a touch of cool to any style-conscious man of a certain age, as well as his son.
Concept store, laboratory and co-working space Ozz is tucked away on Carrer dels Banys Vells and boasts a large retail space featuring emerging designers who follow the principles of slow fashion. The walls function as a gallery for interesting artwork, and there is a shared workspace that is rented out to startups.
Prison Art, in Plaça del Pi, sells stunning one-off leather jackets, T-shirts and bags that feature designs created by prisoners in Mexico with homemade tattoo guns. Not cheap, but each piece is the definition of unique.
It’s all about cats and music at Suara Store on Carrer de la Fusina, not in a cutesy kitty-kitsch way, but as responsibly produced urban wear covered in hip cat images. The shop’s revenue is used to take care of the street cats who live above the store whilst waiting to be adopted.
OFFBEAT, Madrileña Belén Jiménez’s concept store in the Raval, is an intelligently-curated treasure trove of womenswear, bags, jewellery, ceramics and prints. An experienced designer, Jiménez customises items to your taste, and also offers small womenswear collections from other emerging Spanish designers.
If you’re more interested in the cultural side of fashion, Museu del Disseny de Barcelona is worth a visit. Its permanent exhibition, ‘Dressing the Body. Silhouettes and Fashion (1550-2015)’, guides visitors through the changing shape of the body as modelled by fashion, explained through 173 dresses and frames. It is a fascinating journey through history, with dress, forms and the body as its main protagonists. As well as the permanent collection, temporary exhibitions also offer interesting design inspiration.
For fashion shoppers, entrepreneurs and students alike, Barcelona offers creative inspiration and study, business and entrepreneurial opportunities. To quote British designer Paul Smith: ‘You can find inspiration in everything'. And as far as the fashion world goes, Barcelona appears to have everything.
Barcelona Fashion Schools
ESDi (Escola Superior de Disseny)
In collaboration with MANGO multinational, ESDi offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fashion industry management and fashion design.
Created by the Barcelona Provincial Council in 1883, the school began with the aim of increasing professional opportunities for women. Today, the school is open to anyone over the age of 18, and offers courses in art, cooking, languages and technology, as well as fashion.
Felicidad Duce, the Fashion School of LCI Barcelona, welcomes more than 800 budding designers a year and offers a range of prestigious programmes for both fashion fanatics and total beginners.
Idep Barcelona, Escola Superior d’Imatge i Disseny
This higher education centre offers diploma and master’s courses in fashion and design for professionals and students looking to further their careers.
ICM Institut Català de la Moda
This fashion institute puts just as much emphasis on introductory fashion design programmes as later professional opportunities, maintaining strong employer links with companies such as Burberry, Mango and Josep Font.
LLOTJA Escola Superior de Disseny i Art
Created in 1773, Llotja is the oldest design school in Spain and has been attended by some of Barcelona’s most prominent creatives, including Antoni Gaudí and Pablo Picasso. In its advanced fashion styling programme, Llotja offers courses in the history of clothing, textile technology and fashion modelling.
BAU Centre Universitari de Disseny de Barcelona
In addition to a wide variety of long-term fashion courses, such as fashion illustration and fashion marketing, BAU also offers ‘capsule’ courses. These are short, 16-hour programmes focusing on technical training in particular fields of design, such as editorial photography and InDesign.