080 Barcelona Fashion turned the Catalan capital into top design catwalk

Barcelona (CNA). - The capital of Catalonia showed its most glamorous side at the 080 Barcelona Fashion show. From the 28^th to the 31^st of January, Barcelona was a meeting point for international top fashion designers, languid-eyed models and trend lovers. Bloggers, cool hunters and journalists gathered as the new Fashion Week’s emplacement to the modern DHUB building - the city’s new museum and professional centre for design - showed off next season’s Autumn-Winter tendencies.

For the first time, fashion’s top names met at one sole event. Since 2009, the Winter Brandery used to match its dates with the 080 Festival. But last December the Brandery organisation announced the cancellation of the Winter edition without any clear reason, although the crisis seems the most obvious justification.

A shiny new catwalk

Last year Barcelona Fashion took place at the ceremonial hall of the Palau Reial (‘Kings Palace’). The baroque figures carved into the 14^th century dark wood are the absolute opposite of 080’s new space, the new DHUB building whose plain white walls, steel and glass formed a minimalist background for the catwalk.

The building opened last summer and is part of the 22@ district, the most technological neighbourhood of Barcelona focused on innovation and new technologies. From its sidewalks skyscrapers designed by international renowned architects reach into the sky, the most famous of which is the Agbar Tower by Jean Nouvel, similar to the 30 St Mary Axe of London. This round looking skyscraper stands next to DHUB and glows in red and blue at night showing the ‘080’ on its façade for the occasion.

The institutional kick off

The event began with a speech by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas. In his speech, Mas spoke of the need to help territories like Catalonia attract foreign investment and business. Without such external contributions he said, the Catalan recovery would be too slow. Mas added that this is the “key moment” to help those countries capable of standing out to do so. “We must lead, we must be excellent” he said. During the ceremony, he was accompanied by the Mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias, who said: “We will get fashion to shine once again in Barcelona and make the city a benchmark”

Not just a fashion show

The Barcelona Fashion show is not only on the catwalk. Throughout the DHUB building we could find mannequins wearing intricate dresses of celluloid rolls or a 18^th century hair dryer which looks like a steampunk movie ray gun. They were part of the different exhibitions offered during the 080’s four days to show other sides and visions of fashion. ‘Dressed by film’ and ‘A piece of hairdressing history by Raffel Pages’ were just a part of the pieces brought for the Barcelona’s Fashion.

During the event the first edition of the 080 Barcelona Fashion Summit also took place. It consisted in a congress where about 300 company directors and businessmen discussed the economic and practical aspects of the fashion business.

Next to the DHUB hall we could find a long passage with glass wall. In there we could spend our time between catwalks by browsing through the sponsor’s stands. A Heineken to cool thirsty throats or we could follow the Acer girls in white glowing dresses and feel like a celebrity in a magazine cover photo. Or we could just sit on the white wicker sofa with a relaxing view of the DHUB reflecting itself on the crystalline pool in front of our eyes.

Mango’s VIP opening

The company who gave the green light to the 080 was the Catalan multinational Mango. The parade started at night on the first day before a selective ambience given that a personal invitation was needed to get into the show. Only a few fortunate guests, professionals and celebrities like Paris Hilton could take a seat along the catwalk.

Mango presented a spring-summer collection with a total dominance of white and black with touches of salmon, cream, grey and brown. It is an extension of their current collection of simple lines and sophisticated transparencies bought up to date with embroideries and brocades, which confer an evening look.

The turn of independent fashion

The name of a Spanish dessert, ‘milhojas’ (‘thousand layer’ cake), perfectly fitted Celia Vela’s collection. Overlapping layers of warm clothes gave her autumn-winter collection a special volume. Earth colours –chocolate, terracotta, moss green, amethyst violet- and black gave an organic and savage look topped by accessories of red coloured feathers. When she was asked about the meaning of her collection, she answered with a smile “Everybody can make the interpretation they want... I just design what I feel inside of me.” The designer, used to only dressing women, surprised the audience with some male designs. “I will do it again... I’m tired of girls, dressing men is absolutely hilarious!” she said during the photocall.

Desigual presented its new collection

Others designers took over the catwalk on the same day. Sur showed an elegant and rigid collection in white, red, dark blue and black with a touch of beige. The original but sober shoes were the highlight of the catwalk. Justicia Ruano took the king colour of the collection, black, and made it the emperor of his show. Black leather, black embroidery and black transparencies marked the entire collection. Just a few grey pieces broke the routine in his night cocktail look. Brain&beast showed his funny style on the stage. Complex geometric lines in a retro coloured style brought us back to the Eighties. Josep Abril designed a comfortable collection in grey and black. The day ended with the optimistic style of Desigual, with their collection ‘We love’.

Young promises

It was only her second collection but she was still one of the designers of the 080 who had attracted the greatest expectation. Katarina Grey’s debut in New York was a total success as was her appearance at Barcelona Fashion. At the age of just 25, she is one of the youngest promises in the event. Her style is defined by black and white smooth silhouettes and feminine lines in a not street-friendly collection. Transparencies combine with naked breasts and the key accessory is a black veil. “It’s about the dichotomy of white and black, good and evil, demon and angel...the double nature of humanity”, she explained, when asked about her work. The audience gave a great ovation to her parade and there were smiles all around when at the end of the show two children walked up the catwalk dressed Katarina’s designs in pink.

Jan Iú Més, established in Barcelona, joined forces with Punto Blanco to dress male and female models in wool. Soft colours accentuated the comfortable sensation of this collection, perfect for wearing at home. The show continued with the main colour of this year, black, while offering a parade of simplicity but full of drops. Heavy wool jerseys, rigid modelled patterns and dark colours describe Mariam Ponsa’s catwalk, which received the Barcelona Fashion Award. The wooden platform shoes offered the counterpoint of the collection. Alexis Reyna surprised the audience with live music during the fashion show. Reyna chose brown as his main colour and adopted wide patterns and geometric natural prints to form a chaotic look.

Custo Barcelona was present at the 080 for the first time

Talented designers such as Zazo&Brull, Juan Pedro Lopez, Schipper/Arques completed the third day. The night belonged to Custo Barcelona. The designer, who used to be present at The Brandery, had never participated before at the 080 and appeared for the first time at the eleventh edition in a VIP-only catwalk.

Tribute to Andrés Sardà

The last day began with the cheerful colours of the Bóboli/Condor urban children, a stark opposite to the dark leather jackets and luxurious style adopted by Torras/Naulover Slazenger. A similar proposal by Javier Simorra completed the look with some baroque prints and crystal beads. Escorpion chose wool in beige with touches of colours for their collection. Aldomartins and Yerse painted their parade in autumn colours with a retro inspiration.

But the key event was the one dedicated to Catalan designer Andrés Sardà. An emotive piano introduced a few models in soft pink feathers and evocative underwear in a tribute to the designer that marked a revolution in Spanish women’s underwear fashion in the Sixties. Sardà was the first to transform a merely useful piece of cloth into a glamorous and meaningful fashion. Today, his company is run by his daughter, who makes the designs and who came to the tribute ceremony to get the Catalan Government’s Award to her father. The ceremony was completed with a graceful performance by world-renowned ballet dancer Angel Corella.