2020, the most turbulent and happiest year for Rosa Clará

"It seems incredible, but I'm telling you the truth. When the coronavirus arrived, we were experiencing the best months in sales in our history, the numbers were fabulous," explains Rosa Clará, the businesswoman who 25 years ago ventured into the bridal world and triumphed, being present today in more than 80 countries across 5 continents, with 140 exclusive stores and more than 4,000 points of sale.

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2020 was supposed to be the year she celebrated a big party to commemorate those silver anniversaries with white fashion, but the pandemic not only canceled these plans but also disrupted weddings around the world, postponed openings of points of sale, and also forced her to forgo the annual fashion show where she usually presents her collections surrounded by celebrities and Barça's Wags, led by Antonella Roccuzzo, who married Messi wearing one of her designs. Now, the Barcelona businesswoman faces 2021 with optimism, although there are still many unknowns to resolve: "We will celebrate the 30th or 35th... I am convinced that when we regain normality, brides will be there, they will come back to us," she explains to The New Barcelona Post.

This positive outlook is not only influenced by the good results achieved in the months preceding the pandemic, which have provided them with a good economic cushion, and the prospect of global anti-covid-19 vaccination. Rosa Clará feels renewed energy since her 29-year-old son Daniel said "I do" to her. "He had been linked to the company in some way for some time, but since late summer he is one of us, he works 100% and has become very involved in the project," she says proudly. And she adds: "I am clear that he will fit in very well; if I thought he was going to make a fool of himself, I would never have allowed him to join." In fact, although she cannot hide how happy it makes her that her only son is her successor, she always let him choose his profession. "I only told him that whatever he did, he should do it well."

Daniel –whom everyone calls Dani— studied architecture, a discipline where two subjects he likes, drawing and mathematics, play a full role, at the La Salle School of Architecture, right in front of Rosa Clará's 10,000 square meter headquarters in Barcelona. "It has been a very long and very hard career, which has points in common with fashion, especially in its most creative part," explains the young heir, who is involved in the product area of the company, the same one that his mother is passionate about. The businesswoman hired CEO Manuel Caro seven years ago to take care of the economic part of the business, and is very satisfied with the decision, even in these difficult times.

Bridal capes to weather the health crisis

The coronavirus health crisis has generally affected the bridal business, which is in the midst of a digitalization process and evolution towards sustainability. The Valmont Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week kept postponing its dates until, in September, it decided to hold the fashion shows entirely digitally. Rosa Clará, a leading firm at the event, did not participate in this internationally leading showcase, concentrating its efforts on responding to the needs arising from the pandemic. They still don't know if they will parade in next year's.

Rosa Clará did not participate this year in the Valmont Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week to focus on responding to the pandemic

In 2020, 60% of brides postponed their weddings, so the company offered to keep the chosen dress until the situation improved. The design team also adapted to the emergency by creating a special capsule with capes, coats, and sweaters so that brides could wear their low-cut dresses in the winter season. Likewise, stores were closed for three months, teleworking was imposed, expense control, and exports to other countries were modified according to government restrictions. "Germany, which during all these months has been an open market that worked very well for us, has now had a great rebound in cases and the situation has changed completely," they explain a few days before reaching 2021 from the company, which this year has not been able to fulfill plans to open new stores in Turkey, Poland, and Israel. Nor to inaugurate those in London and Dubai. Even so, they do not complain about how the 2020 collection has been selling. With merchandise distributors and a salesperson in China

At this moment Dani Clará is working on the 2022 collection, in the midst of the creation process. While studying, he explored the family business "because I felt like it" to see if it attracted him enough to dedicate his professional life to it. He went through all departments, ---he even worked "happily" with the merchandise delivery drivers---, and did a circuit with the sales teams around the world. He discovered that he was very interested in seeing how Clará's simple and refined designs adapted to different cultures, and China impressed him so much that he even studied Mandarin. After finishing this immersive learning, he decided that he was good at the job and told his mother that he would follow in her footsteps. Rosa ---who was already planning a future sale if the answer was negative--- was delighted with the news. "I believe the company has a good foundation and can do great things," she tells us. For now, at Rosa Clará, they produce 16 bridal collections a year, more than 5,000 different dresses, and four party collections.

The company and my son have occupied my entire life; all my free time outside of work I have dedicated to him.

Dani completed his studies with an MBA at Babson College in Boston and, upon finishing it at the end of August, he fully immersed himself in Rosa Clará, although he has not wanted to have a specific position. "I contribute my ideas and if I make a mistake, I accept being told," he says, smiling. "Now we have to give him space; I still tell him he's our intern," notes Rosa, who describes him as a calm and positive boy who never gave her any problems as a child. Rosa Clará raised him practically alone while growing as an entrepreneur, and that united them greatly. It was in 1995 when she opened her first store on Passeig de Gràcia, leaving behind her position at the giant Pronovias, which has been tough competition during these 25 years. "The company and my son have occupied my entire life; all my free time outside of work I have dedicated to him." At 18, he adopts the Clará surname

Those hours they spent together when Dani was little surely influenced his current decision to continue with the family business. Rosa would bring work home, and while he did homework, she would show him fabrics, ask his opinion, and, almost without realizing it, she would inoculate him with her refined aesthetic taste. "My mother has been a great teacher; she educated me in responsibility," says Dani, who has no relationship with his father, who for years has litigated with Rosa, requesting dividends from the bridal company in a dispute that is still ongoing.

When he turned 18, the young man put his mother's surname first. It was the same year his mother fell in love with businessman Josep Artigas, whom she married in 2013. In these times of pandemic, Dani lives with them in their spacious Barcelona home, along with his partner of three years, Anne Marie, who is also linked to the world of brides. The young woman's family owns multi-brand stores in the United States, and it was at one of the Catalan firm's multitudinous client conventions in Barcelona where they fell in love. These pandemic days have surely become a good test of coexistence for them, although the young entrepreneur also shares many hours, "and even the car," with his mother, for whom he is constantly concerned, ensuring that everyone around her wears a mask.

My mother has been a great teacher; she educated me in responsibility

A visionary brand, chosen by 'celebrities'

Always smiling and kind, Dani explains that his dinners with friends and his travel life have also been halted by covid-19. "He didn't even celebrate his birthday party to protect us," his mother says. And that's because he is a born public relations person, as he has already demonstrated for several seasons at the fashion shows, acting as host to the many famous brides-to-be invited by the brand. He is used to naturally dealing with the wives of Barça players, who never miss an event, with prestigious actresses, or with instagramers with millions of followers.

He has grown up watching people get married in Rosa Clará, from Paula Echevarría with David Bustamante in 2006 to Mery Perelló with Rafa Nadal in 2019. The list is long: Paulina Rubio, Montse Martí Caballé, Mary Chevalier de Mónaco, Paulina Fox (daughter of the former Mexican president), Alba Carrillo, Laura Pastrana (daughter of Andrés Pastrana), Candela Serrat, Esther Cañadas, Daniella Semaan (who wore a super sexy custom-made design at her wedding to Cesc Fàbregas), Melissa Jiménez (Marc Bartra), Fiona Ferrer, Shaila Dúrcal…

The commitment to celebrities is a hallmark of a house that, in its beginnings, was a pioneer in combining runway fashion with bridal design. It joined forces with creators such as Karl Lagerfeld, Lacroix, Jesús del Pozo, or Modesto Lomba to elevate white designs to a fashionista category, while also creating basic and very contemporary lines designed for an independent woman who wanted to look beautiful and sensual on her wedding day.

Rosa Clará was also a visionary in marketing, breaking barriers: In 2012, she dressed transgender model Andreja Pejic as a bride, when she was still called Andrej. It was a media boom. "It really impressed all of us," recalls Rosa, who at the moment does not stray from her son ("it's a great gift to pave the way for him") although, little by little, she aspires to be able to spend more and more time traveling and enjoying life with her husband. "They have been 25 hard years, with a lot of dedication and effort, but very happy ones," summarizes the designer.