In a country that has become the cradle of great international fast-fashion brands, there is also a large number of small local stores that seek to make a niche for themselves in the complicated fashion sector. So much so that Barcelona has managed to position itself on the international radar of the fashion sector, not only for being a cosmopolitan city, always up to date with the latest trends, but also for being the birthplace of emerging and disruptive brands that manage to export their talent to the rest of the world.
This is demonstrated by initiatives such as the 080 Barcelona Fashion, which annually brings together the latest news from the Catalan industry in two fashion weeks that have already become international references —without competing with the big international catwalks, such as Paris or Milan. Likewise, the Barcelona Fashion Forward program, which accompanies the professionalization of emerging brands, is also a symptom of the good moment of the Catalan fashion sector. Since 2019, the initiative has promoted 54 brands, 43 of which are still active, brands that after their passage through the program have even managed to consolidate and grow even internationally.
The program, promoted by the Barcelona City Council, Barcelona Activa and the Disseny Hub (DHUB), annually selects fifteen brands to offer them six months of training and personalized mentoring on the different aspects to take into account when starting and managing a company: from finance to communication. Of these brands, four of them go on to a second phase to go beyond theory and take products directly to stores and customers, exhibiting in the pop-up that the program annually organizes.
"Each year more companies apply to the call, figures that reflect that the program really works and represents a turning point for brands," emphasizes the director of Creative Industries (ICUB) and DHUB, Mireia Escobar. In fact, since 2019 and after five editions, the program has consolidated itself as a benchmark in the sector and has positioned the Catalan capital as the cradle of emerging fashion. "Barcelona has many creators eager to undertake, but the city must commit and retain this talent —through programs like this— to ensure that clothes are designed and produced locally, because only then will the Barcelona brand be strengthened."
Likewise, in these five years the program has also managed to grow and move its pop-up from La Roca Village —a space where products from the first editions were exhibited— to an ephemeral store in the heart of Barcelona, installed in the Lync & Co store on Passeig de Gràcia.
This year, the four brands selected to exhibit in the pop-up —Boulard BCN, Joplin Atelier, Naida C. Castel, and Rubearth— reflect the diversity of the Catalan scene, with companies ranging from artisan jewelry to brands specializing in men's fashion, for example. "The initiative has offered us the unique opportunity to exhibit our garments on a commercial street with as much visibility as Passeig de Gràcia," emphasizes Aida Molano, co-founder of JOPLIN Atelier.
The brand emerged almost 10 years ago, inspired by a trip along Route 66 in the United States by the Molano sisters, who had been working in the fashion sector for years —jobs they still combine with the brand today. Since then, they have created collections inspired by that western aesthetic and the scenarios they saw and were inspired by there, such as the karaoke in the town of Joplin, which not only helped and encouraged them to continue their journey but also served as the name for their brand. But beyond that North American aesthetic, they have managed to create unique and colorful pieces, with high-quality fabrics, and which have been worn by personalities such as footballer Alexia Putellas, singers like Amaral or Rosalía, or politician Irene Montero.
"Entrepreneurship is almost like a road trip, like the one we took on Route 66. It's constantly getting lost, moving forward as best you can, improvising, stopping when you need to… You know you have a goal or destination to reach, but what's important is not that but the journey itself," summarizes Molano. In this journey that is entrepreneurship, their participation in the Barcelona Fashion Forward program, which culminated in June after the pop-up, has been a turning point.
"Sometimes we have a very idealized idea of starting a clothing brand, but the program has helped us to bring our ideas down to earth, do the numbers, and realize that without certain production rhythms, the company cannot function. We could say that the program has helped us to continue being creative and improvising, but to do it less and plan more," says Molano. "Beyond the mentoring and training, one of the advantages of the initiative is also the networking and the synergies generated among the participating brands," assures Laura Molano, adding that they still have a WhatsApp group today where they help each other.
After their participation in the program, their goal as a brand is to find an external local workshop —since they now produce everything from their studio set up in Laura's home—, as well as to be able to exhibit in multi-brand stores. In the long term, they even consider creating a store that is much more than an exhibition space, but also serves for events or even concerts.
Since its first edition, more than fifty brands have used the program, like JOPLIN, to professionalize and finalize their brand. For Alberto Viso, founder of La Cabellera de Berenice —a participant in the first edition of the initiative—, the program also served to give him security and "end the impostor syndrome when starting a jewelry brand without prior experience or family tradition."
After more than 16 years working in the fashion sector, Viso decided in 2015 to undertake and found his own artisanal jewelry brand, with collections inspired by the icons and symbols of ancient mythologies —from Greek to Japanese or Egyptian— and constellations, as summarized by the brand's name, since La Cabellera de Berenice is both a constellation and a mythological story. For this brand, the experience at Barcelona Fashion Forward marked a before and after in its approach and business plan: "when you are a designer, you fall in love with the creative process but you forget how to sustain and bring these ideas to the real world," a learning he developed during the program.
Another of the brand's fundamental values is its commitment to local production, crafting all jewelry on a small scale and in workshops in Barcelona, and personally handling all assembly and polishing from his studio-workshop set up in his home. "With the current price of silver, I could have decided to change quality and make larger jewels, but I prefer to continue working with premium materials and natural stones," says Viso. His main channel is online sales, although he also participates once a month in markets or pop-ups, such as the upcoming September 6 and 7 at Palo Alto, although he aspires to have his own showroom in the Catalan capital.
For Poems BCN, a brand participating in the third edition of the program, the mentorships also proved essential for redefining its strategy. "The program helped us continue making the garments we already made but with more methodology, order, and resources, even helping us better understand our own creative process," says Carmina Izard of Poems, stating that they learned from both the teachers and their program colleagues.
So much so that the brand was able to open its own store in December 2024, in the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi neighborhood, without forgetting the more than 80 multi-brand store points they have distributed throughout Spain and Catalonia, in addition to having initiated their internationalization in countries such as France, Portugal, and Germany. Since 2019, they have managed to create timeless and colorful collections, thanks to the garment dyeing technique, that is, making everything in raw and applying the colors of each garment according to existing demand.
After five editions of the program and about fifty brands boosted, the director of DHUB considers that the initiative is at a moment of consolidation and rethinking, evaluating those elements that already work and those aspects that could still be improved to continue promoting emerging brands and achieve greater visibility and dissemination of the participating companies. The initiative is part of the DHUB's program to connect not only with the world of culture and the local community, but also with the business fabric and entrepreneurship of the city.
The program is also aligned with the efforts of the Barcelona City Council to position the city as the fashion capital. This year, the council has launched the new Fashion Plan, which foresees mobilizing 1.3 million euros annually and promoting initiatives such as a new space specialized in accelerating fashion projects in the Palo Alto venue, redefining the 080 Fashion Week, in which the City Council will participate for the first time, and boosting the Shopping Night.