This Christmas dare to give local talent

With the Christmas campaign already underway, in this very different year, we realize that, fortunately, proposals that bring the light and hope we need to end 2020 and start 2021 with a new attitude remain alive. In this case, we are talking about Talento Local, an initiative that has consolidated in recent years and promotes another type of consumption. A more sustainable, closer, and also more necessary consumption, which seeks to give a voice to the growing group of local designers, creators, and artisans.

We spoke with Vanesa Carrasquilla, thealma materof the project, on how the idea was born, and how it has evolved and adapted to even overcome a situation as complex as the current one. She, a journalist by action and vocation, has been linked to the world ofmakers, and after founding her communication agency ---specialized in the creative sector--- she saw the need to present and make known to the general public that collective of small brands that work and produce here, often alone and on a small scale, truly unique objects: "I liketo tell the stories hidden behind these projects, and I realized that they all had a series of values in common to raise".

This is how the #yoregalotalentolocal initiative was born in 2018, initially linked to the Christmas campaign, where many people united sharing the same message and attracting consumers' attention. That first year it already gained great repercussion. They repeated the experience in 2019, carrying out a verkami (creative crowdfunding) to be able to carry out more dissemination actions, and it was also a success in participation. This 2020, despite the circumstances not being the best for local creators, the project has consolidated.

"I want more people to know that these brands exist, that they have values behind them, producing locally and on a small scale," explains Vanesa Carrasquilla

They have managed for the initiative not only to be active during the Christmas period, but to transform into a platform for disseminating information about small producers who are still at the forefront against all odds every day of the yearThere are 67 brands that trust Talento Local. Brands that, furthermore, are sowing the seeds of change, leading it ---in a choral revolution--- to transform consumption at a social level. "I want more people to know that these brands exist, that they have values behind them, producing locally and on a small scale," explains Vanesa Carrasquilla

In the Talento Local manifesto, we find the essential points that define the project: a responsible and conscious consumption system, respectful of the environment, which moves away from the adjective "fast" to recover the concept "slow", and where winning collectively, generating wealth in our territory, something that also depends on us as consumers. Knowing the story behind a project, knowing about the originality of the product we have fallen in love with, even seeing the hands of whoever made it… is something that is only achieved by approaching this type of brand. And, thus, also coming to understand the real value of the product. Which leads to asking how it is that we have become accustomed to considering it "normal" to pay very little, for example, for a t-shirt.

A network through which we not only help local projects move forward, but also enable participation in a positive impact on our own environment.

Vanesa Carrasquilla, leading this project, is clear that the idea under which it was born remains the same. In addition, of course,what is happening this year helps us rethink what kind of consumers we want to be. Learning to consume less, perhaps, but doing it better, becoming aware of whom to buy from. Platforms like this invite us to join a network through which we not only help local projects move forward, but also make it possible for us to participate in the positive impactthat it generates in our own environment. Even by spreading the word on social media ---if we think that our budget doesn't allow it--- we help move towards a more sustainable consumption paradigm.

And Talento Local is like a garden. We will find brands, stores, and markets of all kinds. Some examples: Ecometas, an online store specializing in new brands of sustainable lingerie and underwear; Fauna y Flora, jewelry and costume jewelry of local design and production; B de Barcelona, a store of small productions, limited editions, and handmade items with a clear Barcelona identity; Iorana, a shared creative space where you can buy directly from the author; Tiralahilacha, a sustainable and ethical fashion brand made in Bcn; Petit Gaudí, a collection inspired by Barcelona modernism; or also Numon, vegan and sustainable accessories, made with recovered, recycled, local, and organically certified materials. These are just a few suggestions; in the directory on the page, we will find many more.

Barcelona throughout its history, and as an inspiring city if ever there was one, has been the cradle of many entrepreneurial projects, of creative brands that have started to take their first steps here, of small businesses that have opened their doors betting on the possibilities offered by such an open and rich place as this. And although in recent years, and especially this 2020, we have seen the difficulties for our creators and artisans to stay afloat, it is worth supporting and giving visibility to initiatives like this, giving support to those next to us. People who, like us, have dreams and hopes to move forward. This year, more than ever, #yoregalotalentolocal.

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