080 Barcelona Fashion: 22 designers/brands presented their collections in this 27th digital edition

From 26 to 29 April, 080 Barcelona Fashion celebrated its 27th digital edition in one of the most charismatic settings of Gaudí's work: Casa Milà (La Pedrera). The event, promoted by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Regional Government of Catalonia), presented the collections of 22 designers and brands, which the audience can watch again on the 080 Barcelona Fashion website. A wide range of creative proposals, whose common ground consists of talent, creativity, originality, quality and, above all, authenticity and uniqueness.

The following designers and brands (in alphabetical order) participated in this edition of 080 Barcelona Fashion:

ALVARO CALAFAT was one of the young designers making his debut at this edition of 080 Barcelona Fashion with his collection Capítulo 1 Desequilibrio, which is inspired by the sins described by Dante in his Divine Comedy, updating and reflecting them in today's society. The collection is based on nine core designs, which describe each of Dante's sins, with a pattern between divine – curved, elliptical, rounded lines – and human – straight and square lines. The colour range is full of contrasts, and the accessories have their own meaning within the hell the designer proposes, hence becoming the collection’s common ground.

Another newcomer was ANTONIO MARCIAL, who presented Fresh and Bloody, a genderless fashion collection inspired by the fashion and dresses of the nineties and which talks about art, suffering, wounds and scars in an optimistic and renewing way. With each garment, the young designer deconstructs the codes that define gender in fashion: silhouettes, lines, materials, colours, to create and start again. Wide silhouettes and shoulder pads are mixed with sexier lines and tighter fitting garments. Lightweight fabrics coexist with denim, which becomes elegant and groundbreaking, and combine with knitwear in new shapes and patterns.

AVELLANEDA opened 080 Barcelona Fashion with its collection La nuit éclairée, based on dinner jackets for men and women, prints inspired by Chinese porcelain, dresses inspired by tailored garments, an essential and energetic colour range – white, black, red, blue – that refers to Mediterranean culture and its celebration of what is essential.

A regular at 080 Barcelona Fashion is CUSTO BARCELONA, which presented its Wake Up World collection, inspired by a new awareness arising from the circumstances we have all been plunged in and with a spirit of change. Colour is this collection’s genetics, with white as the main colour, mixed with neon, bright colours and optical effects created by overlaying different textures, as well as experimentation, both in terms of materials and shapes. The silhouette is revamped by creating windows that reveal the body, i.e. holes created from a very careful pattern to renew the concept of sensuality.

EIKO AI presented its Blooming Earth collection, aimed at today’s woman, urban, cosmopolitan, inspiring and sensual, who seeks to connect with the earth’s natural beauty. Satin, tulle, glitter, needlepoint and flowing fabrics were shown merging with both drawn and pictured flower prints. For added intensity and maximum blooming, patchwork and colour blocking are mixed. On a chromatic level, it emulates an evolution: from black, when there were no flowers, to the flower explosion of colour and scents all over the planet. The range of red, pink, powdery yellow, aqua green and chlorophyll is tantamount to the flower variety and richness. The silhouettes have a 70s and 90s touch, festive looks coexist with more casual, refined and relaxed styles; kimonos, sleeves and flare pants, flowing dresses and oversize shirts.

EÑAUT presented its fourth collection, Logging 4%, this time focusing on deforestation and logging. Its Fashion Film showed oversize shirts, sweatshirts, overalls, coats and tailored garments in neutral tones that evoke earth colours, from green, ochre and black, and the use of two shades in some garments, as well as prints like plaids. A creative proposal that moves from life to the absence of life, from everything to nothingness, from beauty to devastation. A perspective of the struggle against mass exploitation.

The ESCORPION brand has brought the best eighties fashion party to La Pedrera with its Let's Dance – Le freak c'est chic collection. A sexy, transgressive and modern proposal, offering an alternative wardrobe to reality. Set in New York's Studio 54, the collection is divided into three moments linked to three music styles, with a common leitmotif: knitwear, from fine gauges featuring cashmere to other compositions in alpaca and natural fibres.

The IS COMING brand also made its debut at 080 Barcelona Fashion with Back to the origins, based on the play of textures and colours. IS COMING imagines an urban woman with comfortable garments that allow her to express her true spirit, versatile items full of details and functionality. There were looks that range from day to night and suit both leisure and work. Two-piece sets gain prominence in a collection full of prints, natural fabrics, such as linen and organic cotton, mixed with subtle touches of Lurex that imbue the garments with light. Jackets, sweaters and accessories, such as scarves and gloves, become the perfect items to brighten up cold winter days and create an original look by playing with overlays.

LEBOR GABALA presented the Harris Tweed Club collection. In it, we can find wide jackets, coats and blazers, jacquard fabrics with houndstooth and in multiple colours, from the most sober to bright and contrasting ones. There were also sweaters and cardigans in cashmere and fine gauge virgin wool, in colours ranging from ecru and apricot to mink. Other light, fine gauge alpaca garments in bright colours inspired by wild flowers, from strawberry to purple or pink, and thick, softened cotton corduroy to complete the collection’s autumn look.

LOLA CASADEMUNT BY MAITE celebrated its 40th anniversary with its collection The Wild Life Barcelona, which conveys the scene of Barcelona in the 90s. A city open which is open to the world, very urban and cosmopolitan, multicultural, with an internationally recognised art level, as well as a certain underground and transgressive touch. A proposal was shown that opts for a sophisticated sporty look, combined with the most characteristic brand identity, such as animal print, bright and powerful colours, its own prints and attention to detail in each of the garments.

Another newcomer was LR3, with a permanent collection that was born essentially from the idea of looking for fabrics for this summer. Colour is one of the core concepts of the creative proposal, among which the most important are ecru, blue, red and gold. The other important concept is the pattern, which works for the whole collection crosswise, in order to delay production processes. The Fashion Show Film showed very light fabrics, such as linen and cotton, as well as multi-stripe prints and classic plaids.

MENCHEN TOMÀS presented Duende, inspired by that innate and intangible talent that causes almost magical sensations in those who witness it. The collection plays with volatile volumes of skirts and long dresses, where the cut and prints create different narratives. It also takes fabrics out of context, creating surprising combinations, such as the use of plush in making a blazer or a taffeta shirt, with volumes that defy gravity. The use of printed chiffons and silks with oriental inspiration and colours like porcelain blue, apple green or tangerine orange give the collection a touch of energy.

ONRUSHW23FH also presented its collection at 080 Barcelona Fashion with Liminal, focusing on the energy of individuals and how they behave in the space we inhabit through movement and the tension it causes. It is a timeless collection inspired by Takis and Peter Sealy, two artists who work on movement, energy, colour and lighting. Importance is given to silhouettes, which emerge from the shape of the body itself and are all variants of it. Straight silhouettes, full body and total looks combined with a lot of structure on top. International Klein Blue is starring the collection, as well as the prints created from Sealy's work.

The OTRURA brand also debuted in this edition with Año Latente 2020/2021, a collection inspired by what is latent, understood as all those emotions and feelings we carry inside, which can sometimes get out and express themselves freely. The creative proposal consists of cool wool, organza, cotton tulle, satin, silk and wool blends with overlays. There were layers of worn garments and soleil pleats that emerge from the inside of the garments, minimal reconstructed tailoring, use of organza as the veil through which we observe manes, interlinings, cottons, accessories and simple garments, with only small remains of what it was originally.

PABLO ERROZ presented 2015:2021, a non-seasonal 2022 capsule collection, combining summer and winter ready-to-wear proposals that highlight the brand's DNA under the philosophy, for the first time, of See Now Buy Now. 2015:2021 is made up of a series of revamped, colourful classics under the concept of effortless pieces, yet working in complex, modern knitted silhouettes. Materials such as nappa leather, knitwear, cotton and linen were shown within a natural colour range. Moreover, the garments have a built-in NFC code, a clothing "passport" that can be scanned using a smartphone to track the product.

PALOMA WOOL made its debut at 080 Barcelona Fashion presenting its Friendship is universal collection, created by friends of the project. The collection was presented together with six human sculptures created at Atelier Amistat (Hospitalet de Llobregat) that were generated around Paloma Wool’s designs, inspired mainly by the life of mushrooms and Gaudí’s work. Paloma Wool's proposal is inspired by friendship and growing up in the 90s and in 2000, materialising the concept through different prints and paying tribute to the CDROM, tattoos, which were fashionable at the time, platform shoes and miniskirts worn with pants. As usual, colour and prints abound in collaboration with multidisciplinary artists.

Another newcomer was PAOLA MOLET with the collection Oh, l'amour, which talks about how society understands love and the (successful or not) pursuit of happiness, whether or not it follows the established canons. Rigid, bushy, hard and straight looks that refer to the person who submits to the barriers imposed by society. A non-gender collection with handmade garments, such as the tailoring of jackets and the individual threads on knitwear and dresses, providing small details with personality.

The debut brand PARAISO presented its Paraiso means fun collection, an ode to fun and beauty that explores the pleasure of nonchalance, youthfulness of spirit, contact and love of life. Paraiso finds inspiration in old things that remind us of summer: striped bed sheets, old towels, clothes used the day before or the sun coming through the window on a long summer day. The collection is an ode to life: easy-to-wear shapes, comfortable and genderless garments in a highly vibrant colour range reminiscent of summer colours.

THE LABEL EDITION presented its Love echo collection, which nurtures the love that invites us to put aside negative emotions and remember easier times, when hugging was not synonymous with putting oneself in danger. This kind of love speaks a common language, which flows through these garments. Blouses and baggy pants in bright colours, ruffles that exalt exuberance and buttons of different sizes that coexist in the same cuff are some of the elements that speak this language.

Catalan designer TXELL MIRAS presented her collection Zerkalo (mirror in Russian), a mystery thriller through which she wants to reflect on egocentrism in social networks and the need to expose ourselves so that people see us. A collection full of contrasts, on the one hand, minimalist style looks, sheer and simple, and, on the other hand, more sculptural and rigid proposals.

VICTOR VON SCHWARZ presented his Disco 2000 collection to debut at 080 Barcelona Fashion, which was born during his lockdown, revisiting photos of his adolescence and inspired by his references in the music and aesthetics of the time. During the Fashion Show Film, we saw coloured checked wool fabrics, recycled polyester windbreakers, tulle, lace with basic and school-inspired garments, voluminous dresses like those worn by Kurtney, with her lingerie and baby doll dresses, or Candida Mary Doyle, with her revision of the Mod aesthetic.

Y_COMO, Yolancris' pret-a-porter brand, chose the 080 Barcelona Fashion platform to present its brand and collection, If, based on the poem by Kipling (a writer of the early twentieth century), who claimed the humanist style and shared the same cultural movement as Antoni Gaudí, as well as with designer William Morris, a promoter of the Arts & Crafts trend. Denim is starring the collection, which is treated as if it were an haute couture garment, made directly on the model and combined with flower-printed blouses and dresses within a colour range of muted greens and oranges, taking us to a natural world.

This edition features two sponsors and eight contributing companies. Kevin Murphy (official hairdresser) y ThuyaProfessional Line (official manicure) are sponsors. GHD (official hairdressing tools), M-A-C Cosmetics (official make-up), Garmin (official watch), SVR Cosmetics (official cosmetics), Thuya Formación Profesional (make-up equipment), Rowenta (ironing and sanitising tools) and Font Vella (official water), as well as La Roca Village (official shopping destination), are also participating as contributors. The companies have reiterated their support for the 080 Barcelona Fashion project.