Hello, readers!!
As you may see, this is my first blog post ever, so I'm a little nervous... ;) Thank God I've gotten a bit used to this whole thing thanks to my Chictopia profile, which I started before Christmas. You're very welcome to check it out and comment!
I've already written a couple of things in the 'About me' section, so I'll assume that I've presented myself to you guys already.
This week, my dear hometown Barcelona has hosted an amazing fashion event: the fashion & retail tradeshow The Brandery (their Winter 2011 Edition - Chances for Changes). It's a very cool fashion fair, and I was lucky enough to get a pass and be there (I got a pass for free because I'd gone to the previous edition in the Summer, but I would've payed and gone anyway if they hadn't!!).
One cool thing they had is an exhibition of 8 2 mts. high Diet Coke bottles designed by Spanish fashion designers. I've prepared this little and silly photoshop composition of the pics I took of the bottles (mostly because the background was terribly boring: a dirty wall):
I think my favourite is davidelfín's one... It's so Dalí, I love it!!
The Fashion&Living Area was right in front of the entrance, the very first thing you saw when entering the salon.
The idea was that nowadays we can live surrounded by 'fashion objects', that is objects designed by fashion designers. It was very interesting to see, with things from a gigantic Gaultier sofa, to a Custo motorcycle, or Karl Lagerfeld's exclusive music selection. Here you have a couple of them:
Carolina Herrera teddy bears... :)
Marc Jacobs school supplies (I have that lipstick-pen!!)
Galliano's box for the best macarrons in the world: from Ladurée, in Paris
Tommy Hilfiger picnic set
Barbie by Versus
Some art schools from the city had also a space, and mine was no exception! I took only a couple of detail pics, but you get the idea:
IED Barcelona
Okay, so apart from all this, one of the real and much awaited novelties of this edition was the catwalk... There were shows every day, in which either one or a group of brands were able to present their latest collections.
The first show was for American Vintage / Bel Air / Jago / Leon & Harper: (I can try to speciphy the exact brand if I remember it, but I'm afraid I'll get it wrong, so at least you know it's one of the four...)
I loved virtually everything they showed, but those leather pants... *-* I was begging for the photo to come out ok, and then the model posed, I took it, and click! I felt the relieving effect of knowing it to be decent... ;)
The 2nd show I saw was shared between Molly Braken and Little Marcel, and here you have a couple of pics:
I have 2 last pics to show you from the catwalk. They are: first, a close-up pic from the end of the Cottonfield show on the 27th (I can't show you the rest because I had camera problems that day and most of the runway ones didn't turn out), and then a cool panoramic from the catwalk area:
I love the design for the catwalk!! (You can see it in the 5th picture from the 1st show) I think it was very smart of them to do it like this because I really liked it at first, but I was only thinking of the aesthetic aspect; later on, after thinking about it, I saw other reasons why that catwalk construction was appropriate... First, thinking of the amount of space needed for a simple straight horizontal catwalk: even though the salon was big, the space would have had to be doubled for it to fit, and it would have left a huge empty space in the middle of a fair that wants to appear full and lively. A vertical one like this has no such problems: it takes a considerably smaller amount of space, and has such an interesting structure that when there's a no-show moment, it still looks like part of the whole. On the other hand, if we think of the typical catwalk, we always have the 'front row', 'second row', 'back row / from the tip of my toes row' issue... ;) Here, there's absolutely no problem: of course, the closer you get to the photographer area the better you'll see the models and the clothes (I had a super cool place for the 1st show... that's also probably why most of the pics that turned out alright are from that show :D), but you'll get to see something even if you're at the opposite side of the room thanks to it being elevated from the ground.
Another thing that was really cool about it was that the backstage was open to the public, so you could talk to the models (if you had the guts to do it, that is), see them getting ready, etc.
A sort of ritual for me when I go to this kind of events is getting as much magazines and catalogues as I can... and again, this time it was no exception! Which means that I have a pile of over 30 magazines to add to my already huge collection of Vogues/InStyles/HarperBazaar's/HMagazines/Vanidades, etc and etc. :)
This year a whole side of the salon was reserved for the magazines, and I think the space designed for H Magazine was especially interesting:
Here you also have a pic of the very cool beach balls / ceiling lamps that were over the restaurant:
As for the proper brand spaces, there were many that I loved, and here you have a couple:
Cool watches, by The One
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful and meticulously produced jewelry with a marked vintage flair at what is arguably my favourite discovery from the fair, El Armario de Lulú
Cool atrezzo at the American Vintage space, aside from the cool, breezy and very comfy clothes.
At one corner of the salon, they also had an expo of a stunning photoshoot from Harper's Bazaar magazine with the beautiful spanish model (now living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn) Sheila Márquez.
Next to it, there was a very cool space with the latest technological advances applied to the retail world, called 'Retail Innovation Space', in which I saw some things I'd always dreamed of, but had never thought possible (at least not that I'd be able to see them accomplished, anyway!). I think the one that I liked the most was the virtual changing room, which they called 'Magic Mirror'... Can you believe walking into a store and not actually trying things on, but doing it with a remote in front of a screen? It is mind-blowing, but it also makes me a bit sad and miss the the tiring and extremely satisfactory traditional way of shopping... :)
And finally, another very interesting thing this fair has is what they call 'The Laundry'. It's a space, a sort of think-tank of the fair, where trends and retail strategies are discussed, where many interesting conferences are held, and where professionals from the field meet to contrast their opinions. Last year, for example, was the 1st Blogger Meeting, and I had the luck to be in the same room with Gala González, Pelayo Díaz, Gerard Estalella and Yvan Rodic, and hear what they had to say about the fashion world... *-* A memorable day...
This year, there also was a Blogger Meeting, and although the matters discussed were very interesting, it lacked the 'celebrity' aspect that makes blogs so interesting. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean that they should necessarily have someone famous, it's just that they shouldn't automatically discard what they call 'Egobloging'... I feel that it's a pity that they do, only because some people think it to be a 'dishonest' and 'ungracious' way to blog: it's also fun, and shows a glimpse of the glam life some lucky fashionist@s get to live... (I'm not only talking of the VIP passes to the shows and the guest-list parties, but also of the free samples... *-*).
Anyway! Here's the pic:
Last summer, I also got to go to a conference in the Laundry by WGSN, explaining a prediction of the trends for upcoming seasons, which was very very interesting. This year, there was also one for Fall-Winter 2011-2012, but I wasn't able to go, because I had class... :( (being a good student sucks, sometimes! it also made me miss the Custo Line show...) So what I did was go to the space they had behind the Fashion&Living expo, and browse around their website for a while! :) It was so cool, and very very interesting, for I saw many inspiring things that I will never ever reveal!! muahahahahaa!! No, just kidding. I'll be a good girl. :)
Here are the 3 macro-trends:
(I'm sorry to say that the next ones will have a slightly inferior quality... As I said, camera problems. Damn blue light!)
So... I guess that's all. And as I think this post is on the way towards biblic dimensions, I don't suppose you'll be very sorry to see it finish, if I promise to come back with more stuff very soon. Which I do!! ;)
I have a very happy surprise to reveal on monday (I don't know, it's so big and exciting, I might slip and tell you all about it in a quick post tomorrow... ;p) about a certain event starting that same day here in Barcelona... ;) So stay posted!! It was a great pleasure for me to share everything with you guys. :)
EDIT (17/04/2011): Heyy!! I just found this very short video I recorded of the Phard show. I didn't have a very good place, which made my pics all blurry, and which made me switch to video instead. Hope you like it!! ;)
[All photos are by me. I'm happy if you decide to copy and keep them in your computer as a reference, or post them in your blog or anywhere you want. But you MUST put my name or a link to the blog somewhere, saying where you took them from. Not putting anything is in my opinion almost as bad as saying you took them yourself.]
