Marta Coca of 080 Barcelona Fashion talks about its future codecs, pricing, internationalisation, emerging talents

The thirty sixth version of 080 Barcelona Fashion was held on October 14-17 within the Catalan capital. The organisers, staging Barcelona’s trend week at its customary venue for the final timehave been ready to attract on a price range of €2.15 million, together with a grant from the municipality of Barcelona. Where will 080 Barcelona Fashion go from right here, and what are its future challenges? Marta Coca, the occasion’s high govt, has talked to FashionCommunity.com about all this.

FashionCommunity.com: This was the final version of 080 Barcelona Fashion to be held on the Sant Pau Art Nouveau website. How is the seek for a brand new venue going?

Marta Coca: We’re a pair of choices. Both want some interventions, and we’re evaluating them to be able to assess if we will get the whole lot accomplished by subsequent April. We desire a fully completely different type from the final editions, the place modernism was the stand-out characteristic. We’re on the lookout for a venue that, whereas completely different, will nonetheless be identifiably Barcelona.

FNW: What are the venue’s key necessities?

MC: Capacity is one of them. In addition, we’d actually like to have the ability to use each indoor and out of doors areas, so that folks can take pleasure in an outside space for a breather between reveals. We’re eager on a venue with sufficient capability for our audiences, but additionally with out of doors area they’ll take pleasure in, and the place they’ll have the ability to community between reveals.

FNW: A number of months in the past, you introduced, amongst different issues, that the municipality of Barcelona would be part of forces with 080 Barcelona Fashion. What kind has this help taken?

MC: In this version, it got here as a small monetary contribution. We don’t need to say the Municipality is an investor, we’d fairly discuss about a associate that can assist us develop. This collaboration, on the one hand, takes the shape of a monetary contribution to spice up content material and communication on the venue the place we’re staging 080. On the opposite, it’s aimed toward organising different initiatives throughout town throughout the trend week. In different phrases, making Barcelona sparkle with trend.

FNW: How are you planning to attain this?

MC: We should devise the very best format to make the occasion final 5 or 6 days at most, enabling us to proceed to draw patrons, the media and stakeholders. The concept is that the partnership received’t be solely monetary, however might be characterised by a scalable mission and a ubiquitous trend presence in Barcelona, involving completely different areas of town: There might be initiatives tailor-made to trade gamers, others for stakeholders and for most people, just like the Open Area we launched this yr.

We wholeheartedly consider that trend is tradition and that, if we wish our manufacturers to promote on the costs they should promote for, now we have to work on client training, performing as a public platform and an echo chamber. Conveying the notion that trend has a worth, that it’s not about consuming rather a lot, however about consuming nicely and making high quality selections. And we should be sure that Barcelona individuals are in love with trend simply as they’re in love with artwork.

FNW: This was 080 Barcelona Fashion’s thirty sixth version. How do you see it evolving within the medium time period?

MC: We see ourselves as a promoter of alliances, each domestically and internationally; we see ourselves nonetheless doing what we’re doing now, whereas being attentive to tendencies and the way markets are evolving. Barcelona has a trend dimension, in aesthetic phrases, however we even have manufacturers which are linked with a social, moral and political dimension. 080 intently displays what’s occurring round us.

We’ll proceed to be obsessive about integrating artisanal methods into our collections, as a result of this can make us stand out, making a DNA particular to Catalan trend. Of course, sustainability is essential too. No matter how lengthy it should take for EU [sustainability] insurance policies, together with recycling and prolonged producer accountability, to be deployed on the bottom, we need to put together society and types in order that they’ll be prepared to include them when the time comes.

FNW: What about internationalisation?

MC: For us, it’s a should. The native market is essential, however our manufacturers, particularly emerging ones, want us to assist them discover their area of interest within the international area.

FNW: In this respect, what formulation are you planning to discover?

MC: Besides reverse missions, i.e. bringing stakeholders to Barcelona throughout the trend week, we’re planning to organise industrial missions overseas. Next yr, for instance, in collaboration with Catalan trend hub Modacc, we are going to journey to India, a fast-growing market value exploring. Certain markets have a medium to long-term potential: In such instances, we’re conscious that return on funding just isn’t instant, however we consider that, as a public platform, it’s the place we must be.

Beyond this, and as a strategy to increase the 080 model’s visibility, pop-up shops are very efficient internationally, nearly higher than showrooms and commerce reveals. With a pop-up format, you’ll be able to attain each trade patrons and customers. A pop-up method, clustering a number of manufacturers collectively below the Barcelona or Spanish trend umbrella, is working very nicely. Of course, you must select the appropriate cities, and never each model will slot in each market, so you must section very fastidiously.

FNW: A plan like this goes past the occasion itself. You’re set to develop these initiatives all year long, aren’t you?

MC: Indeed. Though we name ourselves a trend week, we predict of ourselves as a platform. We know there two key moments within the yr, April and October, however we work intently with manufacturers, and we’re engaged in a relentless dialog with them all year long. We’re mainly engaged on the native marketplace for now, however the concept is to supply 080 content material with a worldwide attain. We must de-seasonalise our platform as a result of every model has its personal calendar, and enterprise fashions differ significantly. We have ready-to-wear and couture manufacturers, others engaged on a pre-order foundation, and so forth. We have to be keen to let all types of enterprise mannequin and corporations of all sizes have area on our platform, so long as we see potential in them.

FNW: In current years, 080 Barcelona Fashion has been attracting designers and types that have been beforehand displaying in Madrid, comparable to Moisés Nieto, Carlota Barrera, Acromatyx and Ernesto Naranjo. Why do you suppose that is occurring?

MC: There are manufacturers coming from Madrid, others from Valencia and different cities. I believe that is occurring as a result of they see that 080 is doing nicely, and that development doesn’t occur in a single day. We’ve had a really clear technique for a number of editions, and we’re regularly placing sources and energy into it, consolidating ourselves.

We’re additionally constructing a neighborhood. Everyone is speaking about communities these days, nevertheless it’s truly one thing that 080 has been targeted on for a very long time. In addition, we’re speaking about manufacturers whose international viewers is sort of concentrated, and now we have the power to serve them. In any case, some platforms are complementary: There are manufacturers in Catalonia that could be extra eager about what Madrid has to supply, like entry to the [Spanish] or Latin American markets. Hopefully, they don’t regard us as competitors, the purpose is that there are two large cities in Spain, Madrid and Barcelona, with two distinctive platforms that, with their choices, are in a position to cater to the entire market.

FNW: 080 has pioneered giving visibility to emerging expertise. Is this a well-established method?

MC: We’re persevering with alongside this path. In truth, a member of my workforce specialises in scouting new manufacturers, in order that our calendar can characteristic a hybrid combine of kinds and a multi-generational outlook. Our concept is that new voices ought to account for about 20% of the manufacturers featured in every version. We’re additionally introducing new enterprise fashions. Not each model is eager to indicate twice a yr, or to work on a seasonal foundation. Many manufacturers, particularly emerging ones, produce one assortment per yr, and combine it with common drops. We suppose that is implausible.