design

AR-DE tour showcases creativity, design and innovation in urban district of the Catalan capital

'Emergency! Designs against Covid-19' exhibition runs at Barcelona Design Museum until January 10

The summer edition of the fashion, design, and style festival, with a technological twist, takes place this week until Friday

'Geometry of Light' installation begins new season that includes 16th EU architecture prize and commemoration of German Bauhaus school

Mireia Vidal, Catalan dressmaker to Spanish Queen, tells of her meteoric rise

Leo Messi and his father testified this Thursday before Barcelona’s High Court. They are accused of having moved 4.1m EUR earned from the player’s image rights to tax havens between 2007 and 2009. In his statement, the FC Barcelona player assured that his life is “limited to playing football” and that he had “full confidence” in his father and the lawyers who managed his publicity contracts. This is the same statement that Messi gave in 2013, when he had to testify before the Court for the same case. Spain’s Tax Agency has requested 22 months in prison for each of them for having moved 4.1m EUR earned from publicity contracts to tax havens between 2007 and 2009. On the other hand, the public prosecutor is only accusing Messi’s father.

The 10^th edition of Barcelona Design Week started Monday with a programme of more than 70 activities, under the slogan 'Design is here!' ('el Disseny és aquí'). The event is a call for companies, designers and other agents of the business, innovation and creativity fields, and it is also open to the wider public, with event locations scattered throughout Barcelona. Barcelona Design Week also marks the beginning of the 5^th Barcelona Design Festival, which is being held from 8 June to 5 July. Among the new features is the 'Design is Future Congresstival,' midway between the conference and the festival, which delves into the world of innovation through design.

FC Barcelona next season will have a new kit from Nike in which the famous blaugrana stripes will be horizontal by the horizontal stripes of the blaugrana flags that are waved by the fans on match day at Camp Nou. The horizontal stripes have been seen before on kits for the basketball, rugby and track and field teams at FC Barcelona. However, it is the first time in the long and rich history of the Catalan club that the football team will have horizontal stripes on their kit. The new second strip is golden yellow, a tone associated to Catalonia. There are four vertical red stripes on the back over a golden yellow background from top to bottom. The design is inspired by the way that FC Barcelona fans drape the Catalan flag over their backs like a cape, thus expressing their passion for Catalonia and the club.

Barcelona Bridal Week is both the most important convention of the bridal industry in Europe and an international benchmark. This year, the Catalan capital’s event opened its doors on Tuesday with its bridal dress catwalk, the Paserela Gaudí Novia Fashion Show (5-8 May). On Friday, the international and professional trade fair NoviaEspaña (8-10 May) is opening, with 231 exhibitors participating. The event is held at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue and is attended by the most famous and trend-setting national and foreign designers in the field. According to the organisers, this 25^th edition of Barcelona Bridal Week will be the most international in its history, with the USA as guest country, bringing together US trends, buyers and retailers.

The Barcelona-based fashion company Desigual announced in a press release on Monday that Manel Jadraque is no longer the firm’s CEO, following a "mutual agreement" between the Catalan multinational and the executive. Jadraque was both the company's Chief Executive Officer and its Director General. His executive functions will be assumed by Thomas Meyer, Desigual's President and founder. According to the company, "the current challenges facing the brand encouraged this decision". Jadraque had worked for the Catalan brand for more than ten years. He will remain a member of the Board of Directors, the company has stated. Desigual’s turnover in 2014 improved by 16.2% on its 2013 results, reaching €963.5 million.

The second day of the 080 Barcelona Fashion Week gathered together young designers and big brands. Desigual closed out the day, as Mango did on Monday, by showing its exclusive menswear collection. Kristina Pimenova, the 9 year old girl named as the most beautiful child in the world, failed to appear on the catwalk due to bureaucratic problems. Sporting looks combined with wool and silk were the dominant styles of the day. Not only did politicians, actors and Spanish celebrities descend upon the event, but also bloggers and instagrammers who now have a reserved seat at the shows. 

The brand Sita Murt showed that, despite the recent death of renowned designer Sita Murt, they are still able to present a remarkable collection and will continue her work with exclusive designs for women, sold throughout the world. The collection presented women’s trends for the Fall/Winter season 2015/2016. The catwalk took place in the Catalan capital’s Maritime Museum, which is hosting the 15^th edition of the 080 Barcelona Fashion Week. Isabel Esteve Murt, head designer of the brand, stated that she is implementing Sita Murt’s way of adding details. Isabel is Sita Murt’s daughter and has taken her mother’s place by taking over control of the brand. She claimed in an interview that the collection had a British influence that could be seen in the shoes, trousers and colours.

The 080 Barcelona Fashion Week of 2015 is being held in the Catalan capital, showcasing the winter collections of new talent. Its first day ended with the blossoming summer creations by the Catalan multinational retail Mango. This year, all the vibrant catwalks are developed within Barcelona’s Maritime Museum, located within a striking Gothic building that was the former Royal Shipyard during the Middle-Ages (known as the Drassanes Reials). This week, more than thirty brands and designers, from Catalonia, Spain and throughout the world, exhibit their Fall/Winter 2015 collections until the 5^th of February.