Fashion in Barcelona

Today, more fashion capitals exist than the original “Big Four” of London, Paris, Milan, and New York from the 20th century. Although the “Big Four” remain the most elite, other cities have developed into smaller fashion centers. The history of Fashion in Barcelona begins in the early 20th century with the rise of the textile industry and spans through today with its current concentration on fast fashion. With various popular fashion districts and a handful of notable fashion events each year, Barcelona has proved itself as a major city for fashion. According to the Global Language Monitor, which ranks world fashion capitals, Barcelona ranks as #5.

The beginning of Barcelona as a capital for fashion can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century when Barcelona’s prosperous textile industry allowed the city’s designers to produce some of the finest garments of the day. Various designers contributed to Barcelona’s rise as a fashion capital including French haute couture designer Jeanne Lanvin who first learned the art of dressmaking in the Catalonian capital city. Later, in 1929, she opened a branch of her store in Barcelona, demonstrating her belief that Barcelona was a meaningful fashion city. Another notable development for fashion in Barcelona came with Pedro Rodriguez who opened his first store, a Parisian-style salon, in Barcelona in 1919. Further, one of the most important events of the early 20th century in relation to Barcelona’s growth as a fashion capital includes the Barcelona International Exposition of 1929 where the world-famous designer Cristóbal Balenciaga first established himself.

Rodriguez and Balenciaga would continue to become the leading Spanish fashion designers of their time. Additionally, in the 1920s multiple textile warehouses emerged including Santa Eulalia, El Dique Flotante and La física, offering haute couture pieces. The combination of Barcelona’s link to Paris, the strong Catalonian textile industry, and the local embroidery industries lent to Barcelona’s emergence as a noteworthy city of fashion.

During the Second Republic (1931-1936), Barcelona hosted several fashion shows, but the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) stopped all fashion development in Barcelona. After the war, the growth of the fashion industry resumed. In the 1940s the “Cinco Grandes” (Pedro Rodriguez, Manuel Pertegaz, Asunción Bastida, Santa Eulalia and El Dique Flotante) appeared in the world of fashion. This group was able to gain support from Francisco Franco’s military dictatorship that was interested in Spanish exports. This allowed Catalonian fashion to continue to develop.

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Wikipedia