Embroidered lace with micro beading and buttons lined with chantilly, taffeta, tulle, white fabrics everywhere, all white, although to the expert eye of Merche Segarra, creative director of Jesús Peiró, "if we talk about weddings, there are a thousand and one shades of white”, and puts some scraps next to the light so that he can appreciate the differences. "We work in the 'prison' of white because we rarely use color, we are faithful to tradition," argues Segarra, who has spent nine months getting inspired and working hard in this Viladecans atelier to shape 35 artisan-style suits, all inspired by at the haute couture fashion exhibitions in Paris of the last century, with which he pays homage to the time the Catalan firm has existed and which have been presented at this year's edition of Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week (BBFW).
Today's brides still prefer to marry in white and radiant, as imagined by the Jesús Peiró brand. “You have to play with the whites, the volumes, and put a icing on the cake with feathers, openings, glitter or necklines”, emphasizes Merche Segarra. The white dress, which Queen Victoria of England made so fashionable, has been the axis on which a solid and recognized industry in the bridal sector has developed in Barcelona and Catalonia which, according to the Department of Business and Labor of the Generalitat de Catalunya, represents 41% of the total Spanish turnover and which in 2021 exported a value of 200 million euros. And a good part of the success is due to one of the most important fairs in the sector, the BBFW, which has attracted more than 18,000 people in six days in a new edition at the Fira de Montjuic, with the participation of 350 brands and the presentation of more than 850 dresses for brides.
This year it has been confirmed on the catwalk that brands are proposing more and more handmade and personalized pieces that are enriched with high-quality embroidery, gemstones and decorations. “Barcelona is the epicenter of the bridal world, as the innovative spirit of the city, the strength of having important fast fashion firms and the rich history of textile tradition come together to create great brands in the bridal sector and benefit from the large base of artisans and designers, and all this mix is reflected in the BBFW”, values Alabasarí Caro, director of the Barcelona event.
The bridal sector no longer focuses only on the traditional wedding dress. Now it is fashionable to complement the main dress, usually larger and more expensive, with a second dress, usually crepe or chiffon. “In Spain we notice, for example, that the rehearsal dinner typical of the United States is increasingly celebrated, that ceremony the night before the wedding in which the two families of the bride and groom have dinner to get to know each other, and that is another business opportunity ”, adds Caro.
Rosa Clarà, the protagonist of another Catalan success story in the bridal sector, with 28 years of experience and a presence in more than 80 countries, has given the classic wedding dress a fresh air. Sophisticated fabrics, handmade lace and micro beading have stood out in her BBFW show. "We have dared to go abroad and today all the brides in the world at least know that we exist and before making decisions they take us into account and that is very important, because we have done it by diversifying the offer, adapting to each country, opening their own stores to reach brides without intermediaries and maintaining the original spirit of creating quality dresses with the best fabrics and with a lot of work and dedication in each one of them”, explains the founder Rosa Clarà to summarize a prestigious career.
The big brands are also in the relay phase, leaving the helm to the new generations. Daniel Clarà, son of the famous designer, begins to take over the reins of the company but, like his mother, he has clear ideas. "Online shopping is very good for information, but what a bride wants is a shopping experience," says Daniel Clará. In these times, personalization is valued, and that loved ones, family and friends are involved in the process. "Finding the right suit is a very emotional moment," says the heir to this business empire.
The brands boast of the Catalan artisan heritage but also look to the future. The classic dress continues to be successful, but brides prefer to take it to their land, make it their own. “We are talking about an emotional purchase that requires personalized attention based on excellence, something that we emphasize in our boutique on Avenida Diagonal and that even makes brides travel from abroad to have their personalized appointment at Yolancris ”, says Yolanda Pérez, creative director of the Catalan brand, one of the few Spanish firms that has paraded in Parisian haute couture.
“Fortunately, today's bride likes to discover and take risks. Boho continues to be one of our best-sellers internationally”, points out Yolanda Pérez, who designs from the soul with the help of moulage in the atelier in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat. This has made it easier for Yolancris to open up to a broader price range and have introduced more versatile collections such as New Generation or Touch, with a simple and relaxed style, more versatile, a more anti-bride look, with short dresses, two-piece sets, jacket suits or ponchos.
Since 1980, L'Arca Barcelona has established itself as an icon of vintage wedding dresses. "We understand the bride from sustainability and vintage, we recover the tradition of taking advantage of what our grandmothers had, that is the basis of the 'reworked' (reworked), the typical wedding dress turned into a cocktail dress, or, for example, for guests, we turn the 'obi', belts from old Japanese kimonos, into jackets”, says Nina Balmes, designer of L'Arca Barcelona. "It is the idea of the unique piece, the one that no one else will have - Balmes concludes - we recover handicrafts that are disappearing, basically we offer the bride a custom-made dress like a lifetime atelier although we also sell online, people send us measurements from Australia, China with a table that we have well prepared and we send you the dress”.
After the years of pandemic that led to more civil ties and more sobriety, there is currently a resurgence of weddings in which the bride does not want to give up the 'great dress', the wow effect of when the bride enters, as defined by Nina Balmes. But the trend is for that wedding dress to have several layers or even coats and then become simpler and more comfortable for the dance. "It can even be used for later, after the wedding we dye it and it has a longer run," Balmes proposes.
Barcelona continues to be innovative and receptive to new firms exploring niche markets such as Graziella Antón de Vez, who has created a line of wedding dresses inspired by paintings by painters of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood such as Rosetti and Burna Jones. Soft beige damask fabrics with flowers that combine with a hand-knitted collar and pretty laces that finish off the garment. But since bridal fashion goes beyond the dress, she has also let her imagination run wild exploring another segment with the children's collection for weddings with a retro and special air that fits with bridal gowns: "It's quite a challenge to create a group in which that they coordinate the fabrics and colors, I feel very comfortable working with the little ones, who also have a lot of prominence in the ceremony”, points out Antón de Vez.
The Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week has returned to pass judgment, one more year, on bridal fashion that will be worn all over the world. Rosa Clará has triumphed with delicate lace with hand-embroidered micro-beads that bring light to the bridal look, as well as crop tops, crepe dresses with clean and elegant lines that are adapted with details such as cut-outs, knots and bows, and also with Dresses with a lingerie influence in crepe satin, perfect to be combined with ethereal coats or georgette capes and show off two different looks on the wedding day.
Jesus Peiró has opted for designs with a lot of play on the neckline, sleeves, layers, openings, embroidery or glitter such as sequins or crystals, a collection inspired by the fashion exhibitions in Paris, ideas influenced by the graphic and sculptural impact of Schiaparelli, femininity and modernity of Alaia and the luxurious aroma of a Dior Centenario. Meanwhile, the haute couture catwalks and the red carpets of Hollywood are the inspiration for the new Pronovias collections, since brides want to look and feel like a true actress and be the stars of their day. And Yolancris' artisan productions wink at Jacques de Fath's 50s, a hymn to freedom, a tribute to confident and empowered women who want to highlight her silhouette, like those who are now setting trends.
