The start of the Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week 2023 this Wednesday has confirmed that it is one of the most important bridal fairs in the world. Abasarí Caro, the new director, was exultant. Full to the brim at all shows especially with Asian and Italian guests. And the finishing touch was put by the haute couture designer Elie Saab, who has exceptionally changed Paris for Barcelona, to present his first exclusively bridal fashion show at the Maritime Museum.
In the morning, the catwalk was inaugurated by Jesús Peiró, who celebrated the 35th anniversary of the firm with a collection called precisely 35. “We are currently betting on the renewed classic,” explains the designer Merche Segarra. Light silhouettes with more daring elements that we incorporate from red carpet dresses such as tops, pants, feathers, cut out...." He also comments that the riskiest brides "are the older ones or those who do not have a standard size ”.
Along with models like Paula Willems, who opened the show, or Lorena Duran, an international plus-size top, the Catalan actress Montsé Oró (Alcarràs) has also walked the runway, and Patricia Noarbe, girlfriend of the Atlético de Madrid footballer, Marcos Llorente, whom she will marry this summer in Mallorca, dressed as Jesús Peiró
The second firm to parade was Sophie et voilà, the Basque firm chosen by Tamara Falcó to say yes to Íñigo Onieva on July 8. "(G)euria, the name of the collection that plays with these two words in Basque that mean ours and rain, because it is as if we were sprouting again", explains the designer Sofía Arribas, who adds that the dress of the Marquise de Griñón It is totally personalized “although maintaining our essence”.
The firm will present its prêt-à-porter line in June "because there are many girls who told us they weren't going to get married but wanted to wear Sophia et voilà", comments the designer who believes that a wedding dress does not have to continue fashion trends "to get married is to make a commitment and that has a point of tradition and you have to look at the photos of your wedding dress, 10 years later, without having the feeling that it has gone out of style".
The Valencian Isabel Sanchís has made flowers the identity sign of the firm and they have also given them the leading role in the collection that they presented yesterday in the Catalan capital. “Our bride is a bold woman, who understands the wedding as a party and dresses daringly with pleated pants and shirts, or with sculptural volumes with enormous flowers applied to dresses and veils. In addition to feathers embroidered with rhinestones on the front of the dress”, says Paula, the daughter of Isabel Sanchís. Mother and daughter say that now the usual thing is for the bride to wear two dresses at the wedding: "a more conventional one for the ceremony, be it civil or religious, and a sexier one for the party."
Yolancris presented its three bridal lines: New Generation, Boho and Couture. “The first is smooth, short dresses, with asymmetries and cut out. The third we have recovered die-cut flowers from the 50s and I have used satin again. And the second, the most extensive is the boho style that characterizes us, and the one that is requested the most”, explains Yolanda, the designer. And Cristina, who deals with the economic part, points out: "It's just that nobody does boho better than my sister."
Apart from the casting of models for Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, Yolancris has uploaded to the catwalk Marta López Álamo, girlfriend of Kiko Matamoros, whom he will marry in Madrid on June 2 and perhaps dressed in the signature of the Sabadell sisters.
The haute couture firm Elie Saab has been the protagonist of Barcelona Bridal Night, which in its debut has paraded for the first time only with bridal designs.
The collection has been inspired by the gardens of the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, for which the floral details with sequins, pearls and feathers have been the protagonists on rich fabrics. And princess-cut silhouettes have been interspersed with tighter ones.
Among the VIP guests at the show were Irene Montalà, Jaydy Michel, Mikky Kiemeney, Marta Sierra, Inés Arroyo, Gigi Vives, Manuel Oodovás, Sofía Páramo, Paula Navarro, Zina Charkoplia, Fiona Ferrer and Clara Courel.
