The Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week (BBFW) closes the doors this Sunday in pavilion 1 of the Fira de Montjuïc with record numbers, because in the absence of the final balance, on Friday, the day the trade show opened, which is the business, the number of accredited visitors had already exceeded 21,500 in 2023.
There have been five days of fashion shows (37), where the trends for 2025 have been presented, and a commercial exhibition, which has brought together the international elite of bridal fashion, the greatest exponent of this edition being the haute couture designer Giambattista Valli, guest at the Bridal Night, at Llotja de Mar.
The Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, organized by Fira de Barcelona with the support of the Department of Business and Labor of the Generalitat of Catalonia, has brought together more than 400 brands, 80% international. This year’s edition has attracted buyers from almost all countries in Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Latin America, Southeast Asia and, as a novelty, also from Australia.
One of the attractions this year has been Barcelona goes Bridal! an artistic installation outside the Fira, on María Cristina Avenue, created by La Fura dels Baus, which was an allegory to the cycle of bridal fashion. On a large hanger 100 meters long and six meters high, a total of 150 dresses from local brands have been rotating during these five days.
The finishing touch on the catwalk was put on Friday night by Pronovias with a spectacular show in the oval room of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. The brand celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first collection (launched in 1964 by its founder Alberto Palatchi under the name St. Patrick) and also the new direction it wants to take from now on with art as a traveling companion.
“The collection is inspired by our city, Barcelona, ??and its art,” explains Ana Ramírez, director of the design team. There are nods to the sixties, which is when we were born, but we have taken the opportunity to take a leap and reinterpret fashion. “We have opted for simple lines, very modern silhouettes and architectural forms.” And she adds that the current bride “seeks to recognize herself on her wedding day, she wants fluidity, comfort and for the dress to adapt to her body.”
Of the 60 years of Pronovias, Ana Ramírez highlights: “When it was born, the bridal fashion business changed. Later, she took it a step further with Manuel Mota, who brought the world of art to her girlfriend, because he knew the woman’s body very well and modeled her garments. He introduced the shirt dress. It was also important to ally with haute couture brands such as Valentino, Ungaro or Elie Saab. And then with the arrival of Hervé Moreau who reinterpreted the current bride.” Precisely at the end of the show, Moreau came out to greet him, who left the firm when Palatchi sold it in 2017, but is now a collaborator and creator of the new collection.
Of the famous brides they have dressed and who have created a trend, remember the dresses of the model Ariadne Artiles, at her wedding with Fonsi Nieto “it was a beautiful, very elaborate mermaid dress, but very island-style, since she is from the Canary Islands and They got married in Eivissa. She was also one of the first to wear a guipure cap. And Eva González’s with Cayetano Rivera was also more classic, but made of crepe, with clean silhouettes.”
Among the 750 guests at the parade were: Karolina Kurková, Olivia Palermo, Georgina Chapman, Elisabetta Franchi, Ed Westwick with Amy Jackson, Nieves Álvarez, Inés Sastre, Najwa Nimri, Ariadne Artiles, Quim Gutiérrez, Adriana Ugarte, Macarena Gómez, Marta Hazas, Javier Veiga, Ana Rujas, Manuela Vellés, Elena Rivera, Vanesa Lorenzo, Teresa Riott, Lulú Figueroa and Brianda Fitz James, among others.
