This Tuesday, 150 professionals from 20 countries took part in a new edition of 080 Barcelona Fashion Connect, the virtual showroom organised by the Catalan fashion cluster, MODACC, with the support of the Government of Catalonia through the Ministry of Business and Labour. The virtual business meeting, which is part of the activities prior to 080 Barcelona Fashion, has maintained the TV show format of the last edition, improving the 3D space with personalised elements based on the exhibiting brand. This year, the event was presented by journalist Bàrbara Arqué.

The event has shown a change of trend this year, with a pre-eminence of the accessories and complements, swimwear and sportswear category over that of traditional outdoor clothing. In addition, connections have been established with the Benelux market, thus expanding the business opportunities and international visibility of the participating brands.

During this morning's opening, the Catalan Secretary for Business and Competitiveness, Albert Castellanos i Maduell, stressed that "it is an exceptional occasion for Catalan fashion brands to present their latest collections, and at the same time, an extraordinary opportunity for international buyers to discover incredible talent". He also said that "most of these Catalan fashion brands recognise the importance of sustainability in their business models, and are increasing their focus on circularity and adopting more sustainable practices".

For his part, the managing director of MODACC, David García Uslé, stated that "080 Barcelona Fashion is the premier event for the promotion of Catalan fashion and 080 Barcelona Fashion Connect complements this as an initiative to transform this international promotion into specific commercial agreements with agents and distributors from all over the world". Regarding the 080 Barcelona Fashion Connect event, MODACC's managing director explained that the main objective is that "the participating brands find new business opportunities in territories where they do not currently have a presence thanks to the contacts generated at Connect".

Throughout the morning, each of the 16 exhibiting brands presented their collections for 15 minutes to the more than 150 professionals attending from countries such as France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Italy. Representatives of e-commerce platforms and other professional profiles with high purchasing power from the United States, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, Ireland, Mexico and Canada, among others, also took part.

The live trade event will close this evening, but the platform will remain active until 30 May so brands can upload documents and videos of interest to agents. In addition, professionals with time differences with respect to Europe will be able to view their content at the time that is most convenient for them or contact the brands directly to close commercial deals.