Rec Experimental Stores

Mi閞coles 06 noviembre 2019

Ten years of one-off fashion to revitalize a neighbourhood

London, Berlin, Budapest, Barcelona … in the main European cities there are commercial initiatives that revolutionize – and revalue in turn – industrial areas in a situation of abandonment and that, together with other economic and social aid, become residential areas full of life that have a wide cultural and leisure offer, always maintaining the manufacturing aesthetic that characterizes them, marginal areas that become the聽cool聽neighbourhoods聽of the moment.

In Igualada and on a more modest scale, the聽Rec.0 initiative聽celebrates 10 years of action based on creativity, the industrial district of Rec, an authentic quarter which more than a hundred old tanneries inhabit – the majority in disuse – that testify to the textile legacy and the importance within the leather industry which this small quarter of Barcelona has had from the 18th century until today.聽This year specifically the organization of Rec.0 has opted for revealing the intricacies of the neighbourhood’s industrial heritage via various activities such as the uncovering of new tanneries converted into cultural equipment,聽workshops about the artisanal creative processing of leather and guided visits to various areas of the neighbourhood that are still in operation, among others.聽This set of activities not only seeks to reveal what was in this unique neighbourhood, but also bear witness to the ways in which the Rec has been transformed in the last ten years.

Apart from the wish to preserve and publicise heritage, Rec.0 remains the same as always: a biannual commercial festival in a one-off format that for four days revolutionizes this area of the city via聽pop up stores聽of international fashion brands and local firms, coexisting in specifically different industrial areas that are recovered and adorned for the occasion so that the participating brands can sell at special rates.聽With that same formula, repeated edition after edition, in the last decade it has established itself as an indispensable – and alternative 鈥損lace to visit within the commercial and cultural ambit of Catalonia.

Author design guides Rec Experimental Stores

In this edition the urban tour of the Rec neighbourhood includes 60 temporary areas that will surprise the consumer and that house more than 80 brands of different formats and products for sale specifically of聽stocks聽in stores that only exist during the fashion festival.聽There are new products by Brownie, Vans, Pretty Ballerinas, Mascar贸, or Eastpack, among others, that coexist with flagships such as Levi's, Adidas, Munich, Mango, Sita Murt, Indi & Cold, Nice Things, Ash …

What we find most interesting is that these large national and international firms are side by side with independent designer brands such as Miriam Ponsa, Txell Miras and Josep Abril which always share the same聽pop up store聽and have become the trident of Rec 0 design, to the extent that the festival is the reason why the three of them decided to join forces to boost their joint stores in Barcelona.

This year, Gorni Kramer or Who are also to be found in the designer area.聽Precisely in order to give more space to small-scale firms, the Rec organization has opened a new courtyard where a new brand will be installed every day. This allows it to make its way into the world of fashion and offers commercial possibilities to emerging designers.聽They will exchange synergies with other Catalan fashion brands such as Brava Fabrics, Woodys Barcelona or Cuirum that will coexist with the Nordic fashion of Sess煤n or Samsoe Samsoe.聽Finally, in this area dedicated to the most local design there is also the聽pop up store聽080 with the winner of the Rec.0 competition next to the Catalan catwalk.聽This year the winner was IAIOS, a brand of sweaters made with recycled thread.

Leisure and family culture

To liven up shopping and visits to the industrial environment of the industrial district, Rec.0 has organized a cultural and gastronomic agenda in parallel with free activities for all audiences and tastes.聽In music, concerts by local groups and singer-songwriters such as Joan Colomo, Red P猫rill and Beth are the stand-out items among other performances.聽Discussions and reflections on issues related to the festival are also promoted.聽This year in the Rec meeting area Gen铆s Roca will give a talk about digital transformation.聽For movie lovers Zoom, the International Audiovisual Content Festival of Catalonia, will feature the screening of short films and innovations on the small and the big screen.聽Finally cuisine is also a highlight, with areas set out for local producers and KM0 cuisine where chefs will offer local food in the various pop-up bars that have been expressly built for the festival.

The new edition of Rec.0 begins today and will take place until November 9 in the Rec quarter of Igualada.

Mi閞coles 07 noviembre 2018

Ephemeral design to transform a neighbourhood

If there is a keyword that defines and describes with accuracy the phenomenon of Rec Experimental Stores in all its amplitude, that is the word “transformation”. It concerns the metamorphosis of the Rec district of Igualada and its characteristic tanneries – many of them in disuse – into a pop-up stores fashion festival, where for four days anything can happen quite apart from commercial sales, its main objective. Hence its festive, unconventional and carefree component.

This edition Rec.018, which begins today until next Saturday, presents a commercial platform which hosts more than 100 fashion pop-up stores of major international brands and local designers who settle in different industrial areas in the neighbourhood and transform them into lively commercial areas, decorated for the occasion, where each company takes the opportunity to sell their stocks from past seasons at unbeatable prices. One comes across these temporary stores almost by surprise via an open urban circuit that runs through the streets and alleys of the industrial district of Igualada and which is divided into five large areas where most of the firms are grouped. The most natural aspect of this is the setting, where the creativity of each area is combined with industrial heritage, creating a unique and changing environment in each edition of Rec.0.

Together but not mixed

On a creative level what we value most about the Rec.0 initiative is that unique formula where the big international companies coexist in the same festival with established designers such as Josep Abril, Miriam Ponsa and Txell Miras as well as with emerging talents. Together they complement a promotion of fashion and design which is adapted to the needs of all audiences. What is most interesting is that the designers themselves are in contact with the end-customer, “defending” their designs and knowing first-hand the tastes and preferences of their clientele. It is precisely the emerging design section which offers the most growth with regard to previous editions. These local companies are located mostly in pati Mart铆 Enrich, in two large industrial buildings. Names such as Carlotaoms, Ssic and Paul, Who, Gorni Kramer, David Valls, Susi Sweet Dress, JordiRafart or Pau Esteve are complemented by others promoting small-format local design. The Rec Pop Up Day Estrella Damm area is also much utilised, designed as a small market where every day there is a different designer. On this occasion brands such as Fang of Morsa, Nona BCN, Heidi Soto, Batech, Mireia Play脿 o Micuxu, among others,will be featured, attracted by the uniqueness of this commercial platform.

Beyond fashion

Not everything is fashion in Rec.0. There is also an area for gastronomy and culture, the other two major themes covered by the commercial festival. In this edition visitors will be surprised by more than twenty concerts, DJ sessions and performances for all audiences that will be distributed in the main squares of the industrial district and which will encourage further sales. It offers a totally free agenda for passers-by in the area. Gastronomy is also present via Rec Street Food and their specialized foodtrucks that offer a varied culinary offer with specialties from all over the world: oriental, italian, american, mediterranean cuisine … catering for Vegans and suitable forthose with a coeliac disorder.