Its removal from the program leaves several Zaragoza businesses without the visibility platform they had hoped to join. It was a showcase that went beyond the runway, helping highlight the importance of small businesses and local fashion within one of Aragón’s main industry events.
“IT’S IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE ON THE STREET TO SEE US”
At an especially difficult time for local businesses, with numerous establishments forced to close, Aragón Fashion Week helped “make businesses visible” last year. Begoña Abad, president of the Zona Centro Association of Commercial Sector Entrepreneurs in Zaragoza, which is part of ECOS, makes this point and recalls the importance the runway had as a showcase for businesses in the city. This year, however, the situation is very different. “We have been left at the gates,” she laments.
“It’s important for people on the street to see the businesses where they can go shopping,” Abad insists. This visibility also makes it possible to showcase more diverse and representative fashion. That is the case at her store, Skandalo Deluxe, where they aim to cater to different body types with clothes available up to size 54. “Local businesses are what give streets their vitality,” she says.
One of the outfits shown last year at the “Fashion Retailers” show in Plaza del Pilar for AFW. Photo: Pilar Álvarez / Aragón Press
“The drawback for businesses like ours is that we carry multiple brands; however, we work with good brands,” Abad explains. Far from detracting from their offerings, this characteristic allows these establishments to bring together different labels and offer their customers a wider variety of clothes and styles.
LOSS OF EXPOSURE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
“Designers are important, there’s no doubt about that. They are the beginning, but businesses are also what comes after,” Begoña Abad insists. The president of Zona Centro thus defends the role of stores as the next link in the fashion chain, especially for creators who do not have their own atelier and find in these establishments a place to display their designs and bring them closer to the public.
“We are also going to try to help the businesses that are out on the streets every day,” Abad recalls of the spirit behind the initiative. The retailers’ show was held for the first time last year and, despite a last-minute schedule change that moved the event to 2 p.m., eight stores managed to present their collections before a packed Plaza del Pilar.
Begoña Abad, owner of Skandalo Deluxe
For the participating businesses, that runway provided something that is difficult for small retailers to achieve: direct visibility among thousands of people. “People later tell you, ‘We saw you at the show in Plaza del Pilar,’ and that alone brings a lot of exposure,” Abad highlights. It was an opportunity to reach new customers that, with the show absent from this year’s program, the businesses will no longer have.
