The Hebe Week In Pics: Leeds In Barcelona

On the metro in BarcelonaDom @ San josé market on La RamblaDave trying all the smoothies in San josé Market on La RamblaOur hotel Vincci MaritimoMatt getting papped for a change ;)Deaks ready to board the plane!Deaks has a pre-flight drinkMore Deaks travels coming next week!IED Classroom'Angel' Pizza, Gracia. BarcelonaChoosing toppings!Before the conference, Can you guess who Mr Lego is on th projector?Freaky hand in Angel PizzaLee's new skins!ICS after the conference

Leeds in Barcelona: Spotlight on James Steward

As regular readers of our site will already know, we are big fans of James Steward. We see him as the foremost couture designer in Leeds and think he is destined for great things in the future. We are delighted to have him on board for Leeds in Barcelona: A Creative Encounter and know that he will go down a storm with both the crowd and the design students at IED.

The last 12 months have been a crazy ride for James. It was around 12 months ago we worked together on the first Leeds in Barcelona project when James showcased some of his stuff in a photo-shoot at Temple Works. Since then he has shown at Vancouver Fashion Week, featured in OK magazine and will by the time you read this smashed the Baftas with his piece for Katherine Kelly (post edit: James made front page of Daily Mirror with that!)

As part of the line-up for this project we wanted to show one of our designers who has real craftsmanship and can stand along side other designers of great pedigree who will be on the Barcelona side of this collaboration... James give us that. He is a supremely talented pattern-maker who seems to advance his body of work to new levels with every collection he produces.

As one part of the project is at the European Institute of Design we know James will provide a great example for the fashion design students who will attend and read about the event. Like many of them he went to study abroad at a foreign design institute and returned home to make a brand and business for himself. He will provide a great example and case study for some of the IED students.

We are looking forward to seeing the reaction to James in Barcelona and can't wait to see the photos after the big showcase event.

Leeds in Barcelona: Spotlight on ICS

Tonight will be the feature showcase of Leeds in Barcelona: A Creative Encounter. A main part of this showcase will be a performance from Leeds band ICS. This is the first time we are working directly with the boys on a project and we are really excited to see how there sound goes down in Barcelona.

We first met ICS at a Harvey Nichols fashion show. Immediately we knew they were the type of people we like to work with. They are fresh, innovative and heavily influenced by the underground of the city and the fashion scene. 

We think for a showcase of what is really interesting in Leeds, ICS are perfect. Last year they attracted a lot of media attention and airplay on Radio 1 and with some of the world's biggest bloggers. They have been working away on a new EP since then and they will perform their new stuff tonight for the Barcelona crowd.

Check out the video above and listen to a teaser of the new album below!

  I C S - (Release To Be Announced) by ICS.

Leeds in Barcelona: Spotlight on Dominic Al-Samarraie

We recently checked in with Leeds deisgner Dominic Al-Samarraie to talk Dom, Dick & Harry, personal fashion philosophy, the Leeds creative scene and of course the new Leeds in Barcelona project.

Why Dom

We first became aware of Dom in the build up to Leeds in Barcelona 1 last year. He seemed like a young designer with lots of potential, a strong brand and great visuals. After digging a little deeper, we realised Dom was into all kinds of creative stuff. He also worked at Blue Rinse (one of Leeds best vintage stores) and seemed to spend most of his time rolling around the Leeds underground partying with bands.

We are mega-happy to have Dom on board again for this project, he is absolutely one of our favourite people in Leeds and has great potential as a designer and general creative. We think his brand will go down a storm in Barca if the initial reaction last year is anything to go by.

The Story

During Leeds in Barcelona 1 we got to know Dom much better and we found him to be a smart, ambitious guy with an ace attitude towards the city, creativity and life in general. The Barcelona fashion crowd who visited Leeds loved Dom too. He created a really cool photo-shoot with Fie and Mayka down in Temple Works and more then anyone on the Leeds side of the project, seemed to really connect and become friends with our Barca guests.

Since that project last year Dom has stayed in contact with all the Barca fashion crowd and has been making plans to work together again. Leeds in Barcelona: A Creative Encounter gives us all that opportunity. Dom has created a new collection, with many sleepless nights ensuring it is ready in time!

In case you have not seen it yet, check out Dom in one of LeLook's trailers for the event on Saturday:

Leeds in Barcelona: Spotlight on BacktoBasics & Dave Beer

Later this week we are heading out to Barcelona for Leeds in Barcelona: A Creative Encounter. Part of our showcase on Saturday evening will be a BacktoBasics DJ set. We checked in with Basics founder, driving force and all-round Leeds legend Dave Beer to talk about the project (and loads more!)

Why Basics

With this project we wanted to give the people in Barcelona an authentic experience of Leeds nightlife and BacktoBasics was and still is a trailblazer when it comes to the Leeds scene. Basics is one of the treasures of the Leeds 'cultural' sector and is one of the things we have here that is truly world class with serious pedigree. It has a history and story that further enhances it's mystique and legend and most of it revolves around 'Beero'. Dave and the awesome Tristan Da Cunha will be performing on Saturday night and the buzz in Barcelona is already building among our Catalan hosts!

BacktoBasics also fit really well with another massive Leeds brand involved with the project: Nicholas Deakins. Both with celebrate their 20th year this year and we are delighted that they have both decided to get involved in this project and want to represent Leeds in front of an international audience.

The Story

BacktoBasics will this year celebrate it's 20th birthday in the form of an exhibition and series of events (more to come on this project in the coming weeks) and further cement it's place in house music history. Their place in the record books is already confirmed as Basics is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest running weekly club-night. 

Check out this video feature on the BBC and hear what Pete Tong feels when playing Basics, how JoJo met her husband there and how John Galliano nearly didn't get in one night!