Stay In The Loop! / 訂閱我們

Click here to subscribe to our mailing list for info project and event announcements!

Search our Blog / 搜尋
Flickr
The Archive
Twitter Updates

Twitter Updates

    follow us on Twitter

    Entries in Barcelona (21)

    Friday
    May272011

    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

    Wednesday
    May252011

    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.

    Saturday
    May212011

    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.

    Thursday
    May192011

    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:

    Tuesday
    May172011

    Leeds in Barcelona: A Creative Encounter

    This week we are heading back to Barcelona for what we are sure is going to be an awesome project. We are teaming up with Marketing Leeds and LeLook to create Leeds in Barcelona: A Creative Encounter. We are really excited about this project, we feel it fits perfectly with what we are trying to achieve with Hebe and can't wait for everything to kick off.

    What Is Going Down?

    There are two main parts to this event. The first is a discussion to be held at the European Institute of Design (IED) on Friday evening, during which creatives from Leeds and Barcelona will discuss what they are up to and the creative ‘scene’ in both cities. There will be some really cool people involved in this discussion including Jürgen SalenbacherImran AliDominic Al-SamarraieJuan Antonino ÁvalosGuiseppe De Luca and Chidy Wayne. The discussion will be chaired by our very own Lee Hicken.


    The following evening a showcase event will be held at the amazing Hotel Me. The event will include live fashion shoots with designers including James StewardDom, Dick & HarryKitschen Sink and we are delighted to say the awesome Nicholas Deakins. There will also be a live performance from Leeds band ICS (formally I Call Shotgun). Then we will give Barcelona a small taste of the Leeds house music scene in the form of a showcase from legendary Leeds club night BacktoBasics with Tristan Da Cunha and Dave Beer


    The Story Behind The Project

    Last year we kind of gatecrashed an event already taking place: Marketing Leeds were heading out to Barcelona with a massive delegation (around 120 people) to meet with their Barcelona counterparts from various sectors. We heard about the event by chance and asked them if we could do something with ‘our crowd’ in Barcelona. Our crowd is made up of fashion designers, DJs, bands, journalists, bloggers, photographers, artists etc. We have this network in Barcelona because 3 of our team studied there for 3 years at the Institute of Design. 

    The event we put on was a great success... so much so that lots of the people we invited to the event in Barcelona wanted to come and visit Leeds. A group of these people then visited Leeds a couple of months later. During their visit we held a reception where the Barcelona gang met some of our favorite Leeds people, They also toured the city, held photo-shoots at Temple Works, drank in Nation of Shopkeepers and we generally showed some of the Barcelona ‘cool kids’ that Leeds had stuff going on. 

    So the first stage was complete: Some of the main opinion leaders in one of the world’s most creative cities had been introduced to Leeds and what was going on here but obviously you can not just leave it at that and expect suddenly for Leeds to be spoken about in the same way as Barcelona, or for all these people to start booking their summer holidays here. We needed a new project, something that would take the relationship between the two cities one step further.

    Our Aims

    We feel this project definitely takes things a step further for a number of reasons. First of all there is the sheer scale of what we are doing. The first event we did in Barcelona last year was for around 50 guests. The two events this year will be attended by around 1000 people. Last year we showcased Leeds talent with a video on a big screen. This year we are taking out Leeds' fashion talent and products, in addition the entertainment will be provided by live musicians and DJs. If we are serious about impressing and establishing relationships with European opinion leaders this is what we need to do.

    There are lots of opportunities for the talent involved in this project. There will be buyers, writers, tour-bookers, DJs, producers and others who will attend, so there are some great opportunities for new business and personal relationships to be formed. There will be international press including TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, bloggers, photographers and general opinion leaders who will get their first taste of Leeds during this event.

    Stacey checking in with ICS to talk about the project Our Head of Fashion Shang Ting will judge at the showcase event

    Why Hebe

    This is the type of project that suits us perfectly. We are really passionate about promoting and marketing Leeds based on the talent, stories and brands we possess. We have a great  connection with Barcelona because we have lived there, so it feels great for some us to go back and bring some of the experience that we spent 3 years telling people about while studying there.

    Our areas of both expertise and love are fashion, music and art and this project provides a great chance for us to put some of the talent out there that we have been championing and pushing for a long time now. We really believe that the group we are taking out are of a really high standard and will generate international interest. 

    This event and project is innovative, interesting, is packed with interesting names and ideas and bottom line... is just plain cool, something that I think we can sometimes lack in the eyes of people not from here. 

    Stay tuned to the site over the next couple of weeks for loads of videos, reports, photos and much more about the project and the people involved.