Fashion takes center stage in Bogota at BCapital

Medellin, Colombia - home to Colombiatex de las Americas and ColombiaModa, the largest textile and fashion trade fair and fashion week in South America respectively - is widely thought of as the fashion capital of the country. With the 2014 edition of ColombiaModa generating a record amount of 308 million dollars in business orders, Medellin's textile and fashion industry accounting for 60 percent of the department's economy and generating 53 percent of the region's industrial employment, it comes as little surprise that the city revolves around fashion.

However, when it comes to the consumption of fashion, there is another city which takes the cake from Medellin - namely Bogota. With the capital's inhabitants consuming an impressive 37.6 percent of the country's fashion according to Invest in Bogota, Inexmoda, known as the institute of exportation and fashion, felt it was time to tap into Bogota's growing affluent segment of fashion savvy consumers and reconnect them to Colombia's developing fashion system through a new initiative: BCapital.

BCapital aims to reconnect locals to the Colombian fashion system

Running for three days, September 24 to 26, the debut fashion event was designed to stimulate the city's interest in fashion whilst celebrating the best local designers and retailers through three designated platforms; BFashion, BCool and Bmart. Held at the Centro Creativo Textura, located in the heart of the city's industrial area, consumers and fashion insiders alike came together to enjoy fashion shows from designers like Olga Piedrahita, Lina Cantillo, Julieta Suarez and Andrea Landa.

"With its diverse population, which is both dynamic and sensitive to design as well as other artistic disciplines, Bogota is eager for a new experience that allows its inhabitants to connect to it's fashion system," explains Carlos Eduardo Botero Hoyos, Executive President of Inexmoda. "That is why we decided to create a new event which highlights all of the fashion system's aesthetic values." BCapital, the first fashion event open to consumers to take place in Bogota, is also part of Inexmoda's long term goal of reconnecting Colombians to the fashion industry and boosting the country's fashion system to an international level.

To mark the debut opening of the annual fashion event, BCapital invited established fashion photography Ruven Afanador and Colombian avant-garde designer Olga Piedrahita to create a one-of-a-kind live performance piece. The event, which combined aspects of fashion design, theater, photography, cinematography and music culminated in a unique fashion show during which models displayed outfits which had been crafted by Piedrahita's seamstresses and shot by Afanador throughout the day. "It has always been a dream of mine to do projects in Colombia and to share the intimate side of my creative process," said Afanador. "Being here is a gift for me, I hope I have inspired those who came with my world."

Bogota welcomes new consumer fashion event BCapital

In order to offer visitors a complete immersive fashion and lifestyle experience at BCapital, Inexmoda partnered with numerous brands like L'oreal, Levi's, Maybelline, Punto Blanco and OffCorss which offered visitors numerous forms of engagement ranging from a make-up advice to pop-up shops to photobooths and flash mobs. To complete the experience, BCapital also set up a special area where visitors could watch selected fashion films and shows throughout the day, and several food trucks and stands offered local and international foods.

Local designer, Lia Samantha applauded the organization's efforts with the event. "I think BCapital was a real success," she said to FashionUnited on the closing evening. "Especially since Bogota lacked its own fashion event like this - with both ColombiaModa and Colombiatex taking place in Medellin. It's great that fashion system in Colombia has a company like this to support it and lift its profile as well." She added that although the event's location was far from the center,it was connected to the textile and industrial area where garments are produced , linking consumers to the fashion supply chain as well as the final end product.

"We are happy with the results," concluded Eduardo Botero Hoyos. "During these three days we were able to achieve our goal of gathering 'bogotanos' around the fashion system and together we connected with this industry. This is the beginning of Inexmoda's commitment to fashion in Bogota." The debut event was deemed a succes, to the extend that the Executive President assured FashionUnited that BCapital would be returning to the city of Bogota next year for its second edition.

Image credit: Inexmoda