visiting la roca, barcelona’s premium outlet village
as well as celebrating their initiative barcelona designer collective
la roca resembles a quaint spanish village
quite like the cluster of towns i grew up in the countryside
the venue is completely open air, which I love
flowers and big tree lined paths everywhere to explore
beautiful gilded gold frame most of the window displays
my assistant, neguine and I forgot shopping & goofed around, mostly
la roca’s barcelona designer collective
undeniably the best part of the evening & fascinating to discover the talent of this city
all kinds of crazy creations on display
i especially had my eye on the prints for the walls of my apartment
A few months ago some French family friends were here in Barcelona visiting and one of their daughters asked me where La Roca was. I had no idea it even existed until she pulled it up on google maps. Ever since, I have been meaning to get over to this outlet haven but being busy and not really enjoying shopping all that much, I never quite got around to it. So when La Roca reached out and extended an invitation to celebrate their new initiative, Barcelona Designer Collective, I called my assistant Neguine, we chaotically chose outfits to wear via imessage and a driver whisked us away for the evening. Now, I was beyond surprised at just how beautiful La Roca is, it never really occurred to me that what is essentially, a mall, could be aesthetically pleasing. There are flowers everywhere and the architecture resembles that of a quaint Spanish village. It is open air too, there is a sunset to enjoy while you shop. I don’t like typical shopping malls much, they feel claustrophobic and uncomfortably generic to me but La Roca paths are lined with big lovely trees and outdoor cafes to stop at for rose wine or ice cream, whatever vice you prefer. And the price tags are generously reduced, deliciously so. I circled past a suede handbag in the window display of Gucci at least five times in hopes I could convince myself to buy it. I didn’t but there were plenty of other delights, like learning all about La Roca’s Barcelona Designer Collective, a project that aims to showcase the emerging talent in this wonderful city I am so lucky to call home. Creatives in all kinds of fields, from fashion to graphic or interior design are displayed and for sale at La Roca – a beautiful idea, especially in this sad economy Spain is still facing, I feel the talent in this country deserves all the exposure they can clutch at. I am happy La Roca is offering such a platform, it was fascinating to discover all these cool kids creating stuff in this city. And yes, I won’t deny, I did pay particular attention to the handsome men whose work was being showcased, their creations were especially wonderful. Just as wonderful as that Gucci bag I gave up on. I will certainly be returning to La Roca, and if you visit Barcelona, you should plan a visit too. There are all kinds of pretty treasures to go home with – and this comes from a girl who doesn’t ever shop. What can I say, it is far easier for me to spend money when there are flowers everywhere and that is no exaggeration, they are everywhere, all over: my favourite part of La Roca, for sure. I’d go back just for the flowers. And the dream Gucci. Oh and all those good looking creatives.
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