PARIS — Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week will mark its 10th anniversary with a show on Wednesday by guest designer Stéphane Rolland that will feature looks from his latest bridal collection alongside archival haute couture designs.

The event, billed as the designer’s first show in Spain, will also act as a showcase for local fashion design students, who will have an opportunity to display their creations in front of an audience of more than 1,000 industry professionals, buyers, media and VIPs.

Rolland and his business partner, Pierre Martinez, have mentored 24 students from three design schools — LCI Barcelona, IED Barcelona (Istituto Europeo di Design) and ESDI (Escola Superior de Disseny) — whose wedding gowns will open the show.

Since September, the designer has met with the group three times to help them finetune their designs, which will be crafted with fabrics provided by local textile house Gratacós. The brief was “Sculpted by Nature,” with students encouraged to explore organic forms in line with Rolland’s love of volume and sharp lines. 

“This presentation has been a lot of hard work, but it’s galvanizing when you see the passion and the energy that all these kids put into creating their dresses,” he told WWD in an interview at his showroom in Paris.

Albasari Caro, director of Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, or BBFW, said organizers were inspired by Rolland’s spring 2024 haute couture show, which opened with the work of students from the French capital’s fashion schools.

“We were deeply moved to discover Pierre Martinez and Stéphane Rolland’s proposal in Paris, which gave visibility to young talent, and to realize that we shared a common goal: to empower new generations and offer them a real space within a high-level professional context,” she said in a statement.

“Stéphane Rolland has been the perfect ally in making this initiative a reality to support emerging talent, whose fresh, free and conscious perspective enriches the industry and anticipates the evolution of contemporary fashion,” she added.

A 70-piece local youth orchestra, La Joven Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona, will accompany the show, to be staged in Hall 8 of the Montjuïc venue, built in 1929 to house the Barcelona International Exhibition.

Organized by Fira de Barcelona, a consortium made up of the Barcelona city council, the Catalan regional government and the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, BBFW runs until Sunday and will feature collections from more than 400 brands and runway shows by 40 designers.

Previous guest designers have included Vivienne Westwood, Giambattista Valli, Elie Saab and Viktor & Rolf.

Wednesday’s event will serve as the most visible showcase yet for Rolland’s semi-couture bridal line, which was quietly launched at the fair in 2023 and is now in its sixth season. 

Sales of the collection, which is carried in around 30 points of sale worldwide, have doubled every year, and it now accounts for 10 percent to 15 percent of the house’s revenues, said Martinez.

Rolland designs around 15 new styles a season, including formal gowns for bridesmaids and other members of the wedding party. These are added to the existing catalog, which now numbers around 100 options.

“We produce to order, so they are delivered two to three months later. Clients can select their colors and fabrics, and can add embroidery,” the designer said.

The soft launch has allowed the collection to grow organically, in line with the brand’s sustainable approach to production, Martinez noted. Rolland’s new showroom on Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt, inaugurated last December, carries no stock.

“Instead of selling three dresses [per day] with 50 dresses in stock, we prefer to sell only one or two, with no stock,” Martinez explained, noting the system is more profitable and sustainable than the traditional luxury retail model.

“With directly managed workshops, we’re able to offer very competitive prices,” he added. “What you can’t skimp on is quality and uniqueness. You have to maintain the same standard of integrity as for haute couture.”

Rolland, who has dressed celebrities including Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Rihanna and Lady Gaga, will show 20 exclusive bridal designs on Wednesday, alongside 60 retrospective looks. “It was fun to group the designs to match the music. I found that I could mix almost everything,” he said.

The designer, who has a thriving business in the Middle East, has dubbed the show “Love for Peace.”

“In light of current events, I thought this bridal show came just at the right time: it’s about purity, magic, romanticism and unity,” he said.

He noted that for the time being, the war in Iran has had a limited impact on orders. “We’ve had practically no cancellations. There are some delays, but it’s manageable,” Rolland reported.

His bridal business is growing fast in Brazil, both in ready-to-wear and haute couture, and the line is also available in the United States, Canada and Asia.

On a recent visit, Rolland’s couture workshop was buzzing with activity. The space used to be a shooting gallery, back when the location was the home of Gastinne Renette, the armorer that supplied pistols for duels in the 19^th century. Following a painstaking restoration, its elegant wood-paneled gun room is now a showroom.

“It really looks like a church. It’s a temple, except instead of guns, now there are dresses,” Rolland said.