Custo Barcelona Presents “Unexpected” at Rockefeller Center

Energetic, irreverent, and chic. The Catalan brand Custo Barcelona returns to New York Fashion Week to present its SS26-27 collection.

A historic milestone for Spanish fashion, Custo Barcelona becomes the first Spanish designer brand to stage a runway show in this iconic venue. Set against the New York skyline, the show further strengthens the brand’s long-standing connection with a city that has played a defining role in its international journey.

“Unexpected”, the SS26 collection at New York Fashion Week

The collection combines innovation and craftsmanship, staying faithful to Custo Barcelona’s brand. It is marked by fluid and dynamic silhouettes, making use of ruffles, lace, and sheer fabrics. Pastel tones, soft earth tones, and luminous highlights blend with patchwork, layering, and embroidered details, creating a contemporary, sensual, and architectural aesthetic.

The unconventionality that often characterizes NYFW stages pairs perfectly with Custo Barcelona’s unorthodox designs. At Rockefeller center, the Midtown skyline harmonized with the collection’s energy and identity. The typical visual intensity and experimentation of Custo Barcelona blended with Radio Park’s Art Deco architecture.

Custo Barcelona’s relationship with New York City is not a recent one. The Catalan brand has been showing in New York since the 1900s, having made their debut at Fashion Week in 1997. Some of their t-shirts have also featured in shows based in the city such as “Friends” and “Sex and the City”.

To sum up, the collection “celebrates individuality and self-expression, and finds in the energy and architecture of New York the perfect setting to transform the unexpected into beauty”, affirms the brand.

Custo Barcelona: the brand

The brothers Custo and David Dalmau initiated their trajectory in the fashion world in 1980, the year they founded Custo Barcelona. Their innovative and distinguished style quickly propelled Custo Barcelona into an established status within the industry.

In 1996, the two brothers opened the Custo Barcelona company and expanded to start selling their collections to the American market. This timing was key to the success of the company, because the American market was notably open to new and unconventional ideas. Their designs captivated the attention of many, including stylists and movie directors. Custo’s colorful and unconventional brand contrasted with the minimalist fashion trend of that time.

When they were invited to New York Fashion Week for the first time in 1997, their show stunned audiences. Accustomed to more sober and minimalist tones, the public was struck by the vibrant colours and intense visual language of the brand.

After this, Custo Barcelona received significant attention, with frequent appearances on magazine covers and television shows. Stars such as Claudia Schiffer, Julia Roberts, Penélope Cruz, Madonna and Brad Pitt used their pieces. Moreover, people named this phenomenon around the brand as “Customania”.

Custo Barcelona sells in multi-brand stores across five continents. Since 2000, the company has changed its strategy. Indeed, their goal was to reach consumers more directly and offer its entire collection. To achieve this, the strategy involved opening its own stores, starting with Barcelona, ​​its flagship store.

“Be happy, have fun, smile. You are on a beach, in Ibiza, in 1970.” This was the message written on a poster that the models saw before entering one of Custo’s shows. This reflects the identity of the brand: free-spirited, joyous, energetic, unconventional, irreverent. Finally, their aesthetic is distinctly Catalan, taking inspiration from Barcelona’s colorful and eclectic style.

IRK’s selection: our favorite dress out of the “Unexpected” Collection

Finally, IRK’s chosen look would have to be this sheer, halter-neck maxi dress with a flowing silhouette and bold coral-and-pastel pattern. The contrast between the mermaid-like pattern and the use of satin sheen makes it perfect for a dinner-by-the-beach type of situation. It evokes a bohemian and sunny Barcelona, as well as a luxurious, sophisticated New York City.

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