Shopping behind Closed Doors: The Best of BA’s Private Showrooms

Some of the best things in BA can be found behind closed doors, be it dining, cocktails, art and even shopping. Over the last few years a large chunk of BA’s shopping scene has gone underground due to soaring rents for retail spaces. The trend for emerging designers and brands is to sell their collections by appointment only from the privacy of their apartment or a private studio space or workshop. For shoppers, it makes the whole experience a lot more personal and interesting as the designers themselves are there to greet you and provide insight into their work. But to gain access to these places, you have to be in the know. Sophie Lloyd highlights some of her favourite fashion showrooms of the moment.

Ceremony

Identifying a need in the market for solid wardrobe basics designed to last, husband and wife Natalia Bellesi and Ariel Hakel, fashion designer and architect by trade respectively, decided to pool their skills and launch their own men’s and women’s clothing label, Ceremony, in July 2013. For them, the materials, production process and comfort factor are as important as the final look. Taking the less is more and quality over quantity approach, the limited edition pieces are all made from natural pima cotton and wool and include slouchy T-shirts, pants, blazers, shorts, dresses and yoga wear in a neutral colour palette. They receive clients by appointment only in an office space on the ground floor of their apartment building in Colegiales.
By appointment only, email [email protected]

Mars+Zorba

Designer Consuelo Lough first launched her handbag brand Mars+Zorba half way through 2013 and started out selling online but has only recently joined the band of designers selling their collections from a private showroom. She’s just moved to a new space in Palermo Nuevo and has transformed a corner of her apartment into a handbag heaven. Every woman has a preference when it comes to handbags and her collection has got everyone covered, from the hobo bag to the cross body, clutch, shopping tote and backpack. All the leather (bar the patent stuff that comes from Italy) is made in Argentina and is vegetable tanned. Her designs are modern and edgy and each model is produced in limited numbers and a variety of colour combinations. She also has a line of edgy leather cuffs.
By appointment only, email [email protected]

Manto Abrigos

Manto Abrigos’ story starts in the north east of Argentina where the brand works with indigenous communities to manually spin and weave sheep and llama wool into beautiful fabrics, helping to keep the country’s artisan traditions alive. These fabrics are then sent to Buenos Aires and each coat is tailor made and embellished with prints or other textile effects by hand. The result is a collection of one-of-a-kind contemporary coats in a range of timeless styles. The socially responsible brand was originally founded by Argentine Clara de La Torre in 1996 and she now works alongside Diana Dai and Veronica Olavide in the production, design and marketing of the brand. A visit to their showroom and office space in Villa Crespo is an all-round experience. Venture up in one of the building’s old-fashioned lifts into their bright, airy industrial-style showroom where you can browse their latest coat models (that are also available made to measure), see photographs of the production over a coffee, and chat to the passionate team about their work. While the artistic coats carry a high price tag, it reflects the labour and hours that has gone into making each one. The brand also crafts a line of bags made out of recycled and car and bicycle tires, some of which is spun into yarn, as well as a line of knitwear and blankets.
By appointment only, Darwin 1154, cuerpo D, 1A

Dinamarca Plastic

Although this men’s clothing brand that’s run by a group of Argentine friends has been around for a few years, it prefers to remain under the radar. The boys like to receive clients personally in a casual, cozy apartment in Palermo Hollywood, with some music and a drink. Their collection of very affordable shirts and T-shirts are all come in a foreigner-friendly range of sizes and good quality materials and feature playful, original details and own-design prints. Dinamarca Plastic is also developing a new line of jeans in a range of washes and colours that will be available in the next month.
By appointment only, email [email protected]

Julia Alvarez Joyeria

Jewellery designers Julia Alvarez and Catalina Dupont open up their charming little workshop in Colegiales to visitors so you can see how they work and browse their handmade jewellery collections, from stacks of rings to delicate necklaces, earrings and brooches, mainly crafted from sterling silver. Catalina also showcases her line of organic cotton cushions in the space, Catalina Semilla, that are stuffed with organic lavender grown in the Quebrada de Humahuaca in Jujuy, designed to sooth and heal. The girls also host regular jewellery making workshops in the space teaching students their craft.
By appointment only, contact via Facebook here or here.

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Sophie Lloyd
UK-born Sophie Lloyd first moved to Buenos Aires at the beginning of 2010 out of a desire to learn Spanish and live the Latino lifestyle, having spent the previous five years working as a fashion editor, writer and stylist in Shanghai, China. She quickly adapted to the late nights and copious amounts of Malbec. She works as a freelance writer and copywriter and currently contributes to the Buenos Aires edition of Global Blue's Shop magazine as well as running her own personal shopping and private shopping tour business Shop Hop BA delivering a stress-free, customised shopping experience to visitors to the city.


One response to “Shopping behind Closed Doors: The Best of BA’s Private Showrooms

  1. Flor Vanin says:

    Hi Sophie! You are right! We do it aswell! We are Alliwen! We design lovely, custom-made leather jackets. We have our showroom in Puerto Madero, and we´d love to invite you to came and see all the excellent quality leather stuff we have. A lot of people from America loves our things because they have a really good price for the quality of leather we use. And they are custome-made! You can also find us on facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Alliwen/295246500668830?ref=hl

    http://www.alliwen.com/EN/

    Hope you accept our invitation!
    Kind regards!

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