Bogotá labels bring craft and sustainable design to Madrid runway

Seven Colombian labels used a Madrid catwalk to make a business case for craft, sustainable materials and textile innovation, not just style. At the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, the collections from Mónica Fonnegra, Cardiaca, Cueros Unipiel, PLUR, SAÁG, Dunia Shoes and Revolución Urbana were presented as an entry point into Europe, where buyers want stronger sourcing stories, tighter pricing and proof that sustainability can scale.

The show unfolded on Wednesday, May 21, at the 25th edition of SIMA 41, with the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce and its [PUENTE] International initiative turning Madrid into a showroom for Bogotá labels. Ovidio Claros Polanco, chief executive of the chamber, called the Spanish capital “the gateway to Europe” and said the goal is to help local talent compete internationally with a mix of sustainability, sophistication and business growth. He also said fashion makes up about 33% of entrepreneurs in Bogotá, spanning leather, footwear and costume jewellery, which makes the sector a serious export engine rather than a niche creative scene.

Mónica Fonnegra gave that ambition a tactile, emotionally charged edge. Her brand works with repurposed materials and collaborates with indigenous communities, and she showed “Matria,” a collection inspired by motherhood and Mother Earth. The pieces carried the kind of visible texture European buyers often respond to when sustainability is backed by material specificity: repurposed textiles, upholstery, buttons and industry offcuts, turned into something polished enough for a runway, but still clearly rooted in reuse. Revolución Urbana took a different route to the same argument. María Camila Mossos said sustainability also means including people in the process, and the brand works with artisans of the third age to preserve traditional crafts, a reminder that social continuity is part of the sustainability story too.

The Madrid appearance fits into a broader Colombian push to turn fashion into export-ready business. On May 4, ProColombia said more than 90 international buyers would take part in Bogotá Fashion Week, Createx and the Rueda de Negocios de Dotación, and that Bogotá Fashion Week would host more than 120 brands and designers plus 70 international buyers. Last year’s Bogotá Fashion Week closed with expectations of $4 million in business, more than 30,000 attendees, 140 brands and 80 buyers from 22 countries. That scale matters because it shows the Madrid runway was never only about visibility; it was about proving that Colombian fashion can deliver craftsmanship, compliance and commercial traction in the same package.