Etnia Barcelona’s North African Celebration

“Zebra, Heritage vol.3” is the name of the celebratory limited edition eyewear collection from ETNIA BARCELONA. The heritage brand is under the creative leadership of David Pellicer, the current owner of the company which is celebrating twenty years. He is the third generation to be involved with the brand and the grandson of the original owner Fulgencio Ramo who founded the company in the nineteen fifties. The second generation focused on design and distribution throughout Spain.

PELLICER joined the company during the nineteen nineties with the dream of creating something new. His achievements include adding color into the eyewear’s product selection which up until that point, had only been brown or black. PELLICER‘s vision was not to merely to manufacture glasses; he wanted to create a distinctive brand in the market place. A brand embodying “the idea of being free, human and respectful towards all ethnicities…a brand that thought of all people and forms of expression through color and art.” These ideas are the guiding creative concepts and art direction leading the brand forward.

“Zebra, Heritage vol.3” was inspired by “The Wild Love in Africa” collection from 2014. It was the tipping point of the brand’s success and has remained a point of inspiration and re-visitation for a few collections. The new Spring 2023 limited edition series of eyewear is a love letter to Africa. It celebrates its diversity, to its traditions and culture. The new collection also pays homage to Pop Art color inflections in the brand’s natural mineral lenses and acetate frames. The range includes animal hide inspired patterns such as zebra to a painter’s pallets of brilliant saturations such as vivid pink, orange, golden phosphorescent green, pearlized white and obsidian black. Three models are designed in seven millimeters of natural Mazzucchelli Acetate crafted to show recesses highlighting a relief adding to a comfortable wear.

ETNIA BARCELONA has been working to be a more sustainable and ethical brand. From natural raw materials to social projects with the ETNIA BARCELONA FOUNDATION.

Belgium based, Moroccan photographer Mous Lamrabat was the artist behind the lens of the 2014 campaign and for the current 2023 capsule collection. His work has been described as ‘auto-didactic’, meaning he developed his own unique vision of photography managing to fuse his Moroccan roots, traditions and culture along with his Finnish heritage. His varied background can be seen in the merging of richly decorative features balanced with minimalism without sacrificing beauty either transcontinental sense.

LAMRABAT ‘s most recent work strongly connects to his Moroccan heritage. The work has an urgency, speaking to his feelings of being caught between cultures and seeking a place of belonging. LAMRABAT is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent in Interior Architecture. As a photographic artist he has gained renown recognition in the world of fashion editorial for his style, one of his photographs was the cover of Vogue Arabia in 2021.

His goal in the ETNIA BARCELONA campaign was to create highly artistic images to glorify Moroccan culture through traditionally inspired elements as well as modern product. This is a celebratory and festive campaign on two fronts where color and imaginative styling imbue a fashionable light on the “Zebra, Heritage vol.3” collection. The spectacular backdrop of the African desert adds to the visual’s seductive narrative. LAMRABATstates that ‘the commercial photographs are quite similar to what he would create for a personal project’….“From the beginning I felt that ETNIA appreciates artists when they can show their DNA by collaborating with them.”

Patrick Michael Hughes Senior Fashion Editor Men’s Fashion Writer

Photography by Mous Lamrabat