Des Garçons de Café have been dressing the speakers at Gastronomika for three years; three years creating surprises with jackets that mark lines and futures, which the participants eagerly await year after year. “The jacket for 2020, as it is a really special year, is also different, not just in its style but  also in the conception and use of the fabrics, which are totally sustainable”, Joan Camacho (Barcelona, 1977) explains, who has been in charge of the Catalan brand since it was first set up twelve years ago.

“This is an elegant jacket, not as daring as the one from last year but it is still cutting-edge, and looks like a shirt”, Camacho explains regarding a design in which they have aimed to highlight its uniformity. With very clean, minimalist lines, “it recalls a military garment without becoming one”, it is a totally white jacket (“purity”) and not fitted around the waist (“greater comfort”) that the around sixty speakers at the congress are now receiving.

Beyond its aesthetic approach, which is always important at a studio that provides uniforms or has provide the uniforms for some of the most ground-breaking restaurants in Spain (Diverxo, El Celler de Can Roca, DSTAgE, Sant Pau, Zaranda or ABaC), the importance of the garment this year lies in its fabrics, “light like the ones in a shirt”. They are fabrics made of sustainable organic cotton. The part at the back, “which is what has to provide comfort and freshness”, is made of a special kind of recycled polyester from Seaqual (an initiative that collects plastic from the sea and turns it into polyester). “So it’s not just recycling; it’s also cleaning up the seas”.

This commitment to sustainability forms part of the comprehensive turn that Des Garçons has taken recently, which also has to do with the use of local suppliers (“similar to the zero kilometer concept that chefs have been committed to for years”, Camacho explains). This commitment has been put into practice in specific activities with customers, such as the one that they are going to launch at Gastronomika: collecting their clothing from customers once its useful life is over. “Nobody knows where to throw away clothes that have already served their purpose and normally they end up in the grey container by mistake. There’s absolutely no use in opting to recycle at source and not doing so at the end, so we are offering to collect our garments at the end of their useful lives and to take them where they can be recycled properly. It’s coming full circle”, the manager from Barcelona explains.

This is what they will be doing with all the jackets that they hand out at Gastronomika, and with all the facemasks. The latter, with the properties required by the authorities to ensure that they are effective, (FP2 masks), have two layers, and the exterior one is made of the aforementioned polyester.

A really special Gastronomika congress: in form, content, aesthetic and message.