We had heard about this Titanic movie clothing store in Barcelona that sold some items for the film. So out of curiosity, we wanted to explore this place in el Born and get to know that anecdote first hand.
But after meeting Carmina and Nina, the two sisters who founded this store, l’Arca de Barcelona, we ended up discovering much more than the “Titanic story”. This place actually hides a long history. So let’s start the story from the very beginning…
Two sisters keeping the family legacy of a centenary business
L’Arca de Barcelona was founded by two sisters, Carmina Pairet and Nina Balmes, in 1980. But this store keeps a story that goes much further… These two sisters come from a family that has been traditionally focused on the production and commercialization of laces. More than a century dedicated to this delicate piece of fabric, which has had a lot of symbolism throughout history.
The origins of the Titanic movie clothing store: L’Arca de l’àvia
Carmina and Nina’s ancestors were suppliers of laces for the royal family. They even imported kimonos from China, and also produced their own.
“My dad was a professional from the textile industry, and our mum was the 4th generation of antiquarians. She came up with the idea of bringing the vintage style clothing to Barcelona after coming back from a trip to Paris”, explains Carmina. So she ended up founding the store L’Arca de l’Àvia, in which you could find a wide range of items related to the traditional trousseau of the bride.
She actually chose the name L’Arca de l’Àvia (Grandma’s Ark) for a reason… It was in a big ark made of wood where the bride treasured her acquisitions and gifts for her future life: tablecloths, cutlery, bedding…
From l’Arca de l’Àvia to l’Arca de Barcelona
That small business eventually evolved and was called L’Arca de Barcelona, as we know it today. And Carmina and Nina have continued to write more episodes in the history of this centenary family business.
What will you find in there?
Right from the moment you enter this store you quickly realize its genuineness: not a standard vintage clothing store, but a store with a strong personality along with a unique historical atmosphere. Actually, history seems to transcend the physical barriers of clothes while permeating the environment and taking you to another era.
These are some of the clothes and accessories that you will find in L’Arca de Barcelona:
- Kimonos: embroidered, historical pieces from last century.
- Vintage accessories: handbags, jewellery and other accessories from the 70s and 80s.
- Dresses from the 20s: their most special pieces of clothing, and the main business focus nowadays.
- Vintage wedding dresses: from the 30s and 40s, some of them made from antique curtains.
- Spanish regional clothing: for instance, shawls for the festivities Feria de Abril or Las fallas de Valencia.
And here is one of our favorite parts: there is also a special corner in this store that still offers items from the old haberdashery: buttons, laces, bedding, etc.
If you take a look at their online store you can easily have an idea of this particular vintage world we are describing.
L’Arca de Barcelona: a movie (Titanic) story
And we didn’t forget about the Titanic story we told you about at the beginning of the article: the link between the film Titanic and L’Arca de Barcelona. So here is how this curious story starts…
“She filled a whole box of clothes from the store and told us that we would find out eventually what all these clothes were for”
“An antiquarian woman from Los Angeles came to visit the store. She had previously bought some stuff for the movie Wild Wild West, but this time she filled a whole box of clothes from the store and told us that we would find out eventually what all these clothes were for”, explains Carmina.
So when the movie Titanic came out in theatres, this L.A. antiquarian called them and said: “Go see the movie. You will find a lot of your clothing on the big screen”. Indeed, some of the most iconic dresses and accessories worn by Kate Winslet were from L’Arca de Barcelona, the Titanic movie clothing store in Barcelona:
And these are the kind of stories we love to tell… How traditional laces produced from a traditional family business ended up on the big screen over time. And the most important part: the past is still preserved. And what’s more: it perfectly coexists with the present.