16 years of Babau: the hardest letter

This is probably the most difficult text we have had to write in 16 years of Babau’s existence.

During all this time we have experienced everything: magical moments and very tough ones. We have grown, we have innovated (yes, we are the ones with bags with interior lights), we have come far… but we have also made mistakes. And today it’s time to speak clearly, with our hearts in our hands.

We have always said the same thing: we are not big entrepreneurs; we are good workers. Good at designing, creating, innovating, taking care of the product and our customers. But managing the numbers — which is vital for the health of any company — we have not handled as well as we should. And that, over the years, takes its toll.

A very personal story

We also know that, according to “business manuals,” you should never mix work, family, and friends. Well, we did everything the opposite from day one.

Lluís and I have been friends for almost our entire lives. The first person who worked with us was Rosa, and the second was her son, Víctor. Berta, Lluís’s cousin, was the one who gave Babau its first stitches with a sewing machine, using one from the university where she studied design — when we didn’t even have our own workshop yet. And Laura was the mother of a classmate of my eldest son. The only one who came by those wonderful coincidences of life was Judit, who quickly became an essential part of our small universe.

That is to say: Babau has always been a family before a company. Well, maybe “family” is not the exact word. It’s a way of speaking, and it is often used too lightly. But what is true is that all of them have been part of Babau, part of our roots. They have felt Babau as something of their own, and that — for Lluís and me — has been very, very important. That involvement, that way of doing things, is what has given meaning to our journey all these years.

Difficult decisions

We have gone through many situations where, for economic health, we should have made more radical decisions: reducing, restructuring, or letting someone go when circumstances demanded it. But many times we didn’t take them because of the heart. And maybe also because, out of comfort, we clung to an overly optimistic future — to that idea that “surely it will get better,” that everything will somehow recover. But reality is stubborn and it has taken its toll on us.

And when we say “toll,” we mean it in every sense

Before getting here, we have also gone through very tough personal stages. For many months (almost a year), Lluís and I were last on the list: salaries, suppliers, expenses always came first… and we were at the end. We say this without complaint, because it is our responsibility and because we believe that a company, big or small, must be consistent with the decisions it makes and assume its consequences.

That’s why sometimes, when someone talks about us lightly — as if all this were easy, as if “making bags” were just that and on top of it we were getting rich — you let out a tired smile and think: if you only knew everything behind it, everything we have lived through to keep it alive...

The final blow

During the pandemic, like many companies, we turned our bank products into ICO lines: these are loans with public guarantees (the State guarantees part of the debt), which for a time reduce the risk for the bank and give companies breathing room. That breathing room helped us… but in 2025 those guarantees ended, and when the guarantee disappears, the bank no longer sees the same “security.” Translated: fewer services, less credit, more pressure. No need to go into figures, but it was a hard blow.

Added to this is the country and sector context. We live in an environment where real estate and services weigh heavily, while industry — and in our case, accessory manufacturing — has been offshored. Manufacturing here is expensive, and every year it gets a little more expensive. The result is obvious: if you want to maintain quality and do it here, the cost is high and, if you want to keep selling in this market, the margin becomes minimal.

Consumption habits have also changed: retail has suffered, and in many sustainable product or “bags and travel” stores there is a very real psychological barrier — sales collapse above €100. We tend to be “the expensive ones on the shelf,” because we are among the few who manufacture here and with a quality standard we don’t want to betray.

The toughest moment

All this wears you down. But the definitive blow came after Easter this year, when the banks told us no. That it was over. That we had to fend for ourselves.

And the toughest moment we have lived at Babau arrived: making drastic decisions and assuming all the consequences. Before reaching that point, we tried everything: reducing hours, reorganizing tasks, internal adjustments… any formula that would allow us to keep the whole team. But despite all efforts, it didn’t work. The numbers didn’t add up and the room for maneuver was exhausted. And in the end, there was no alternative: we had to lay off our entire team, people who have been much more than workers.

They were long, honest conversations, full of tears. And even so, they behaved exemplary: they understood the situation, made it as easy as possible for us, and we can only deeply thank them for everything they have done for Babau.

Pride and gratitude

We also want to remember something beautiful that makes us very happy: Rosa was able to retire “at Babau.” It was a dream that seemed impossible when we started, and it moves us to think that these 16 years have also served for people like her to reach that goal.

But not only that: during all this time families have also grown. We have seen how Víctor, Rosa’s son, became independent and started a new stage with his partner, how he has grown professionally — and that fills us with pride. We have seen how Lluís had a daughter, how I have had three children, how other colleagues have had their own children (eight in total)... We have shared life, joys, stages, and changes. And being able to say that Babau has been part of all that, that it has accompanied those family stories, is an immense pride for us.

Back to the origins

Today, we have returned to the origins. In the workshop, it’s the two of us as always, Lluís and me. We work with three external workshops that help us with production (as we did before), paying them per piece like any workshop; but the day-to-day of Babau is handled by the two of us: designing, cutting, sewing when we can, soldering, pattern making, photographing, editing, writing, attending customers, preparing the website, maintaining the online store, managing orders, logistics, advertising, numbers… everything.

That means we go as far as we can. There will be days when we take a little longer to respond, to publish new photos, or to launch a campaign. It’s not laziness or disorder: it’s that we are two people doing the work of many.

We ask for your patience and thank you for your understanding. Despite everything, we are still here. We cannot — nor do we want to — “close the shutters.” We have commitments to fulfill, and above all, we have a brand we love and a community that has supported us for 16 years.

This is not an end, it’s a comma.
A pause, telling the truth, and starting again, better.

Why we tell this

We could have kept quiet, carried on as if nothing happened, and simply adapted. But that would not be Babau.

We tell all this out of coherence, because we needed to be honest with the people who have accompanied us for so long. Because it makes us feel better to tell the truth and share what we live with all the people who are part of our community — whether they have bought from us once or have followed us for years.

But also because we deeply believe that the value of a piece changes when you know its story: who made it, how it was made, and why it exists. When you add context, emotion, and honesty, the object stops being a product and becomes something with soul, with a value that goes far beyond its price.

At Babau, the relationship with truth has always been very close. And today, more than ever, we want that to continue being the foundation of our path.

— Dani and Lluís
BABAU Barcelona