Bandit, the performance & lifestyle running apparel brand based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is opening L’Espai in Barcelona, Spain on October 1, a new retail project in partnership with Madrid-based retailer Odda. The name given to the project reportedly means “the space” in Catalan. The company believes it captures the idea behind the collaboration: a meeting point the city’s runners will want to come back to, even on days they aren’t training.
Odda, which was founded two years ago by a group of friends brought together by sport, carries an edited mix of independent labels including Bandit, Unna, Saysky, Hermanos Koumori, AIM, Santa Madre and Ciele, as well as top running footwear brands.
“Visitors enter through either of two doors, one leading into Odda’s space, and the other into Bandit’s, which will carry the latest seasonal releases in apparel and accessories alongside its core evergreen collection. Deeper inside, the two brands come together around the Bandit x Odda capsule, available only in-store,” the company said in a media release.
A co-working area in the store provides people a place to sit down, get some work done or simply enjoy the environs. A recovery area with a sauna, cold plunge and showers lets runners extend their visit after training. L’Espai is designed to become part of a full routine, from meet up, to run, to recovery and connection.
At the center of the space, a continuous stone floor rises and shifts through ramps and different planes. The existing structural walls and traces of earlier construction are said to be “integrated into this new topography,” which organizes circulation, accessibility and the different uses of L’Espai.
The company said that during construction, materials that were already part of the space were recovered and given a second life. The existing stone was reused to build the wall separating the retail area from the wellness spaces. A solid-brick partition was carefully dismantled, cut into regular blocks and reused as both the structure and the cladding of the central table. Rather than hiding their history, these materials keep the traces of what they once were visible and add another layer to the character of the space.
L’Espai is Bandit’s first permanent store in Europe. Community sits at the center of everything Bandit does, which made Odda a natural partner. Since opening its first store in Madrid two years ago, Odda has built deep relationships with Spain’s running community. Together, the two brands have created a store where both identities are recognizable, with room left for the city that hosts them.
The Barcelona store will exclusively carry the Bandit x Odda Barcelona Capsule, featuring five items – a hoodie, a cotton tee, a Barcelona nanomesh long sleeve, a custom Barcelona Lite Run Sock and a performance run hat.
This collaborative collection was reportedly inspired by Barcelona at golden hour. The capsule takes its palette from the city as the light drops – warm amber on stone, and the Mediterranean shifting from deep teal to pale saltwater. The type melts and bends, borrowed from Gaudí’s refusal of a straight line.
Bandit originally launched in October 2020 with performance run socks and accessories.
Image courtesy Bandit
