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We heart many things about the Catalonian city of Barcelona (including the lispy accent)–food, culture, architecture and best of all, the very vibrant arts and design scene. Recently we discovered the gorgeous rebaba badges and today the eco-chic demano bags, made out of recycled banners from exhibitions in Barcelona as well as other reclaimed material. Founded by the environmentally-conscious trio of Eleonora Parachini, Marcela Manrique and Liliana Andrade, demano has already carved out a fan following for itself in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea and Singapore. We would like them to bring these mucho de moda bags here because we, in Dubai, too love nature. So what if we drive Hummers!

Far from being the boring tree-hugging haberdashery being served these days, these bags will not only carry your stuff around in style, they are also very rugged, since they have been made out of banners that have been hung out to dry quite literally and survived heat, rain and storm.

Since we are talking about Barcelona (no, read it with a lisp), here’s a travel advice. If you haven’t made your summer holiday plans already, then here’s one good excuse- Barcelona plays host to the world’s only urban fashion fair Bread and Butter (fashion’s equivalent of 100% Design) and this year’s event will run from July 2-4, 2008.