Salim Rashamwala

Well, there was an event in town by a group of Brazilian artists who were showcasing work they'd done on street-side clothing vendors in Brazil.

And they'd asked some members of the Barcelona Monteros union to come as guests.

The union members, who are now the creators of this brand, Top Manta, had made 15 shirts so far.

And they knew there would be media at the event.

Ten core members showed up wearing their Top Manta gear.

Each of the five shirts that they weren't wearing were sold immediately.

And that's how the brand was unofficially introduced to the Barcelona scene.

The brilliance of all this is that by starting this unofficial union and this rebellious brand, they figured out a method to get some of their fellow Monteros a very official way to stay in the country.

So we looked into this and the requirements for gaining legal status are pretty stringent, especially if you're a refugee and it's hard to get a sponsor to help you do all this.

But if you have a team of friends who now run a company together, well, it's like now there's a path.

It's tough to get hard statistics because the Spanish census does not ask questions about race and ethnicity, but Black people are underrepresented in government.

And a 2017 story in El Pais interviewed people of African descent and pointed to discriminatory comments they had heard throughout their careers, as well as negative stereotypes in the representation of black people in media and advertising.

While they were working on getting past these obstacles, something else was happening, COVID-19.

So instead of prioritizing the brand, the Monteros shifted their focus, emptied out their shop, and started making free PPE for healthcare workers.

This incredibly important work at the peak of a global pandemic was just their beginning.

Their next step, and maybe their biggest as a brand, was to create a collection.

And in the spirit of collaboration, they invited world-renowned artists to make exclusive edition vintage denim jackets through a program they called Loteria Mantera.

And one of those collaborators was Marina, that Brazilian artist.

And Top Manta had a bigger vision than just growing a brand for the sake of making more money.

The brand also opened a Top Manta store on Don Roig Street in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona.