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WBF Wine Business Fashion, a prestige website in seven languages

The international website of a business events circuit spanning Portugal, Angola, Macau and the Gulf: seven languages including Chinese and Arabic, and qualified applications instead of tickets.

For
Founders and startups, SMEs and operations
Service
Build
Client
WBF · Wine Business Fashion
Connected to
WBF Connect, the WBF network platform
See it live wbfexperiences.com
WBF home page: full-screen video and the gold headline “Onde o Luxo Autêntico Faz Negócios”
WBF home page on mobile
3D carousel of photos from the editions
Visual archive: 45 photos turn around an ellipse, by mouse, finger or keyboard.
Live clocks for the cities on the circuit
Fourteen cities, each with its live local time.
Self-assessment “A sua marca está pronta para a WBF?” with a score of 90%
Five questions and a score before applying.
Filterable gallery of the editions
A gallery of 127 items, eight filters.
Home page in Arabic, right-to-left layout
Arabic, right to left.
Contact page in Traditional Chinese with the city clocks
Traditional Chinese.
Hover over or tap a block to see its role in the system.

01Problem

WBF brings together exporters, importers, investors and institutions around wine, business and fashion, from Lisbon to Luanda and Macau. Its audience reads Portuguese, English, Chinese or Arabic.

The site had to inspire the trust of a luxury brand, be understood on four continents and turn visits into qualified applications, with no ticketing: you don't buy a place, you ask for one.

02Context

Users
Brands and exporters, importers and distributors, investors, sponsors, institutions and press, in Portugal, Angola, Macau, the Gulf and the Portuguese-speaking countries.
Current process
A calendar of twelve editions across 2026 and 2027, gala dinners and business meetings by application.
Constraints
Seven languages including Simplified and Traditional Chinese and right-to-left Arabic, plenty of video and photography but a site that stays fast on mobile, GDPR consent, international SEO.
Tools in place
  • Videos and photos from the editions
  • 2026-2027 calendar
  • Partners and institutions

03Solution

A custom editorial site in black and gold, with no CMS or framework: about 95 KB of hand-written JavaScript. The hero video loads after the page, in 720p on phones, with fallback images if it fails.

The language is chosen before the first render, from the time zone and then the browser language, with no network request. The server translates each page's header, the text loads on demand, and the Chinese and Arabic fonts only download when they are needed.

Every “Book your place” button leads to a qualified application: format, sector, edition, target markets and attached documents.

Why this approach. For a selective circuit, ticketing would have been the wrong tool: an application filters, informs the team and gives the visitor the feeling of joining a circle.

04Architecture

Input

  • Language choice Before the first render: the saved choice, then the time zone, then the browser language, with no network request. Crawlers get Portuguese.
  • Application A qualifying form with attached documents (five files, 10 MB), accessible validation and spam protection. If sending fails, a pre-filled email takes over.

Interface

  • Pages in 7 languages Fourteen pages per language, header translated by the server, about 1,240 translation keys loaded on demand.

Automation

  • GSAP + Lenis Smooth scrolling, parallax, text revealed word by word, 3D carousel, magnetic buttons; reduced motion on request.
  • Contact API Applications reach the WBF team, attachments included.

Data

  • Editions calendar Twelve editions: countdowns in each city's local time, .ics calendar invitations, live clocks for fourteen cities.

Output

  • SEO and AI hreflang, a multilingual sitemap of 102 URLs, structured data (organisation, twelve events), llms.txt for AI assistants.
  • GA4 with consent Analytics load only after consent (Consent Mode v2), and applications are tracked as a key event.

05Features

  • Seven languages, including Chinese and ArabicPortuguese, English, French, Spanish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, right-to-left Arabic.
  • Language chosen before the page appearsTime zone, then browser language, with no tracker and no network request. The visitor's choice is remembered.
  • A video that doesn't slow things downLoaded after the page, in 720p on phones, replaced by images if it fails, switched off in data saver mode.
  • Custom 3D carousel45 photos on an ellipse, turned by mouse, finger or keyboard: a React component rewritten without a framework.
  • Events, not just pagesCountdowns in each city's local time, calendar invitations, live world clocks.
  • Qualified applicationFormat, sector, edition, eleven target markets, attached documents, and an email fallback so no request is lost.
  • Self-assessmentFive questions and a score before applying, calculated in the browser: nothing is sent.
  • Ready for Google and AI assistantshreflang, a sitemap of 102 URLs, twelve events as structured data, llms.txt.
  • GDPR in practiceCustom banner and preference centre. Google Analytics only after consent, cookies cleared on refusal.

06Result

  • Live in seven languages, across 102 indexable URLs.
  • Every visit can end in a qualified application, with a fallback that never loses a request.
  • Main content displayed in 1.4 s, with no layout shift (measured on desktop, unthrottled network).

How it is measured

  • Applications per edition and per language
  • Requests for the sponsorship pack
  • Visits by country and by language

07What I did

  1. Site and language architecture
  2. Art direction and motion
  3. Custom front-end development
  4. Application forms and API
  5. International SEO and structured data
  6. Consent and analytics
  7. Launch
Next case study WBF Connect, the WBF network platform

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