N We already know a little about you but... how would you like to introduce yourself on our blog?
We are artisans of esparto grass and other vegetable fibres, we are in Úbeda (World Heritage City). We have two maxims: without forgetting tradition, we innovate; the other is to enjoy our craft.

N What is your relationship with natural fibres? Discovery... or coincidence.
It is due to family heritage, since my family has been working with esparto and other vegetable fibers for six generations. Apart from Crafts, we have dedicated ourselves to teaching, with the School of Arts and Crafts being the only place where the Esparto Specialty existed as an official qualification. Artistic.

N DIY requires learning and dedication, for us it is still a craft. What is your point of view?
For a long time, crafts have been passed down from parents to children, or from master to apprentice. Now we must bring our crafts to formal training, to prevent part of our culture from being lost.

N Of your projects, do you remember any that you particularly liked?
I am lucky to enjoy them all, each one has a part to enjoy, as it has been said so many times, a handmade product carries part of the soul of the artisan, it is like many children and you love them all. But if I had to highlight one, for example the collaboration with the Fashion Designer Leandro Cano, with whom we have paraded with clothing made of vegetable fibers at the Mercedes Fashion Week Madrid 2018 and at the Fashion Week Paris 2019, and in particular in Madrid since it was the first relationship with haute couture.

N Do you have any favourite material? The one that can't be missing from your checklist...
I don't have favorite materials, as before, each fiber has its characteristics, paraphrasing the ancient esparto grass growers "The esparto tells you how it is going to work and how you have to sew it", we apply this maxim to the rest of the vegetable fibers.

N Looking at history and learning from those who know is important... Do you have any design or artistic references that you would like to highlight?
The fact that our house was a shop and workshop, and the fact that we had more than thirty people working, most of them women, in the time of my grandfather and my father, and playing in those same workshops, has meant that we have learned from childhood with games. Now I am still learning because there are different techniques that we do not know and that we have to learn for our best training. To this we must add that designers and clients need something in particular that leads us to invent techniques to bring their ideas and needs to reality. For all this, our references are the people who have worked with us, the artisans that I have met and continue to meet.

N Success is very satisfying, but failure helps too. Do you have any advice or comments you would like to share with beginners and veterans?
If you never fail, you will never achieve excellence. You have to face mistakes with positivity, a phrase that is often said in my country "what is lost, for what is learned."

Thank you!

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