Where and when do I come from...

The Full Story

I would like to start from the very beginning.

​

I was born in San Sebastian in 1990, but clearly an old soul since conception.

​

My heritage is both Galician and Basque, so I carry warrior energy and the sea in my veins. Couldn't be more Celtic and Basque if I tried, it's in my blood and heritage.

​

I come from a very normal working class family in Spain, my mother has a cleaning company and my dad is a former Sommelier for a Michelin star restaurant in San Sebastian. Hard working people that had to build up and work for everything they had from a generation before.

We owe everything we are to my grandparents generation and the vicissitudes they had to go through, both personally and economically thought the First World War, Spanish civil war, Second World War and the dictatorship, plus rationing. One happening after the other for more than 70 years. I come from a lineage of fighters and extremely strong women.

When I was 3/4/5 I started to develop a very deep interest in history and the past,specially old films; as I was fascinated by photographs in black and white and I was convinced  that the past didn’t have colour. I used to tell adults I had proof as this was the case in the wizard of Oz. Dorothy lives in a world of black and white till she lands in Munchkinland, much like me.

My mother, my biggest champion, nurtured my interest for history buying for me every book she could find on Egyptology, ancient Rome, classic Greece, Mesopotamia...etc

I was obsessed with early civilisations  and by the time I was 6/7/8 and I started noticing the clothing that the archaeologists wore like in the pictures of Howard Carter and his team, which made me discover the 20s and their fashion, the Earl of Carnavon and his house in England…etc 

​

I was very badly bullied at school, as it often happens with creatives and my escapism and outlet was history, the golden age of cinema, silent films, second hand shops and markets, art and antiques....I inadvertently took this time to cultivate myself so my brain became a rolodex of endless information and inspiration.

And that’s what got me into old interiors, antiques, heritage, and my beloved Victoriana. It was through links of discovery and research that I landed in my comfort zone ,the 100 years comprising 1830-1930.

I find this eras largely evocative as 1830 marks the beggining of a new era. The old absolutist systems start failing, and the need for a new the of monarchy and government model shapes the future a bit better, it’s also the 100 years that give us the Industrial Revolution and the democratisation of style, suddenly everyone can afford ornament. 

I find this highly evocative as I don’t look towards the big Manor Houses for my decor inspiration but mainly the Victorian lower, middle and upper-middle classes and their aspirations and obsession with clutter and ornamentation as a means to show wealth, power and cultural cultivation.

In my humble opinion this sets the base for what we recognise as “ modern comforts “ nowadays. The Christmas tree is Victorian; Christmas itself, valentines day as we know it, the celebration of birthdays, the cup of tea, wallpaper , fish and chips…etc are all victorian conceptions.

I’m well aware that some of this things are not Victorian inventions but it is the time when society adopts all this concepts and internalises them culturally, in this late modern period. 

So in short,  aesthetically I love this era. An era of discovery and domesticity. An era of growth and technological advance unparalleled with any other, it almost feels that we sped up in terms of societal history that zeniths in the gilded age and its excesses.

After analysing all this at an early age, I knew I wanted to live aesthetically in this universe, and unfortunately in my native Spain antiques are an elite thing and there’s not a big culture of second hand, so it was very difficult for me to source this desired aesthetic.

Because of the recent trauma and history in my country people tend to look to the future and not the past, much like it happened in Britain in the 1950s.

My father often used to bring me  to uk since I was 9, I always wanted to come to live in London and that cracked the code for me: most of the housing stock in this country is Victorian or Edwardian, and history is alive in every corner untarnished too much by the effects of WWII, the continent suffered many more cultural heritage losses than U.K. did. So history was lost. But here it has been beautifully preserved ( with exceptions like Coventry obviously ) 

 I was mesmerised that I could land in portobello market ( which was my dream to visit since I saw Bedknobs and Broomsticks as a child) and you I buy an Edwardian silver comb for £10. I knew in that moment, with that purchase, that I was going to one day,  live  here. 

So when I was 18 I successfully enrolled at uni in Madrid to study fashion design, I wanted to educate myself technically on how to produce historical garments. So I graduated with this expertise plus an specialisation in leatherwork and lingerie. 

And finally came to U.K. at 21 to finish my studies  at Central Saint Martins obtaining my masters completing my education  with modules like couture tailoring or white work embroidery. 

Then,  I quickly found a job as a barista so I could stay and support myself  and I started working as a costume apprentice for films and tv for years. 

With the inability to land a permanent role in the industry, and with my savings dwindling away, I decided to start a career working in fashion retail. And landed an amazing job opportunity running a Victorian inspired fashion boutique in Portobello road , so my childhood dream of running a store in portobello road like in the film I mentioned before, dressed head to toe in authentic victorian clothing became a reality. 

After some time living the London victorian, Dickensian dream, I met my partner Daniel ,who lived in Birmingham and runs the Byzantine history department at Birmingham university ( at the time he was a junior lecturer ) and I made the move out of London for love and the rest is history ! 

About interior design:

I’ve never identified as an interior designer per se, but I have to admit that I have a transformative imagination with spaces and I’ve always lived in, and created time capsules wherever I’ve rented. Time travelling pockets of beauty.

Pretty much like Mcgough and McDermott did in NYC in the 80s and 90s ( if you’re not  familiar with them read Peter Mcgouhg's book " Ive seen to the future and I'm not going" to better understand my aesthetic ideals) so decor came naturally to me as it was piecing back the past to work for me. I wanted to live in those fabulous film sets of the cinematic universe of my childhood, I wanted the flavour of twelve oaks, La Boheme, Les mis, great expectations, Oliver….all terribly evocative and Dickensian. So that’s the way I started with interiors and decor. 

As a byproduct, I think that my personal juxtaposition in between fashion and interiors  is clear, as they relate to two of the main human needs, which are to be clothed and to be safe. So I'm sure  the aesthetic ideals, colours, shape, spatial awareness ( of body and rooms), tactile quality, softness, comfort and beauty are paralell in both subjects. 

They are intrinsically linked to the societal desire for ornamentation that we’ve had since the annals of history. I feel that  ornament is in our collective psyche and it’s always been a need since we started little societies and cultures. From pre-historic cave painting, to the development of calligraphy or goldwork, we have never been just about practicality we’ve always searched ornament and self expression. 

That’s why I reject the modern world and the future. It lacks imagination, ornament, beauty and cultural identity. It’s all coming to a zenith of homogenisation that I don’t understand, because is completely against our societal instincts. 

If you leave children alone with a piece of white paper and crayons, they will never just use the paper and create an sculpture, I can assure you that all those colours will be plastered all over the page, and that’s our real human instinct. Antoine de Saint-exupèry said, that we shouldn’t loose that inner child and early Joie de vivre, but we are unfortunately selling it away to modernity and starkness.. And it saddens me greatly . Now people just sees the hat and not the boa that ate the elephant. 

​

Hope you enjoyed knowing me a little better.

​

Lots of love, 

​

Ben

​

Sending you all lots