De La Espada
Luis De Oliveira, co-founder of De La Espada, tells the story behind their furniture company.
Light Extending Table and Fin Chair by Matthew Hilton for De La Espada ©YukiSugiura
FAME: Where are you from and how did your passion for furniture start?
LDO: I am from Portugal and my wife Fatima, with whom I co-founded De La Espada, is from Spain. We both studied civil engineering at university in London, which was not a design-related course in the conventional sense, and I didn’t have much interest in design until De La Espada. It is really through De La Espada that my passion was built. I have had the great fortune to work with some of the world’s best craftspeople and industrial designers and to sell directly to discerning clients and this has shaped my understanding of design. I believe in hard work and take pride in working with highly skilled people to make the most beautiful furniture possible. Working in the luxury end of the market, we are able to focus on all of the details that make a product truly special, creating enduring value. We dedicate an incredible amount of care, patience, and time, use tactile materials, and harness the expertise of the best designers, engineers and makers. For the past 25-plus years of De La Espada, I have lived and breathed furniture, and have had the pleasure of exchanging ideas with some of the world’s best creators.
Luis De Oliveira, Co-Founder of De La Espada ©CarlosTeixeira
FAME: Why did you start De La Espada?
LDO: It happened very organically. A relative of my wife’s had started a very small construction business that was creating high quality carpentry work for a house they were building and, after university, my wife and I joined the business. To survive what became a very difficult property market in Spain in the 1990s, we moved the business to the production of custom furniture, and eventually moved on to our own line of furniture, all designed and built in-house and sold through our own retail stores, the first of which was in London. In the beginning, the focus was on creating pared down, modern designs using exclusively traditional woodworking methods with very few complementary materials — mostly just fabric and the odd bit of glass. In 2007, two years after moving our production to Portugal, our business model shifted significantly: we began partnering with designers which led us to work with a variety of other materials in addition to solid wood, and we closed our own retail stores in favor of building a retail network which today consists of approximately 50 retailers across 20 countries.
FAME: What makes you different from other furniture companies?
LDO: We choose our design partners carefully and only work with a limited number. We value their vision and, rather than asking them to design one or two products, we offer full product lines by each designer to showcase their creative vision.
There is a high level of collaboration that takes place in the creation of our furniture, in a way that is unique in the business. The design of a product involves the lead designer working closely with our in-house industrial designers and product engineers who are in constant contact with our craftspeople, working on the same floor of our factory. Collaborating in this way means our products benefit from the particular skills and expertise of all of these departments, allowing for effective problem solving, the ability to push the boundaries of what is possible, and the creation of furniture of the very highest quality. Every person involved with De La Espada has a dedication to creating the most beautiful, rigorously engineered and functional furniture possible, ensuring furniture that will be a pleasure to live with for a lifetime.
De La Espada Factory ©CarlosTeixeira
FAME: What are three common misconceptions people have about furniture design/ making?
LDO: The first is that furniture design is all about grand aesthetic decisions. Really, it is the very small decisions that are important in design. Understanding the intricacies of how a person behaves and how a piece of furniture can support them in that; understanding the value of materials and really honoring the material with the way you work it; creating joinery with beauty and integrity; considering absolutely every angle of a product as every view, even if concealed, is important.
The second is that a design is nothing more than its silhouette. By this I mean that design with integrity can not be simply copied and made cheaper. What makes a design work is not just its silhouette; all of the details make it what it is, from the materials to the detailing, the craftsmanship and even the intention that went into its creation. All of these things add value and create the possibility for an emotional connection.
Finally, sometimes people may not understand how much thought, care, and skill goes into making a piece of furniture of this quality. The amount of research and engineering; the number of steps, components, machines, human interactions, craft skills. Each product, and each iteration of each product, is the result of an enormous amount of care, skill and attention that cannot be easily replicated.
De La Espada Factory ©YukiSugiura
FAME: How big is your team and who is part of it?
LDO: Most of our work is performed in-house so our team, comprising about 80 people, is diverse. We have team members working in sales, admin and logistics, marketing and PR, industrial design and product engineering, and craftspeople with varied expertise including cabinetmaking, joinery, selecting timber, finishing, upholstery, 3D drawing, and both operating and programming CNC machinery. 50% of our craftspeople are women, and all are Portuguese.
We also consider our partners part of our team, and that includes our design partners, which is currently 8 design offices, and our retail partners, which counts currently around 50.
FAME: What is your design and fabrication process?
LDO: The design process is slightly different for each design partner, but always involves the designer coming up with an initial design and bringing it to our team for further discussion and development. Our team of in-house product designers and engineers work closely with both the lead designer and our craftspeople on construction details, material selection, and general product development. Working in this way means that we are able to come up with solutions to design problems that previously seemed impossible, and execute products to a very high standard.
We exercise a high level of control over our manufacture. All woodworking and upholstery is performed in-house at our dedicated factory in Portugal, and almost every other material we use is crafted within 150 kilometres of our factory, barring a few suppliers in the UK who are within easy reach of our London office. This ensures teamwork and excellent quality. All of the supplied parts are brought together at our factory, where they are assembled and inspected.
Our manufacture combines the best of handcraft and technological woodworking. We use CNC machinery for precision in repeat operations, and handwork for timber selection, assembly, finishing, and upholstery. Only a skilled craftsperson can decide how to work each unique cut of wood for maximum strength, or which planks look most beautiful together. It is this personal attention to detail that really defines our products.
We use only the highest quality sustainable timber and our manufacture takes into consideration the natural properties of the material, both structural and aesthetic. Most of our timber products are made from a jigsaw of parts to get the most sculptural looking pieces, showcasing the wood grain while allowing for strong long grain to long grain bonds. We use mortise and tenon as well as lap joints, wedge tenon, and dovetail joinery for structural stability and beautiful detailing; and finishes that maintain the tactility of the timber, as the haptic qualities are an essential part of a product’s emotional connection.
784 Solo Desk by Neri&Hu in Danish oiled walnut
FAME: What do you love most about what you do?
LDO: I enjoy seeing an idea become a reality, whether that is products that get more beautiful the more they are developed until finally they transform an interior, or business ideas that reshape the trajectory of the brand, or events that connect to people in deep and unexpected ways. I enjoy the way De La Espada furniture brings meaning to interiors through the integrity of our design and craft, and the way we support connection through events incorporating theatre, music and thoughtful discussion. Ultimately, what I love most about what I do is bringing people together and, in some small way, enhancing the meaningful connections we all want to have in our lives.
112 Low Dubois Bed by Luca Nichetto in Danish oiled walnut and Sunniva 3 236
FAME: What are the top three most popular items in your brand?
LDO: We value the integrity of the full range of work from all of our partnerships, so we don’t discuss bestsellers. However, some products that represent well each designer are: Vega Chairs by Anthony Guerree, which reflect the sculptural nature of his work; Throne Seating by Autoban, which illustrate the statement design for which they are known; Twenty-Five Dining Table by De La Espada Atelier, which reveals an obsession with the haptic qualities of the piece and the incorporation of traditional Portuguese crafts; Elliot Dining Chair by Jason Miller, which reveals the designer’s approach to modern design with historical references; Elysia Lounge Chair by Luca Nichetto, which reflects a collaborative approach to design and regard for craft across all disciplines; Bed One by Manuel Aires Mateus, which has a grand materiality brought by exceptionally wide and long planks of wood in a deceptively simple form; Light Table by Matthew Hilton, which expresses the designer’s interest in the concept he calls ‘impossible lightness’ and his passion for sculptural craft; Frame Sofa by Neri&Hu which explores the architectural concept of tectonics; and Settle by Studioilse, a piece that is rooted in tradition and the nature of togetherness.
681 Twenty-Five Dining Table by De La Espada Atelier in Danish oiled walnut and green tile
FAME: What is next for you and your brand?
LDO: We will continue to expand the product lines of our design partners as well as our in-house design office, and find new ways to reach out to a wider audience through carefully curated events. Interacting with our furniture is essential to understanding its meaning so we will find new ways to bring people closer to our work.