I am an entrepreneur by nature. Creating new brands, products and develop ideas is what I love the most in life. My philosophy is clear: find a need, provide a nice product and and make everything yourslef until you know enough to explain what you need to especialized profesionals of the areas yo
After studying Law and spend a couple of years working as a lawyer, I knew this was not all I wanted to do in my life.
Timeline
Arquitube
Wear your plans
What Did I do?
- Branding
- Product design and sourcing
- Retail design and management
- Product manufacturing
- Photography and creative direction
My sister is a very talented person who was studying architecture in London back in 2012. When She complained about how ugly the black plastic tubes she used to carry her plans and painting were, I knew this could the idea to build my first company. This was an incredible trip that brings me from my parent’s garage to open my first shop in London
Arquitube was my first company and the best business school ever. I had to continuously learn new skills and found solutions all the time for problems that I could never imagine.
Thanks to Arquitube I learnt how to run a business but also things like sew, cut and work with leather and fabrics, develop a product, work with suppliers and find sources. From the marketing perspective creating a consistent brand was a real challenge. It was also the first time I sold products online and internationally.
The best part of all was to open a shop in London just a few months after I created the company. This was not just a dream coming true but the best experience.
My sister is a very talented person who was studying architecture in London back in 2012. When She complained about how ugly the black plastic tubes she used to carry her plans and painting were, I knew this could the idea to build my first company.
Using my mum’s sewing machine, the first leather tube prototype became real quickly. I just had to improve my product and practise was the only way. I spend all that summer in my parent’s garage using my brand new industrial sewing machine, the cutting press and the glue gun. In September, my product was ready. I handmade a first production of one hundred leather tubes.
After the business plan was clear and the brand’s identity created, and all the photos were taken in my bedroom, the Arquitube’s online store was developed with the help of an agency. Things started working and we sold the first tube quickly.
Everything worked well enough to rent a bigger space and start thinking about my next goal: to open a shop in London.
Camden Lock market was the perfect place: cheap rent, lots of people around and not too exposed in case I make any mistake (that I did)
When the lease conditions were agreed, it was time to created more retail-friendly products than tubes. This is why I design the first handbags, cardholder, and pencil case collection.
I flew to London to measure the space. After that, I built the shop in my workshop, packed everything in a van, drove to London, assembled the shop, and start trading.
The shop was a big success, especially after customers could design their own bag thanks to the modular design I created.
After six months trading at Candem Lock Market, it was clear for me that there was a big potential in selling bespoke handbags. It was also clear that i needed a new brand.
Colourfield Company
Be Unique. Design Your Own
What Did I do?
- Branding
- Product design and sourcing
- Retail design and management
- Product manufacturing
- Photography and creative direction
Colourfield Company was based in 4 ideas: Handmade in the Uk + great natural leather + design your own + flagship store in Covent Garden.
The company was my first success. This experience tough me the importance of having the right partners, reliable suppliers, and production capacity.
After a long negotiation, I could open our shop in Covent Garden, where our sales grew exponentially and we had our minute of fame when the company appeared in The Financial Times Magazine, «How to spend it»
I open a handbags factory in Manchester in order to keep our shop supplied.
Arquitube bag’s design worked very well and I didn’t have to redesign our main product. However, we need a new brand that shows better the new company’s identity and philosophy.
Colourfield Company was based in 4 ideas: Handmade in the Uk + great natural leather + design your own + flagship store in Covent Garden.
A new partner join the company at this point. The ideas was to let me focus in branding, product development and operations while my partner should be in charge of financial, accounts and taxes.
Our factory was moved from the north of Spain to Manchester, where we found a super cool old mill space and I start training the young artisans. This was, by far, the best part of this journey: teaching 17 years old kids how to cut, sew and work with leather and see how they become super-skilled workers was the most satisfying thing I have ever done in my life.
After a couple of months of negotiation, Colourfield Company finally found a shop in 11 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, London. Having a shop in this location was a dream for me.
Everything worked very well and the numbers were positive. We also had our minute of glory when we appear on the Financial Time’s magazine How to spend it. Thanks to this, sales grew a lot and investors were knocking the door but the truth was that our company was collapsing.
First, our partnership was not working anymore and there were some management problems. Second, our Spanish leather suddenly retired and we lost our main supplier and our restock capacity.
Finally, our landlord did not renew our lease because he built a hotel in the building. The option of founding another shop was not realistic as this was the time when business rates started escalated.
At this point, we decided to terminated Colourfield Company. But I still believed in the idea.
London Photo Studio
+ New Colourfield + Shoreditch Store
What Did I do?
- Colourfield Studio Brand Concept
- New Collection design
- Setting up the company’s photo studio
- Planned and organised photoshoots
- Ecommerce photography
- Studio management
- Popup store design
Running my own photo studio was the best way to become a better Creative Director and to be able to create all the photographic and video material for the brand with total freedom. This experience taught me how to manage a creative team, that is so different to managing factory workers or a retail sales team.
After finding the right space in East London and buying all material needed, I started studying and practising. The biggest challenge was to learn how to use the flashlight in the right way to show our products in the best possible and consistent way. Finding the voice of the brand took around a month.
When I was ready, a few apprentices started to help me to organise and to shoot the sessions. This was a great experience and I could meet amazing young talented people in the way. I am proud to say that some of them are now professional full-time photographers
You need to became better and better and learn more and more to get where you want. I was never satisfied of how my brand looked in the past and it felt that it was impossible to create the aesthetic I had in my working with freelancers and agencies. At this point, having my own photo studio was the best decision I could make to became a better Creative Director.
After finding the right space in East London and buying all material needed, I started studying and practising. The biggest challenge was to learn how to use the flashlight in the right way to show our products in the best possible and consistent way. Finding the voice of the brand took around a month.
At this point, a few apprentices were accepted to help me organise and shoot the session. This was a great experience and I could met amazing young talented people in the way. I am proud to say that some of them are now professional full time photographers
