Cope a second life for the skin discarded by luxury brands

Blanca Fernández-Viagas

An Andalusian couple formed by a fashion designer and an architect has managed).

Sevillian Ana Collado and Jiennense Jesús Cruz met at the skin's technological center - she worked in the design department, he in the Development Section - and it was in 2020, in the middle of the Covid pandemic, when they decidedMake the leap and create its own brand, Socaire, a bag signature with a limited production as the raw material is left over or that the big firms discard.

They have their workshop in the Sevillian neighborhood of Bellavista, where Ana deals with the design, prototypes and models, and Jesus takes care of the development of 3D printed pieces;Once the product is defined, they send it for their manufacture in small family workshops of Ubrique.

These are handicraft and quality products because they use the surpluses of the big factories that work for the luxury industry, which are also exclusive to being small collections.

Since December 2020, when they launched the project, they have created about two hundred pieces between bags, wallets and cards, although they also plan to produce belts and diversify their products over time.

"We do not take more than ten or twenty units of each color and there are pieces of which we only produce two or three units because it depends on the materials we find," explains Ana Collado in an interview with Efe.

These contemporary artisans, as they like to define themminimum inks and no plastic or excess materials.

Its greatest source of inspiration is nature, the sea and, particularly, the Mediterranean, although architecture and interior design are other references.

"We drink from what surrounds us, without getting away from our world," says Collado, who reveals that they are in conversations with international commercial agencies to open market in Asia, specifically Japan and Korea, where the "pamper" and the care of detailsIt is very appreciated, as well as in the United States, Canada and some European countries.

In Spain, for the moment, they have been well received in conceptual establishments of Valencia, Madrid and Cádiz, but they sell above all through social networks -instagram- and the website.

His work workshop is now focused on the pieces for the spring-summer season of this year, about two hundred units between leather bags and wallets combined with natural canvas fabric, lighter for the summer season.

Cielo green and blue are this time the predominant colors, some shades that retract the sea of his childhood, the pine trees next to the house of his grandparents, baptized with the name of Socaire.

It is his particular tribute when he decided, along with his partner, to launch into the adventure of undertaking.Risky, but somehow, protected.EFE

BFV/JRR/FG

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