Colloquium: Creating Spain’s Brand in handicrafts

Colloquium: How can artisans contribute to the Spain Brand, and can they export this distinction abroad? For Xandra Falcó, president of Círculo Fortuny, the debate starts from the excellence that is characteristic of every product that is made with hands.

“The challenge is to teach these artisans to become a brand. This should be their ambition so that their work is sustainable in the future. All this without losing the essence and maintaining the quality of their products,” Falcó said in the colloquium: “Creating Marca España in craftsmanship. This took place at El Orangery, during the exhibition “The house of the future” that we organized together with Mazda and SACo as part of the Madrid Design Festival. Margarita Ruyra de Andrade, co-founder of Esfascinante, also participated in this talk, which was moderated by Elena Goded, president of SACo and founder of Ábbate.

“The challenge is to teach these artisans to become a brand. This should be their ambition so that their work is sustainable in the future. All this without losing the essence and maintaining the quality of their products,” Falcó said in the colloquium.

Three women united by their love for handmade products. On the one hand, as we mentioned Xandra Falcó, is the president of the Círculo Fortuny, the association of brands of excellence in all fields. They range from cultural institutions to major brands in other sectors, but also artisans who represent high craftsmanship.

In other words, they embody the know-how and trades that have been practiced in Spain for centuries and that they continue to practice today. For her, the craftsman is the basis of excellence, because behind his work there is a craft and hands.

 Margarita Ruyra de Andrade is co-founder of Esfascinante. “In this world of craftsmanship I would wear two hats, in Esfascinante we have more than 15,000 web pages where we talk about the work of artisans by themes and autonomous communities. And then I would wear the Slow deco and art hat, which is where we disseminate the work of a selection of 27 artisans so that people can get to know their work and sell their work,” explains Ruyra de Andrade.

“We must have a presence on many large platforms with other artists and brands to have a voice. Use digital marketing tools to reach the public interested in your product. In this way we will get the visualization of the small ones,” says the co-founder of Esfascinante.

Elena Goded affirms that the processes are national heritage. “I would love it to be understood that just as music or a building is heritage, so are the processes of craftsmanship,” laments the moderator. In this aspect, Ruyra de Andrade is in favor of using technology in favor of the artisan. “We must have a presence on many large platforms with other artists and brands to have a voice. Use digital marketing tools to reach the public interested in your product. In this way we will get the visualization of the small ones,” says the co-founder of Esfascinante. Although the reality is always a bit more complicated because they are usually small artisans who have stock problems.

“Maybe an artisan makes three dresses in a month and needs a week for the fourth. This is a problem that makes it difficult for small brands to grow and also requires knowledge of business management”. On this point Falcó agrees, adding that the world of gastronomy, from which she comes in part, has done very well. “In Spain, gastronomy has fought side by side to build a common brand. This objective is what has made us reach the top and be on the lists of the best in the world”.

We leave here this very interesting talk for you to enjoy it as much as we did.