Designer talks
César Carcaboso & Josep Vicens
Co-Founders, Santa Living
Tell us a bit about your background. How did you fall into design?
Santa Living was born from the need we both had for a more relaxed and honest life. We live in a city where the eclectic rhythm didn’t allow us to relax like in our town Empordà, so we decided to create our home, a temple for well-being and relaxation for ourselves and our loved ones who visit our space. We capture the nature of our homeland in the texture and graphic designs of our fabrics; rustic but also sophisticated.
How does the mediterranean lifestyle influence your collections?
We are both from Empordà, and although we currently live in Barcelona, we spend a large part of our free time there visiting our family and our favourite spots. Every lived experience, every smell and feeling inspires us in each of our designs.
You source exclusively organic-certified fabrics to create your textile collections. What are the different steps involved in the production process?
Our fabrics are respectful of the environment and of our planet, not only in the manner that the raw material is selected, but the entire process involved in transforming the cotton or linen into textile pieces. All of our fabrics are created from organic materials in our country (Spain) or very close (Portugal). During this process a lot of waste is created, so our workshop is responsible for creating renewable energy, taking advantage of the remains of threads, dirty water and dust created from production. In addition, they purify the water to make it reusable.
Tell us about a moment in everyday life at home that brings you joy…
We are so lucky to live in an apartment where the sunlight wakes us up and accompanies us throughout the day. We always work from there and sometimes it can be heavy, but there is a moment when a show of light reflections are created in our living room where we love to take a coffee break.
How do you recommend styling your creations at home?
Our creations are designed to be enjoyed anywhere in the house, on the sofa, on a divan or even on the table to enjoy its texture in company. In our case, we love very fluffy cushions, so we use a slightly larger filling. We leave it in our favourite corner where the cushion can show off its design.
❝We capture the nature of our home land in the texture and graphic designs of our fabrics; rustic but also sophisticated.❞
Your collection Sobretaula introduces linen napkins and tablecloths featuring your signature embroidery. What are the ingredients for styling the perfect table?
We love to enjoy our loved ones around a table. It’s the most vulnerable moment that can exist, right? Important news is always shared and that creates a bond between everyone. So we love to always accompany the table with candles, flowers picked by us and the best snacks: figs, grapes and a little cheese.
Which designers or artists would you invite to a dinner party?
Having references that you admire is very important, so meeting them would be a pleasure. We would love to invite Valeria Vasi (@valeria.vasi), Laurence Leenaert (@lrnce) and Agnes (@agnesofficial). Three very important women with very different worlds; they always help us to create an inspiring space.
Barcelona or Cadaqués?
Always Cadaqués! Time passes much slower, you can be conscious of every step you take and savour every success without any rush. The city is too noisy for us!
What do you love most about your métier?
We are lucky to have some of our métiers close to our apartment, so it makes it easy to communicate and create a beautiful synergy. Everything always flows, even on the most complicated days. Also, enjoying a coffee together and discovering more of their world, it makes us so happy!
In parallel with Santa Living, you’ve recently launched Santa Studio, a bespoke textile design service for clients looking for custom designs. How does this type of collaboration work?
It’s becoming more and more common to find hotels, villas or interior design projects with sustainable values and that has made us think that we have something to offer and share.
In addition to creating unique designs, we work with craftsmen and very high quality of fabric, as we use them for our collections. Since we launched Santa Studio, we’ve received several proposals from people with values similar to ours who didn’t know how to do it before finding us. We are very happy to make these values palpable through our work. Very soon, one of our latest projects will come to light, a textile design collection for a villa in Marrakech near the Majorelle Gardens, featuring one of our exclusive designs.
If you had to pick a favourite Santa Living piece…
Without a doubt, we would say our bed sets! Acrux especially, mixing the calm of the sea with a minimal and sophisticated design, it gives the space a unique character.
