After receiving electronic correspondence from Madrid-based peSeta last week, we became enamored with their style, humor, and rad textile creations. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before we asked them to tell us a bit more about their studio, snap a few photos, answer a question or two, and reveal their inspirations. They graciously obliged our request (in a second language no less!) and we thank Jaime and Laura for their generosity. Enjoy!

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Set & Drift : What is your most prized “rescued” piece at your studio? What’s its story?

peSeta : maybe we could say two: the out of tune organ that you can see on the video (a gift from a jazz critic) and the old mirror that we found with a “destiny: garbagecan” written on it. someone told us it´s an old mirror, beginning of XX century. oh, we also have some huge mailboxes that we rescued from my brother´s previous house.

Some images of art that inspires you, in your studio or otherwise?

i always  need to changing the space before designing. maybe it is a pathology,  a mental illness… i don´t know… but the truth is that once space and light are arranged (not in any special way) the creative part goes itself. i gotta said that the correct aesthetic view sometimes makes me bored and the inspiration, i dont´t know, can i say in everything without being too hippy?

We have one day in Madrid. Where do we go? Any photos of the city to share?

only one day?!! ok, then you should definitely go to El Chorrillo (calle acuerdo) where you can choose the tapa you want and then to the Nasti club (calle san vicente ferrer 33) where there are always interesting gigs and amazing music. those two places are really close to our store/atelier so it wouldn´t be a bad idea to drop by and say hi…
as you see, three super touristic places!

5 artifacts of Spanish culture you couldn’t live without?

the mop, nice oil bottles, spanish guitar (jaime), castanets (laura) and the Cantábrico sea.

5 artifacts of American culture that intrigue you?

banjos, crunchy peanut butter, 12 pack of socks, 12 pack of anything, mailboxes, neighbourhood block parties, thanksgiving tofu turkey, trucks, motels, amazing bookstores, amazing everything-you-can-image stores, Maryland blue crabs… love American culture and just read you said only 5 artifacts…

A story to share about one of the places you discovered a beloved textile?

there is a very old man in the countryside that produce fabrics with a very old loom. you don´t have know anything of traditional weaving process, the textiles are beautiful, tough and great. i discovered his work four years ago and since that we´ve been doing many peSetas with his fabrics and praying for his life.

What future project appears in your wildest of dreams?

suitcases, elegant backpacks, flattering swimwear… wildest?… mmm… too shy to tell…

Do you have a fantasy for how one of your products might be being used right now in some faraway place?

all the time… it´s like a cycle: fabrics from the world are put together somewhere south madrid and then they fly back to the world. so far, we´ve had orders from the five continents and we just received a picture of an african masai wearing the peSeta Primavera Sound festival 2010 bag!

You’ve collaborated with artists and brands including Marc Jacobs, New Museum, and Lomography. What are some of the things you’ve learned from your collaborations?

besides practical biz stuff, we´ve learned that we are able to offer nice things to big companies we like. with Marc Jacobs

we learned that you can be super professional but have fun and take things easy. they make everything easy from design to production. they let us propose anything. same with the New Museum lately. we´ve been very lucky so far when working with other people…

We love the Ukelele Bag. So how did it occur to you to make a bag specifically for a ukelele?

Laura plays the ukelele and, as usual, she wanted to have a case or bag to carry it, so she just made a ukelele bag. then we realized it could be fun making a series for Marc Jacobs. after that we continued making different versions of it, with cordura®, denim, etc. we even made one we called “Lamerritt” and we send it to Stephin Merritt, from the Magnetic Fields.

You’ve created a lot of soft textile pieces to hold and encase technology: the ipad case, the camera bag… Is there any other piece of technology out there that you believe should have something warm protecting it?

helmets, external hard drives, space ships, cars (you know, those big blankets people use to cover their cars),
those little lasers pens people in the science world use, instrument cases…

What is your power animal?

we are both Chinese Land Horses and Laura is a Tiger, almost a snake, in traditional shaolin kungfu. i love monkeys but i´m not sure if they give me some kind of power besides laughter.
laura: i behave like a squirrel sometimes.

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Thanks again to peSeta – we look forward to watching their work evolve!