Both belong to the world of fashion. Sevillian Daniel Rabaneda and French Rosemary Rodriguez (of Spanish origin) together have a long experience in the design sector. He, in addition to creating his own firm at just 24 years old, has been creative director of Ángel Schlesser; she has gone through Christian Dior, Paco Rabanne and Thierry Mugler, among others. Together they have created Rodriguez and Rabaneda, a project that was born during confinement and has already been presented in Madrid, Paris and Denmark.
It is not, in this case, fashion. Rodriguez y Rabaneda is a craftsmanship firm fruit of the friendship and affinity that arose between both designers, that seeks to rescue traditions and present them with a current vision. “We wanted to work with people who had the same passion as us for doing things with their hands, with our same values, create objects that transmit emotions and that can accompany you on a daily basis”, Rosemary tells Condé Nast Traveler.
The packaging is also pure craftsmanship.
She prefers to refer to her project as 'label'. "I don't like the word 'brand'. Label is used more for music (it could be translated as 'label') and, for me, it has more to do with emotions and moments.” And it is that, in her idea, the human part is paramount. Your pieces of ceramics, jewelry, gourmet products… that are sold online and in a pop-up way, are chosen with extreme care. "We wanted to be selective, not bet on any kind of craft," she explains.
Daniel recalls how it all began during the toughest months of the pandemic. “We talked every day and shared stories about our grandmothers. She is from a Spanish family and she told me 'if you come to Paris, bring this, which reminds me of my summers in Salamanca', says the designer. “We realized that they were things that were very much ours that perhaps others did not know and we wanted to rescue, rebuild that art of living with our personal vision”.
Portrait of the two designers.
“For us, Spain is a special context, due to the diversity that exists. We didn't want crafts from the world, we wanted those emotions that are very much ours, part of our lives. This is a very rich country,” Rodriguez stresses. "I really like something that I can't find in other countries... that transgenerational thing, of a child with a grandmother, that cohabits, communicates, speaks, exchanges ideas. That's diversity too. Each region has almost a different culture. We wanted to get all of that out into the open.”
With this idea of Proust's Magdalena in mind, Rosemary wanted to recover “those smells of hers when she was a child, those moments with family and friends. In Spain there is something that is great, which I call communication therapy. Things are said, right or wrong, but they are said. When you share them they already have less importance. That is very beautiful. You can arrive with all your good and bad moments but having the opinion of another makes you play down the drama. That's a very interesting cultural thing."
Egeria travel candle.
"For a long time we talked about the importance of groups," Daniel continues. “We wanted to highlight the work of the team and not the individual. That it was a project of many. That everyone contribute a know-how and we all learn from others. This is a trip (a trip) in which we are all discovering things. Spain is unknown even to us. I have lived here since I was born and I have found things that I did not know, the project enriches us”.
The fact that both come from the world of fashion brings a different perspective, says Rosemary. “A non-naive vision, a little fresher. And that nomadic concept that is what we are, what Spain is. Travel, discover.
A CO-CREATION PROCESS
How do you select and develop the pieces? “We discover the craftsman, we find his strengths and we take him out of his comfort zone Daniel comments. We mix our vision with your know-how. The result has our aesthetic and artistic vision, there is a creative conversation”.
For example, his iconic candle is a tradition some 150 years old: curly wax candles, which are used for religious ceremonies, especially at Easter. "We wanted to recover that hidden tradition and bring it to the art of living, to the home... decontextualize it," explains Rabaneda.
The selection part is fundamental and, later, it is carried out a kind of “six-hand composition” that also seeks to be somewhat disruptive. “We want to be where we are not expected. Get off the beaten track,” says Rosemary. “We didn't want to limit ourselves to doing traditional things by simply changing the color, but to look for a contemporary approach.
Basket of Rodriguez and Rabaneda.
Daniel agrees: “Today there are many craft brands focused on tradition. Our discourse seeks to be more transgenerational, even if it is based on a traditional technique”. That mix, that twist is what makes them different. “And we want to be in atypical places, innovate in distribution, we want to have fun and try new formulas. We have taken the trip in all aspects. Even when designing, that the products make you travel and they travel”.
Thus, its physical outlets are unexpected: perform pop up in stores around the world, in search of a spirit of community. "In them we want people to represent us, to transmit it... we always wanted to be in that spirit of sharing, of being hosted." His dream? Being in slow concept hotels, where travelers can discover the proposals in a boutique environment and connected with nature. They hope to find acceptance in Scandinavian countries or Japan, where they greatly appreciate this kind of products. “We would like to be in countries that are in love with Spain, in short”, sums up Rosemary.
Daniel and Rosemary.
“After the pandemic, we thought that having a physical store no longer made so much sense. It was going against the times –Daniel maintains–. we are one start up, a new concept. We want to go where we want and when we want. A very young thing, we look for someone to welcome us on 'their sofa', people we have met on a trip. For two weeks, for example”, he jokes. Along these lines, they have even considered building a shop on wheels. “Until doing a tour! We like that idea of movement." Rosemary says.
A JOURNEY OF THE SENSES
As for the products, another important point of her idea is that the price is fair and there is honesty in the production process. “Sometimes craftsmanship is not valued –admits Daniel–, you find things made in other countries for four pesos, but sometimes it is also overvalued and leads to exorbitant prices. We wanted a fair and affordable price, where everyone was comfortable. The artisans, us… and the client. We also don't want to overproduce. The packaging is reused and everything is very manual, we try to take what we have around us”. Everything is made in Spain and the packaging sometimes it has that touch wabi sabi, imperfect, as part of the project humanity.
Irma amulet pendants.
Details are also essential. The design of the oil bottle, for example, is dark to protect the properties of the product; the label bears the logo of Rodríguez and Rabaneda and also that of the craftsman, who is made visible. The logo has a circle that represents that union.
The project also has an artistic 'leg'. “We want to discover talents and ask them to express themselves in a context: an exhibition, a workshop, a meeting… We like to open up to people, for artisans to talk to each other. Find connections between them that freedom of travel and encounter, and of letting each one perceive different things”, Rosemary explains.
A 100 ml bottle of oil to take on a trip, a pendant and amulet, an incense holder... each product tells a story and is accompanied by a ritual. "The products are also designed in this way -adds Daniel-, so that you can live a little trip with them". A trip that can take us to Almagro, for example, where someone inherited a small olive grove and he started doing his harvest as a hobby, to give oil to his friends. "When we discovered this delicacy, we didn't want it to go unnoticed," says Daniel.
Rodriguez and Rabaneda oil.
A STORY OF CRAFTSMANSHIP AND FRIENDSHIP: THE TRIBE
Daniel and Rosemary have known each other since 2018. “I had an assignment and I thought no one could help me better than her, but we didn't know each other. I wrote to him on Instagram,” he says with a laugh. Adds Rosemary: “Because I do a lot of things at the same time – otherwise I get bored – I didn't watch it at first, but reading it piqued my curiosity and we got in touch. She told me about that project and we connected”.
Rosemary has worked in the fashion sector, but also in perfumes and interior design, especially with the visual identity of brands. “ I really like telling stories, discovering why, how… I think you have to make people dream”, she tells us she. There is great trust between the two. “We have real respect for each other and there is no hierarchy. He who does something better, he does it. And if one doesn't do it, the other does. Everything flows very naturally. We come from a very competitive world, but there is nothing like that between us”. she relates.
Candle Lola and Manolete.
Daniel leads the networks with a sense of humor, since irreverence is also important in the concept. “An artisan jeweler, for example, you imagine it precious, enamelled… and in our proposal you find stoneware from Catalonia, something Picassian, a Sant Jordi dragon… we want to have fun”.
"There are things we've done awful at, but that's how you learn," Rosemary concludes humorously. We wanted to build something that connected our experience but was something different. We liked the idea of taking risks.”
Her new pieces will come out in September, when they will stop at Wow, the new fashion concept store in Madrid. They will be there for a few months and then who knows! Daniel and Rosemary still have many stories that they want to develop, We will be very attentive to enjoy them.