Craft
Craftsmanship is not understood as a nostalgic gesture, but as a practice in motion.
We learn the trades in their most traditional form to adapt them to our own vision, to the needs of the present, and to the materials that arrive at the workshop.
Work with leather is the starting point: hides with history, skins that show their flaws, techniques handed down from generation to generation. But the goal here is not to repeat what is already known, but to stretch those methods, corrupt them, and take them to unexpected places. The classic cut can become something else; the precise stitch can be allowed to twist, opening up a new surface.
The workshop operates as a rehearsal space, where tools, scraps of material, and inherited gestures blend with contemporary intuitions. What matters is not immaculate perfection, but fidelity to a process that embraces the mark of the hand and transforms it into identity.
Thus, each piece from el cardenal is born from the same place: tradition learned, and the will to deviate from it. Not to deny the craft, but to show that craftsmanship remains alive when it is exposed to contradiction and to the present.
Sustainability
For us, sustainability is not a label, but a daily practice.
It means dedicating time to searching, selecting, and adapting materials that others discard or do not consider useful. It is about acting with logic and coherence: making use of what already exists, extending the life of each piece, and avoiding false solutions disguised as ecological. Leather occupies a central place due to its durability, and together with surplus, errors, and textile remnants, it allows us to build objects that withstand and evolve over time.
