De La Espada was founded in 1993 by Luis De Oliveira and Fatima De La Espada. Hailing from Porto and Madrid respectively and educated in London, the founders opened the first De La Espada store in London in 1996, when there was comparatively little quality contemporary furniture in the city. The De La Espada aesthetic evolved from influences including the Arts and Crafts movement, architects such as Tadao Ando, Luis Barragán, John Pawson, and Álvaro Siza, and Scandinavian design from the 1950s. De La Espada operated as a designer/manufacturer/retailer of our own products until 2007 when we began to enter into the second phase of the business.
Since 2007, we have taken a more collaborative approach, working closely with carefully selected design partners and retailers across the world, combining expertise and exchanging cultures, friendships, and ideas.
