Catching up with Sol & Luna and Yukiko Kitahara

Five years ago, I started this blog to feature the excellence of Spanish design. I have featured dozens of artisans and makers of fine works of ceramics, leather, fiber, metal, textile, and basketry. I recently caught up with four of the studios that I have featured. In this first of two articles, I reach out to Sol & Luna, and Yukiko Kitahara about their journey over the past five years.

Sol & Luna

Founded in 2003, Sol & Luna is a Spanish company that has crossed borders with its leather-clad objects and furniture hand-stitched by its artisans and whose leadership is making a promise to continue to perform at the highest level, bringing to light elegant and sophisticated representations of the intersection between leather and art.

In 2019, I visited the store in Salamanca, the upscale district in Madrid that is perhaps my favourite neighborhood with its many shops, cafes, and grocers. I purchased a few items, including pieces from their closet organization line, Home in Order, as I am a fanatic for closet organization. When I wrote about the company for my first artisan profile article in 2020, I interviewed Carolina Sánchez de Movellán, CEO, General Manager, and co-owner (with husband, Carlos Ortiz de Zúñiga ). She was very kind and generous, offering an unknown blogger her time. I have since written many articles featuring their creations.

Carolina reflects on the company’s journey. “We started 20 years ago turning the ordinary into extraordinary, crafting simple items that turned into authentic objects of desire: from thermoses, ice buckets, trays, and chairs to unique pieces like a watering can, chosen as ‘Most Wanted’ by AD USA, a bicycle, or a 2CV car entirely lined inside and out in natural leather. It has been a long journey, and we have had a great team of professionals supporting us. We’ve complemented our latest line dedicated to the organization, Home in Order. For the next 20 years, we will bet on contemporary craftsmanship. A staunch defender of leather and luxury craftsmanship is the phrase that best describes Sol & Luna’s work.”

New Products

The company has introduced new collections in its 2024 catalog. A longtime lover of chairs to the point where my husband has forbidden me to buy new ones, two chairs in the new catalog caught my eye.

Reflecting on the motivation for the seating in the new collection, Carolina comments, “Sol & Luna offers a wide range of handmade chairs, armchairs, and stools covered in leather with hand stitching. At Sol & Luna, we demonstrate the versatility of leather, capable of adapting to any decoration style. The first chair we designed was the legendary Girón chair, which has a global presence. It is a unique piece that combines an iron structure and a handmade leather-covered seat. Considering the great success in the residential and contract sectors, we decided to develop new models.

Capiatá Armchair

This stackable leather-covered armchair is available in natural, brown, black, red, and orange leather with or without a cushion.

Carol Chair

This stackable leather-covered chair is available in natural, brown, black, red, and orange leather with or without a cushion.

Grand Central Brewhouse (St Petersburg, Florida)

The design of the Grand Central Brewhouse is by Place Architecture. The chairs and barstools in natural leather are from the Asunción collection.

Relais Chambord

The Relais Chambord boutique hotel near Paris is a project of the company “El Marugal” designers. The stools in brown leather are from the Beto collection.

Learn more about Sol & Luna in Profile: Sol & Luna: The Art of Leather.

Yukiko Kitahara

Yukiko Kitahara is a maker who channels the soul and strength of her adopted land, Seville, and the delicacy and care of her Japanese origin. White porcelain allows her to reach the essential, Teinei na seikatsu, a Japanese phrase roughly translated as live neatly.

Yukiko Kitahara was born in Kofu, at the foot of Mount Fuji. Descending from a family of sushi chefs in Tokyo, she studied cooking and moved to Aichi, a province with some of the most important ceramic schools in Japan. After training in traditional Japanese ceramics at the Aichi Vocational Technical School of Ceramics and the Seto Provincial Ceramic College, she left for Spain in 1994 to learn Spanish ceramics. She studied polychromy and mural ceramics at the University of Fine Arts of Granada and ceramic decoration at the School of Arts and Crafts of Motril (Granada). She subsequently spent a year in the restoration project of the ceramics in Plaza de España, a unique architectural complex designed for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 in Seville, and learned the techniques of Sevillian tilework. In 2012, she set up Taller Kúu with Guillermo Gil Álvarez, and in 2015, they formed the company Taller Kúu S.C.

In reflecting on their journey, Guillermo Gil Álvarez says, “In the last five years, we have focused on the internationalization of our brand, mainly attending the Maison & Objet fair in Paris with our stand.”. This global expansion includes retailers in countries such as the United States, Panama, Uruguay, Brazil, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, France, Norway, Cina, Indonesia, India, Morocco, and as well as collections in museums in the United States, Portugal, and China.

New Pieces

Learn more in Profile: Yukiko Kitahara: Eastern Influence.