The malasaña espartero who was discovered by Sarah Jessica Parker and who has been 'signed' by Loewe

Perhaps your story sounds familiar to you because the day that

, "very majestic, charming", stepped on her shop-workshop, this craftsman based in Malasaña made headlines with her "ecological trophies" - read heads of bull, buffalo, rhinoceros, donkey, deer and reindeer, sewn with pleita-. But, we cannot resist talking about him again, because the story of Javier S. Merino does not end in that anecdote, in that "conquest of Hollywood", as many wrote then. Today his feat is greater. His work not only crosses the pond day in and day out as well, but is known (almost) throughout the world.

Not even in his best dreams did he imagine Merino, when 15 years ago he landed on Escorial street from his native Badajoz, such a success with a fact that seems simple: giving a twist to an ancestral work, creating small works of art by weaving natural fibers.

We will remind you, so quickly and for being the highlight, that Instagram was her door, that AD magazine made her known, that

took his designs to the Beverly Hills International Decoration and Interior Fair, that the actress American made him popular in his land, that the decorator

(the husband of the former US ambassador James Costos) gave his works to dozens of acquaintances, that the fashion designer

took him to London Fashion Week with a jacket of esparto or that participated (only Hispanic) in the exhibition of the

reproducing his hands. And all in a short space of time, just seven or eight years.

The last to notice him has been the luxury firm

, which has commissioned more than 500 pieces for its shop windows around the world (USA, Turkey, Japan, China, all of Europe ...) and its designer, Jonathan Anderson , with whom he has created a three-meter-high work of art that already looks in Shanghai. To top it off, these days,

(until November 21) recognizes his work with an award, the first of his career, and provides the opportunity to see his work, which was born, like everything that seems almost miraculous, casually.

"I came from a different world. I had my own gym and I was a firefighter but I was always good at painting, developing productions (...). Due to family circumstances, I could not do Fine Arts.

. So I had a

create

. But I started to travel, to see the world and people who were painters, sculptors ... And I said to myself: why can't I dedicate myself to it? ? ", says the artist.

He came to Madrid, began to train with the restorer Marisa del Real and searched among his memories for a story to tell, one that would say with little "what I am and where I come from." "In my house, in my environment, I have seen this trade up close.

to keep the houses cooler. Around him I learned," says the espartero.

"I wanted to try to recover this trade, which was being lost and is part of our history

.

Thus, respecting the techniques, the materials, "what was used before", he now brings to any sector what he has learned in a self-taught way and also from those

with whom he has taken classes. "They always did the same things. I wanted to learn the technique to bring it to my fantasy," he points out.

It has rained from the first fiber mirror that he created at home and threw at him.

And his "ecological trophies", that

that is what has really made him popular, hang today in the

of a hotel in Jamaica or in galleries or restaurants in North America.

Because the US is its main customer.

"I have had six months of waiting,"

says Merino.

Each piece is unique and takes between two days and a week each, he says.

Now the deadlines have been shortened because, although he started alone, today two young people that he has trained himself give him a hand, especially when ambitious projects arrive in the number.

In addition to his old workshop where he can be seen working between p

, also it has a few meters a gallery (Street Madera, 34) which has just begun to teach

and where events, signature presentations and even clandestine dinners.

A place that aims to be an open space where other artists can also show their work.

"People love to share with you. Last month I gave

and this month a family from Los Angeles wants to come. In addition to the course, we offer them breakfast, snacks and lunch," he says.

It is not the only open front that it has.

Not long ago, and also very close, he opened the

cafeteria

, which has "a lot to do," he says, with what he is: "We have our own coffee and artisan products."

"This (the usual) must be taken care of."

Well do not say more.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

See links of interest

• La Palma news

• Last News

• What

• Holidays 2021

• Holidays Madrid

• 2022 business calendar

• Home THE WORLD TODAY

• Asvel Villeurbanne - Real Madrid

• Bitci Baskonia - Red Star

• Paula Badosa - Garbiñe Muguruza, live