Which collections have greater acceptance by the public?
NH: The marzipan dolls, because it is an icon of Madeira, not to the younger generation, but of does who know them through the festivities of Madera.
LS: Foreigners like more the traditional dress. The marzipan dolls are the recovery of a memory for the islanders and that makes sense. Foreigners also like them for their shapes and their colors. But prefer dolls with traditional dress because it's linking here when they arrive. Often I notice that buy the flowers, despite being a concept more laborious and meticulous, like the theme and the fact that are endemic, they buy them because it is a unique memento of this passage through the island.
NH: All are labeled with scientific names. We have all this concern. We contacted a biologist to identify them and from there we moved to production. In the future we plan to launch other species, other flowers. It is, however, a design which is still in the tray.
The name you chose for your concept is unusual. What does it mean?
LS: In Madera "auoa" is as a sign of admiration. (Laughs) We decided to retrieve this vocabulary. We impose some things in our work. First, everything is done by hand, not machines. Then the memories that lead us to the islander identity. That is our purpose.
NH: Actually everything is made with love. When we started this project we did not know what was going to be. It came from an idea of the marzipan dolls and from there we created a commitment.
LS: It is the pleasure of doing it. Of course, much of the proceeds of the sale are for the team. For people who work with us, it is fair trade. But the pleasure of creating the pieces is priceless, that's what brings us together and makes a difference. Everything is done with care and oozes out here. Only someone with a lot of patience finds in that gesture an immense pleasure by doing details so tiny.
Before creating collections you do a careful research of the materials?
NH: Yes, this latest collection is most noticeable in this regard, though not all have this care. For brooches, key chains or the magnets have to tailor the material to their function. We created a series for the Madera wine, which will be relaunched on 27th of October in a contemporary craft store for this purpose we had to look for different filters of different colors, because we had to appropriate the right ocher, red and brownish.
LS: We had to do a survey of approximation to reality. Towards the aspect of the grape. We have a major concern with these details, because we felt that makes the difference.
How many people is part of your team?
NH: There are seven people. We designed and sell the pieces. We even make our prototypes; we experiment on materials a priori that are not best suited.
LS: When we leave the default is that when innovation is born. Is from that click that something new pop ups, otherwise we did everything the same. The project also has a social aspect; people who work with us are unemployed. They do this as a financial supplement. It helps.
NH: Cannot live from this project, but it is something we want to grow.
LS: Yes, we want to take the marzipan dolls around the world (laughs).
