Cats on IBIZA 5

by
Elia Taniguchi

Table of Contents in this issue

Story 22：Blanca and Louis
Story 23：Aire and Lucida
Story 24：Arco and Kajan
Story 25：Arte and Pedro
Story 26：Dalt and Cathy
Story 27：Tora and Esteban

Story 22
Blanca and Louis

Believe it or not, there is a snow-white cat called “Blanca” on Ibiza, that lives in a house that stands by itself on a hill 20 minutes by car from the old town in Eivissa. Rock music can be heard day and night from this house through it’s open windows, and there are many young men with long hair that can always been seen working and joking in this beautiful spot viewing the sea.

This isolated house is an atelier of Louis who owns an Ibiza-style bag shop along Calle Mayor, which is a very successful business on Ibiza. All the bags sold in the shop are made in this atelier.

Louis’ shop provides some standard best-selling bags and each of the young men has a responsibility for a particular style. They make bags with great skill, day after day, and carefully finish them with wax and polish. All the bags have a refined gloss, which is brought out in the high-quality leather by skillful polishing. Louis’ bags are well-known products on Ibiza, because they remain attractive even after extended usage, and owners become more attached to them over time. Many tourists buy leather products in Louis’ shop as souvenirs.

Elaborate bags are rather expensive, but because Louis is one of the seniors on Ibiza and a veteran bag maker, he knows well how to select items. His shop became famous due to some particular popular product models. In addition to these, various items such as belts and purses also made of high-quality leather are featured. They are easy to make, fashionable, but reasonably priced. After taking a lot of time to decide, tourists buy a lot of items.

Louis came from Valencia together with a bar owner named Roddie, who established the music bar “Oveha Negura”. Louis was originally a leather craftsman, so he sold leather goods in Es Cana. Louis created the original style of Ibiza bags that later became famous. As his bags became more and more popular, he opened a shop. In response to the success of Louis’ shop, two more of the same kind of shop opened. Eventually, similar but cheap leather products became available in ordinary souvenir shops. However, their products can’t be compared to the leather quality and workmanship in Louis’ shop. The designs of the bags in Louis’ shop are simple, but with a playful spirit, so sales continue to grow.

He did not find the talented young men working in his atelier through advertisement. Louis himself scouted out the best artesanos (artistic craftsmen) with special skills and unique ideas in Es Cana or the hippie market in Calle Mayor. He pursued these craftsmen persistently, and invited them in his atelier.

All of the young men working for him are proven artists and craftsmen. In Louis’ atelier, in addition to the standard products, they make products with their own ideas and designs. When a new product is sold, the craftsman earns points for it, and of course they can earn more money. For them, they are selling their original products in Louis’ shop, which is a pleasure for them and brings greater artistic variety to the shop.

However, they can’t just make anything they want, and first they must get approval from Louis himself. Louis inspects their work and judges whether or not the product is right for the shop, and has an appropriate and unique character. Then, he decides if the product is to be produced as an item in the shop.

When Louis came to Ibiza, he promised himself three things. The first one was to live on his leather craftwork skills that took so long for him to develop, while being able to fully enjoy Ibiza. The second one was to create original products without cutting corners. The third one was to make friends with young people who are as, or better skilled than he is.

As you can imagine, Louis really loves leatherworking. That being the case, you would be right in thinking that he must have worked for an atelier before. He had to give up working in his previous job because he could not make the things he wants. The atelier he worked before is not on Ibiza. Louis purposely set out for the area around Campo, not far from the old town on Ibiza, to look for a large house with nice view, at a reasonable price. He knew that his next work must be in a pleasant environment, and eventually surrounded by interesting friends.

He was happy enough to continue working comfortably on Ibiza as he was, but recently, he has had some new ideas. He came from Valencia together with a friend named Kenny, the original founding member of Ibiza’s first club disco “Pacha” and manages the bar there. Kenny told Louis that Pacha recently decided to develop its business overseas. Pacha had already opened a club in Barcelona and Germany, and had already identified some candidate sites for future locations. Kenny went to Florida in the US to see the conditions there, and came back in high spirits.