De La Espada, a leading designer/manufacturer of modern solid wood furniture, was founded by Luis De Oliveira and Fatima De La Espada in 1993. Hailing from Porto and Madrid respectively and educated in London, the founders opened the De La Espada flagship store in London in 1996, when there was comparatively little quality contemporary furniture in the city. De La Espada's dedicated factory in Portugal specialises in hand crafting and traditional construction methods to create modern furniture with timeless appeal and the warmth of solid wood. The De La Espada aesthetic evolved from influences including the Arts and Crafts movement, architects such as Tadao Ando, Luis Barragan, John Pawson, and Alvaro Siza, and Scandinavian design from the 1950s. De La Espada now offers furniture from five designer led-brands: De La Espada, Autoban, Leif.designpark, Matthew Hilton and Studioilse and will launch collaboration with a further two at London Design Festival 2010: Charlene Mullen and Vanhoffontwerpen. Each brand has a distinct design language, while all are united by the use of superb natural materials and meticulous attention to detail.