ANDRESGALLARDO

The ANDRESGALLARDO story starts in 2010. Andrés Gallardo, a graphic designer who was working with fashion brands Don Algodón and Bimba y Lola, was in Berlin when he picked up a box of broken porcelain figurines at a flea market. With no real plan, he began turning those loose fragments into pendant pieces for friends and people he knew.

Then something unexpected happened: stylists and Madrid fashion shops took notice. Marina Casal, Andrés’s colleague at Don Algodón, saw more than a clever idea in these experiments. She also saw real commercial potential.

At first, Andrés and Marina kept working with porcelain sourced from flea markets. But it quickly became clear the project needed its own production. Workshops willing to make porcelain from custom designer molds were found in Madrid, in Manises (a historic hub of Spanish ceramics), and in Portugal.

In 2018, ANDRESGALLARDO opened a store in Madrid’s Las Letras neighborhood, an area packed with independent designer boutiques and author-run spaces. Alongside porcelain jewelry (rings, pendants, brooches, bracelets, and earrings), the brand’s range grew to include home objects, leather bags, and pieces finished with porcelain details.

So what’s the point of these things?

They catch your eye straight away, but they don’t look odd or overworked. Porcelain is rarely used in jewelry and leather goods, which is why an ANDRESGALLARDO ring or bag is almost always “not like everyone else.” And this isn’t a mass-market brand: you won’t find these pieces in chain department stores or airport duty free.

Finally, it’s a rare case of a local, almost intimate project that has earned international recognition. The brand’s partners include the museum shops of the MET in New York and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, as well as Hello Kitty and the Peanuts comics.