'The Tree Of Heaven' - Ailanto

q: Can you explain a little more about the brand name - Ailanto? a: Ailanto, is the ornamental tree known as "tree of heaven". At the time we started looking for the brand name, I was studying gardening, and among all the botanical books, we found this tree with leaves that were made up of eight pairs of long-petioled leaflets. q: Having both specialised in different artistic degrees, how have they influenced you as designers? a: The two of us studied Fine Arts together. In the end Iñaki studied Fashion Design and I studied Landscaping and Botany. Our training helps us to have a broader vision, and our passion for art and beauty reflects our precious world. q: Who is your favourite artist and why? a: We couldn’t only choose one, we are passionate about art and we have dedicated collections to many of them - Anne Valayer-Coster, Mariano Fortuny, Jessie Arms Botke, Sonia Delanuay, David Hockney, Lawren Harris, Gunta Sröltz, Anni Albers are some of them. q: Where do you get your inspiration from? a: From painters, sculptors and landscapers of the artistic movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. q: Can you tell us about your design process - how it goes from print to product? a: The creative process begins with the design of the prints, which are developed using various pictorial techniques such as collage, tempera, watercolour and oil. From them, the pieces of the collection will be composed where the patterns, thanks to the modelling techniques, will draw their own volumes. q: Where do you see Ailanto developing to in the next few years? a: The next decade brings us new challenges and paths to develop such as respect for the environment, new fibres and fabrics, new processes in all areas, from design to commercialisation.