“Working with your hands is the best therapy there is”

A very short distance from one of Palma’s busiest streets, Calle San Miguel, going down the steps of Costa de Can Muntaner, on the left, we find the premises where Jaime Llambias shapes his dream day after day. Christened with the name of “Pieza única”, meaning “one of a kind”, because of the former owner, the place is a perfect match for the designer’s personality. The words leave his mouth through a huge smile (which he doesn’t reveal in the photographs) as he plays rhythmically with a piece of fabric he is holding in his hands. “For me, working with your hands is the best therapy there is”, he says.

Jaime leaves a little piece of himself in every piece he creates. “You reach a point where you get so involved that when you put on the finishing touch, when you finally sew the label on, it’s incredibly gratifying”, he explains as his body gradually relaxes. He smiles when he tells us how every time he goes to the workshop to see the prototypes for the next collection, he gets very nervous. “I feel as excited as a little kid when I see that everything that was in my head, which didn’t make any sense, suddenly does make sense, and clicks”.

“In my work, I have to spend long stretches of time alone,” he admits. And this is becoming harder and harder for him, because his brand is growing and he needs to devote more and more time to it. “Sometimes I say ‘Everybody out!’ because I need that. I think restless people like me need time alone in order to stay creative”.

His work ritual consists of “grabbing a coffee in the bakery next door, guzzling down a lot of coffee and chain-smoking, switching off my phone and getting down to work”. He is not too keen on keeping to a routine – he prefers every day to be different, although he acknowledges it is necessary and says Mallorca helps him stay focussed in this regard: “I see a lot of beauty in decadence, for example in some parts of Mallorca during the winter months”.

He divides his time between Mallorca, Barcelona and Paris. Each of these places gives him something different. The island gives his restless temperament a measure of calm. Barcelona is the city where he studied, and he has another workshop there. And his eyes light up when he speaks of Paris. “My folks have always insisted that Paris is the place to be, and I have taken that literally. For me, Paris is the embodiment of everything. I go to the Flea Market a lot. I have my contacts there and the suppliers save fabrics for me to make special, unique pieces”, he says.

India is another country that makes his heart brim over - “the cottons and fabrics you can get there can’t be found anywhere else, their softness is incomparable. The first time he visited the country, he says, was [...]

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