For this year’s Shoreditch Design Triangle, Milagros is delighted to feature Mexican designer and architect Omar Ortiz Franco, in the UK debut of his venture La Muerte Tiene Permiso.
Based between Europe and Mexico, the brand’s unusual name, which translates as ‘death has permission’, reflects Franco’s belief that though death comes for us all, if we can spend a life time imparting meaning and memory to the objects that surround us, it will not have been in vain. The phrase is also the title of a well-renowned short story by 20th century Mexican writer Edmundo Valadés, wherein a group of campesinos (farmers) band together to get revenge on an unfair mayor. It’s a much-cherished tale of social justice and worker solidarity – fitting for a brand that champions the work of small-scale artisans and bringing them to a discerning European clientele for a fair price.
Indeed, La Muerte Tiene Permiso has a curated range of homewares made by skilled craftspeople working in traditional techniques. Much like Tom Bloom of Milagros, Franco travels the country, building relationships with small family-run workshops and individual artisans, with particular emphasis on the areas around Oaxaca and Tonala, Jalisco. These tend to be small studios working with local materials such as clay and volcanic stone, and who prioritise environmental concerns such as water usage. The end products, informed by Franco’s twenty-first century design vision, are minimalist, geometric designs; often using single colours in matte finishes, and relying on simple curves or geometric shapes. There is handblown recycled glassware and a great variety of ceramics. Particularly noteworthy are La Muerte’s black pottery, which riffs on its lineage as a distinctly Mexican craft, but makes for eminently contemporary ceramics.
Shoreditch Design Triangle is an annual celebration of creativity and design in Shoreditch, serving as an opportunity for local businesses and institutions to showcase exciting new developments in a mutually supportive and collaborative environment. Now in its eleventh year, the Design Triangle will be running from September 14th to September 22nd. Keep an eye out for Milagros friends Mama Shelter as well – they’re new to the neighbourhood! Details of Milagros’s opening times for the duration can be found below or on the Shoreditch Design Triangle website:
14th September 201911:00 am – 7:00 pm
15th September 201911:00 am – 7:00 pm
16th September 201911:00 am – 7:00 pm
17th September 201911:00 am – 7:00 pm
18th September 201911:00 am – 7:00 pm
19th September 201911:00 am – 7:00 pm
21st September 201911:00 am – 7:00 pm
22nd September 201911:00 am – 7:00 pm
