Where were you born?
Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Where do you live?
Elda, Spain.
What’s best about your home town?
I like living in small towns because it makes my life simpler. It takes only eight minutes by car to my office and 10 minutes to the factory. People are friendly – maybe because we have to meet many times.
If money was no object, where would you live?
Brazil.
Which are your favourite Spanish stores?
Azul Tierra for home decoration and the antique furniture stores in Alicante.
Which is the most treasured piece in your wardrobe?
I still keep a long skirt made of men’s suit fabric I bought from a Gianfranco Ferré sample sale in New York 20 years ago.
Which is your favourite design from your own collection?
Each season I have my favourites. But they only last until my favourite piece from the new collection arrives!
Which are your favourite shoes?
I like pumps lately and I also like funny colour combinations like this autumn’s falla shoe.
Which clothing items do you keep on buying?
T-shirts and trousers. I’m very simple and practical. When I like something, I buy two or three colours.
What was your most recent expensive purchase?
A very good pair of wireless head phones.
Which are your favourite Spanish restaurants?
Casa Pepa in Ondara; La Taberna del Gourmet in Alicante; La Finca in Elche; La Sirena in Elda.
Do you have a favourite local café?
Totel in my town is quite charming and the cakes are really good. They made Prince Felipe’s wedding cake!
Where do you take friends that are visiting Spain?
I take them to see some very nice shoe outlets, to the bullfight in Alicante, to beautiful beaches with fine sand and to eat good Mediterranean cuisine and paellas.
Do you have a favourite walk in Elda?
I like the old part of town near the castle. It’s beautiful and romantic, with small houses and flowers embellishing the windows.
Which do you think is Elda’s best museum?
The shoe museum.
Which is Spain’s best attraction?
The white painted little houses in Altea, the beautiful beaches.
Any advice for visitors to Spain?
Get a hat if you come in July or August!
What can’t you live without?
My children.
Tell us a secret.
Life has no secrets. The only secrets are the things you don’t want to reveal to yourself. Life is simple as mathematics: you add or take out!
