The secret of Ondarreta, the Basque family firm led by women that works for Linkedin and Hermès

To make a chair you only need a seat, a backrest and four legs — some designers even have enough with fewer than that. But to create one of the chairs designed by Ondarreta, the San Sebastián-based brand that has just won the 2023 National Design Award, it has taken three generations, a deep Basque spirit, and a vision of functional and contemporary design that is remarkable for its discretion. “Do not sit please,” says their motto. There is a lot behind these four words.It all started in a small carpentry shop on Ondarreta beach, in the northern Spanish city of San Sebastián, in the heart of the Basque Country region. More than a workshop, Juan Arratibel’s place was a cabinetry: he worked by hand on classic furniture for high society at the beginning of the 20th century. That artisan work was maintained for several decades until the 1970s, when his son Juanjo Arratibel and his wife María Luisa Marilis Galardi took the reins of the business and began specializing in kitchens. “We are daughters and granddaughters of cabinetmakers. We make furniture in the contemporary world, which forces us to rethink tradition and innovation,” say Nadia and Nora, the Arratibel
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