The Story in My Design

There is the initial spark – when inspiration stirs the mind, calling for expression. There is aesthetics – what I believe and feel something should look like. There is functionality – the way a piece serves its purpose; and then, there is the final creation, where vision, form, and feeling come together as one. Yet, there is one element deeply embedded throughout the process, one I cannot separate from design itself: my personal story. It is as natural and essential as every stage of creation. For a long time, I was unaware of the power it held – how seamlessly it became part of everything I designed.

Like any story, my journey has a beginning that explains my present.

I was born in Colombia and raised among coffee farms. If there is one thing that shaped my first connections with inspiration, it is nature – an influence that remains my greatest muse.

As a child, I was surrounded by great storytellers. A good story always stopped me in my tracks. There was something about stories that made life better – they suspended the present, made the impossible seem possible, and offered hope and solutions. In my world of storytelling, there were two roles: the narrator and the audience. But what captivated me most was being the story, shaping the narrative that led me to places that only sparkled in my imagination.

Growing up in Colombia offered both turbulence and magic. My mother encouraged me to explore my creativity, and like any creative child, I naturally found outlets. In my case, creativity became a refuge, numbing the chaos around me. My earliest recollections of design were my interactions with furniture – I felt an immense satisfaction when I moved pieces around, placing them where they best revealed their form and presence.

Colombia was my playground for exploration, and it was there that my insatiable creative hunger was born. My mother never stifled my curiosity; instead, she encouraged me to explore without fear. Yet, she was also painfully aware of the country’s limitations. One day, she sat me down and said:

“A young man like you must go far away to experience life in other places, but always as a gentleman”.

Days later, I lost my mother.

The faraway place turned out to be Dubuque, Iowa, where I pursued my university education. A destination I hadn’t imagined and exactly what my heart needed. There, I found peace, comfort, and the space to grow and heal. When I graduated, my path became clear – I would follow in the footsteps of those who once chased gold in California. But my gold was not metal. My gold was mastery.

California became my rebirth, my revelation, the fertile ground where I built the person I am today.

I had been exposed to storytelling from an early age, and it continued to shape me. But as I became more engaged in design, storytelling found its way into my work. It became inseparable from my designs – I was no longer just a designer; I was the principal narrator of my own story.

Dancing Flower: A Story of Resilience

The act of creating is a transportive experience for me – one where I lose myself in a world of imagination and expression. As an interior and product designer, my stories live within my creations. In my interiors, every object carries meaning, every detail resonates with a narrative.

At 1859 Bel Air Road, I honored a story that profoundly moved me – that of Evelyn, through a painting titled Dancing Flower.

I first met Evelyn in Colombia at an event hosted by the Espíritu Santo Project Foundation, an organization that transforms the lives of at-risk youth through art and education, breaking cycles of violence. Her story was one of resilience and survival.

At the age of eight, Evelyn was kidnapped by a drug lord and endured years of unimaginable abuse. At fourteen, she killed her captor in an act of self-defense and was imprisoned for five years. Upon her release, she attended an art workshop at the foundation, where our paths crossed. I was deeply moved by her story and the conversation that followed.

When I asked how she had survived the brutal conditions of a Colombian prison, Evelyn answered:

“I maintained my sanity by dancing as often as I could and recalling the scents of the flowers in my grandmother’s garden”.

That moment stayed with me. Dancing Flower was born from Evelyn’s words – a symbol of movement, memory, and scent, the very elements that gave her hope in the face of hardship.

To bring this vision to life, I collaborated with artist Angélica Castillo to create a painting that would inspire and uplift others – especially those who have experienced trauma – by showcasing the transformative power of art and self-expression. Dancing Flower is a testament to the human spirit’s ability to heal, overcome adversity, and reclaim beauty.

Today, Dancing Flower hangs in one of the most famous homes in the world, a reminder that art is not just decoration – it is a vessel for stories, a force for healing, and a bridge to a brighter future.

The Story in My Collections

Design is deeply personal to me – each piece I create carries a fragment of my own story.

A few years ago, I collaborated with Tidelli to design an outdoor furniture collection. I envisioned it as a celebration of the outdoors, a way to invite people to revel in joy. I named it Medellín, after my hometown, inspired by the city's Festival of Flowers, an event that floods the streets with color and life. The campaign embodied this spirit with the slogan:

“César Giraldo transforms a city full of flowers into pieces full of colors".

During the pandemic, when the world felt distant, I turned to memories of the places my partner and I loved but couldn’t reach. This longing shaped my rug collection with Mehraban Rugs, Straight Lines Unexpected Curves. Inspired by Art Deco’s elegance, it became a minimalist reflection of nostalgia and architectural beauty.

My lighting collection, Gusto, created in collaboration with Studio M, reflects my experience designing 1859 Bel Air Road – a project that immersed me in avantgarde sophistication. Inspired by the architecture itself, its bold yet elegant design language captures the essence of the space. The name, Gusto, embodies the passion and intensity of that journey.

A leather collection with LeBravo became my homage to Milan, a city that holds a permanent place in my heart and continues to ignite my creativity. It is a place where history and modernity exist in perfect harmony – where timeless architecture stands effortlessly alongside cutting-edge fashion and design. That unique energy and balance are what I sought to capture. The collection becomes a sensory journey through the Milan I love: its rich textures, quiet elegance, and endless capacity for reinvention.

And then there’s Waves & Clouds, my tableware collection with Hering Berlin. It is a tribute to my earliest inspirations – Colombia’s landscapes, the endless motion of waves, the gentle caress of clouds.

I embrace storytelling as an intrinsic part of my design process. I carry memories – of joy, of loss, of longing – and transform them into tangible forms.

Stories travel beyond borders, and design journeys alongside them – crossing landscapes, cultures, and time, uniting worlds through form and meaning.

As Gabriel García Márquez once said:

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it”.  

It is this profound connection between memory and creation that gives birth to pieces capable of making the heart skip a beat.



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