The present is powerful.
Memories fade.

James Salter
"Light Years" 

LU/CA: THE CURATED SHOP

San Juan -- Lu/ca is so small you could easily pass by and
miss it which would be a shame as it is easily one of the
best new additions to old San Juan.

Lu/ca reimagines the boutique and transforms it into a showcase
of good design in fashion and jewelry with a few handbags, books
and decorative items thrown into the mix to add interest and enrich
a person's home or work environment.

Given its small size, the emphasis is on quality rather than
quantity with each item showed off to maximum effect on
a rack, a small table or the beautiful blonde wood shelving
lining the wall. Everything in this store looks carefully
considered and everything seems designed to beguile the
senses, specifically sight and touch.

"We handpick every single piece," says owner Laura Lugo,
a young and affable landscape architect who is also a talented
jewelry designer. In choosing the name of her store, she
combined the first two letters of her paternal and maternal
surnames.

Lugo's curating sensibility veers towards clean, spare design
with a dash of theatricality and wit. This can be seen in
her choice of jewelry by Luis Vidal, creator of wildly
exuberant, one-of-a-kind handmade necklaces featuring
recycled materials (Vidal also exhibits his creations at Walter
Otero Contemporary Art Gallery in Puerta de Tierra).

Recent fashion designers featured at the store include Sally
Torres Vega whose breezy, delicate white and black cotton
blouses are printed with small ovals in the same color as the
blouse.

Another item that caught the eye during a recent visit were
lovely silk tunic dresses, in solid colors or printed with geometric
designs, by the label Elk, a women's wear line from Australia.
Understated and elegant, the line included sets of pants and tops.
Soon Lugo will be bringing clothing made by Agnes Anna Szabo,
a Hungarian designer based in Puerto Rico who prints her
own fabrics and creates clothing that glows in the dark.

Jewelry includes Lugo's own minimalist necklaces, delicate
chains enhanced by a small ornament consisting of a
geometric shape cast out of metal (like a square, a thin bar, or a
half moon) or a blown glass detail (Nico Flores executes her blown
glass accessories). Other jewelry on display included bracelets
made out out of different materials such as pottery or bronze
and earrings like the simple but intriguing metal clay disks
decorated with astrological signs by Cristina Rodriguez.

Mindful of women's need for embellishment, Lugo also
brings in a sprinkling of decorative items to enhance the personal
environment such as a globe (from Japan) that one fits together
like a jigsaw puzzle and attractive small storage bags shaped like
paper bags and made out of washable paper (produced in Italy,
they come in different sizes).

Everything in this small business speaks of the owner's attention
to detail and appreciation for beauty as reflected in the decor,
a collaboration between Lugo and her husband Roberto Sanchez
who created the poplar wood shelving and mahogany/concrete
tables that serve to show off the store's collection. A landscape
architect by training and furniture designer,  Sanchez runs
Taller 2x4, a workshop in Santurce which Lugo shares.

Equally eye-catching is the cash register area, a wood and concrete
counter whose front is ingeniously decorated with multiple strips
of wood left over from the rest of construction.

Lu/ca is the kind of store where you can lose yourself for
a brief while and take in the best that different designers
have to offer. To her credit, Lugo makes sure to include
something for all different budgets. But even if you don't
buy anything, visitors are sure to leave this store in an inspired
mood.

LU/CA #255 Cruz Street   787.725.3512
Monday - Friday 10 to 6; Saturday 11-6; Sunday 11-5

Photography by Juliette Blasor



"Do you hear the dead talk?"
"The dead don't talk."
"Oh, yes they do, they say
Live Live Live Live."

"Orpheus Descending"
Tennessee William

A SIMPLE TIP

A pantry filled with food jars and containers waiting

to be opened is a welcome niche for pesky moths.
 No need for chemicals, though, to get rid of these 

uninvited guests: lavender-filled sachets or a small 

bowl filled with this sweet smelling herb is an 

effective repellent against the little buggers. 

©Marisel Herbal Bath & Body

For lavender sachets, go to Marisel Herbal Bath &

Body in old San Juan. This lovely store carries

beauty and personal care products like sweetly
fragrant soaps and lotions handmade by

store owner Marisel Cardona.

Marisel Herbal Bath & Body #306 Calle Fortaleza

Tue - Sat: 10 am - 6 pm; Sun 11 am - 6 pm

787.678.9988

Photography by Denise Blasor

"What I'll need to be happy
in my old age is flowers, dogs,
music, gardening, painting.
Two pairs of pants and two
blouses."

Linda St. John

©2014 Lorraine Blasor all rights reserved