At 87, Eduardo continues his daily routine surrounded by millions of pieces at his shop at 6283 Rivadavia Avenue. Since the age of 14, he has been making buttons, a craft he has kept alive for more than seven decades in a workshop tucked away just below the main hall.
Known in the neighborhood as the King of Buttons, he is one of the last active artisans of his kind remaining in Buenos Aires. His creative process is manual and meticulous: each button passes through his own hands to be transformed, far removed from mass industrial production.
The King of Buttons and his Italian lathe in this Buenos Aires basement
The story of Buenos Aires’ King of Buttons dates back to 1933, when Eduardo’s family opened the shop. Inside the business, historic machinery coexists with the current inventory. One of Eduardo’s main tools is an antique Italian lathe over 70 years old, which he uses to shape and finish the items he produces daily in the basement of Flores.
The team at IG @pixel.viajero brought these nearly 100 years of history to light.
With this lathe, Eduardo is able to carve the tiny buttons, shape them, engrave names on them, or even create designs. Designer buttons with custom engravings? Yes, at this secret spot in Flores. But something even more special and magical happens here: if you bring in a garment or even a piece of fabric, Eduardo will pull out his boxes and catalogs until he finds the button—"that button"—and no other that fits perfectly. And if he doesn’t have it, he can make it for you. What AI could do that with such passion for the craft?
The shop is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., while on Saturdays it welcomes customers only in the morning, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
