Every precious piece of art in our shop has a story. These handmade boho blouses from Chiapas, Mexico are a product that reflects the true nature of our brand Nakawé and our vision.
We decided to go to Chiapas many years ago in search of women who embroidered. We didn’t want to just buy blouses from the people in the city that were taking advantage of the indigenous communities. So we hired a car and drove through many small pueblos until we found a lady on the street who said she could help us.
She took us to her home and before anything else we all shared tea and food as our children played together. She then showed us one very small piece of embroidery. That’s all she had in her home as she didn’t have money to buy materials. We talked about our ideas and our designs and how they could be executed using her age-old embroidery techniques.
She asked us what we would pay her and we told her we would pay her whatever she asked. We explained to her that the most important part of what we did was making sure everyone involved in the project was happy and benefiting from It and that it would help to preserve traditional art and culture in Mexico.
She smiled and went to get all her sisters and daughters. They told us with confidence that they could make our designs and that they were happy because they wouldn’t have to travel very long distances anymore to look for work and that they would be paid fairly. Most importantly their daughters were encouraged, by the artisan partnership we made, to continue to see their traditional art as a viable means to support themselves.
We started off with 100m of fabric, some thread, and a powerful vision of the future. Five years in and our artisan partnership is stronger than ever. Every woman involved, from the designer to the maker, to the buyer is essential in the process and benefits from it. This is Nakawé. Made ethically & sustainably by women, for women.