Awamaki Journal: A Blog About Textiles, Travel and the Sacred Valley – tagged "Design"

Aug 27, 2023

Launching Amazonia, our 2023-24 Collection

Vast, teeming with life, and magnificently vibrant, the Peruvian Amazon rainforest is unlike anywhere else on the planet. Deep in the jungle, we find the inspiration for this season’s new Awamaki collection: Amazonia.A beacon of light and resiliency– and one of the most biologically diverse places in the world– the Amazon rainforest covers about 60% of Peru’s magical landscape. This season, we reach from Ollantaytambo all the way into the rainforest as a symbol of unity, as one Perú. “In the wake of a difficult time for this strong nation between a pandemic and political challenges, this collection celebrates the...

Feb 25, 2020

Yanantin: Our 2020 Inspiration

Each year, when it comes time to begin working on our next line here at Awamaki, we work to develop a concept that incorporates vital Andean cultural ideas with modern silhouettes. This past year, we focused on the idea of Kay Pacha, “the here and now.” Now, we are excited...

Jul 16, 2019

#EveryStitchaStory: Global Giving Bonus Day

#EveryStitchaStory: Global Giving Bonus DayBy Helen Johnston, Marketing and Communications Intern From the wool of Peruvian alpacas to the handbag over your shoulder, do you ever wonder how we go from traditional textiles to favorite accessories? Exquisite weavings done by artisans like Gregoria (you can learn more about her here)...

Jul 16, 2019

Crafting New Connections

Crafting New ConnectionsBy Veronica Levy, Marketing and Communications Coordinator As an indigenous artisan in the Cusco region, the farther you live from Machu Picchu and the city of Cusco, the fewer economic opportunities you have. Until 2019, the furthest cooperative with which we worked was in the village of Kelkanka,...

Mar 26, 2019

Abby Weaves a New Path

Abby Weaves a New PathBy Abby Hollis, Design Intern In a small, rural, Peruvian village, I witnessed raw material become finished product—quite a novel concept to the modern consumer. As my classmates and I passed around chunks of raw wool, fresh off the alpaca, women of the village stood before...

Jan 30, 2019

Our Compañera: Marcelina

Our Compañera: MarcelinaBy Brianna Griesinger, Marketing and Communications Coordinator Marcelina is a weaver in the Wakanquilla cooperative from the remote community of Kelkanka. She is 24 years old and has 4 children whom she supports with her income from her weavings. Marcelina loves weaving the designs of condors and alpacas...

Jan 29, 2019

The Here and Now, Kay Pacha

The Here and Now, Kay Pacha By Brianna Griesinger, Marketing and Communications Coordinator Kay Pacha, the name of our 2019 line, doesn’t have a direct translation into English or Spanish. This Quechua cultural idea loosely translates to “the present moment.” Kay Pacha can mean everything from light and heavy energy,...

Nov 21, 2018

Spend Your Summer With Awamaki

Spend Your Summer With Awamaki By Caitlin Lally, Marketing and Communications intern Download Flyer Interns are committed to Awamaki’s mission, enjoy taking initiative, have skills to contribute and are ready to learn and adapt to whatever situation may arise. Summer interns work in one of the following areas: Design, Sales,...

Oct 28, 2018

Ollanta Withdrawal

Ollanta Withdrawal By Abby Hollis, Design Intern During my time in Peru, I spent a weekend by myself in the jungle. This was when I realized that Ollanta had become my home. I attribute part of this realization to my unprecedented ease breathing but most of it to how much...

Oct 14, 2018

Congratulations Songuillay!

Congratulations Songuillay!By Kennedy Leavens, Executive Director, & Brianna Griesinger, Marketing and Communications Coordinator The highlight of our year is the graduation of Songuillay, a cooperative of 42 women in the community of Patacancha. This is a major milestone for Awamaki. Songuillay was the first group of artisans with whom we...

Oct 11, 2018

Stepping Up to the Challenge

Stepping Up to the ChallengeBy Brianna Griesinger, Marketing and Communications Coordinator Over the course of the past year, we have realized that the development of our 2019 line, Kay Pacha, would be a year of change and growth for many of our artisans. A few months ago, our team led...

Oct 07, 2018

Our Compañera: Exaltación

Our Compañera: Exaltación!By Brianna Griesinger, Marketing and Communications Coordinator “Allianchu compañera,” we greet each other in Quechua as we meet in her home community of Huilloc. Exaltación isn’t shy, she may only speak a limited amount of Spanish, but she is eager to answer my questions, as eager as I...

Jul 13, 2018

A New Natural

A New NaturalBy Brianna Griesinger, Marketing and Communications Coordinator Natural dyes are an art form that can be traced back 6,000 years here in Peru. While synthetic dyes have threatened this tradition, some Andean artisans along with the global community are fighting for its resurgence. It is because of this...

Mar 21, 2018

It's Finally Here!

It’s Finally Here!By Brianna Griesinger, Marketing and Communications Coordinator We did it! We finally launched our 2018 line, Cielo y Tierra! We’ve been telling you all about this line for months now, giving out just small sneak peeks. Now that we’ve launched, we finally get to share our artisans’ beautiful...

Jan 07, 2018

Launching into Something New

Launching into Something NewBy Isabel Strebe, Marketing and Communications intern We are getting closer and closer to being able to share our 2018 line with you, and we couldn’t be more excited! After bidding a bittersweet goodbye to this year’s head designer, Alejandra Carrillo-Muñoz, at the end of November, our...

Dec 18, 2017

Cielo y Tierra

As many of you know, when Awamaki started, we were only selling raw textiles. It has been a long journey since those early days. Over the course of the past six years we have been working on growing the abilities of our women to produce high quality and fashionable textile...

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