Trenzas. Braids. An essential element of identity for our artisan partners.

 “You almost never see a Quechua woman without braids…it’s something that comes from within,” says Merecdes, Awamaki’s Head of Women’s Artisan Cooperatives. 

It’s also the theme for our 2024 collection, which launches today! Check out our new line on Instagram!

Braids have been relevant in Quechua culture, as well as other indigenous cultures across Latin America and the world–for millennia. They are infused with local tradition, each community with its own styles and meanings. But they also represent how community itself is formed and executed. A few strands of hair alone don’t compare to the strength of those same strands braided together. 

Our designer, Alejandra Carrillo-Muñoz, in planning this year’s theme, attempted to dive into what makes cooperative, communal effort possible. In her eyes, the braid conveys what it takes for our partner collectives to exist and function and what it takes for Awamaki to create and give back. “It’s the only way we can work, by having this collective effort. There’s something really beautiful about that,” Ale says about how the theme of braids transcended just the products. 

 

“One of my favorite things about making a collection is that I get to partner with different women, different minds.”

 

There’s something else represented by the theme that fuses trenzas with Awamaki’s mission of strengthening and making independent the historically overlooked carriers of local tradition. 

The theme references “the resilience of  these communities, their indigenous culture, language, practices, ideologies. It’s very hard in modern society to not lose that aspect of their culture. I know braids often symbolize that. Resilience,” Ale explains. 

Trenzas hold much power. To bring something together and in doing so making it stronger. 

Awamaki as well seeks to harness collective knowledge, skill, creativity, and culture–drawing it together, acknowledging it and giving it a spot in the global market. Consequently, we hope to cultivate strength and self-sufficiency in long undervalued cultural practices. 

In a photoshoot for the new collection with Peruvian photographer Miguel Palomino the artisan women were photographed holding their new creations. The women are shown here as creatives and artisans, not simply as textile producers. They are the hands behind the exquisite textiles.  For Ale, those pictures are emblematic of the release as a whole. “When I think about what the collection looks like, I think of those photos. It’s magical,” she says.

 

 

Sammy, Awamaki’s sustainable design intern and crucial aid in the completion of the 2024 collection, describes the new products as “fun and bright, but not in an ungrounded way.” The colors, including rosemary, petal, mahogany, and cacao, express a different kind of connection, reminding us that our textiles come from nature and can only be sustained by nature. Another essential relationship in the production of these crafts. Awamaki’s designer works to incorporate both muted earth tones, which symbolize our sources, as well globally trending colors to “ensure that we are relevant in the artisanal sector so that the artisan women can benefit from those sales.”

 

And, of course, our partner collectives inspire the collection. The pattern of our new crescent bag is particularly evocative of braids–a pattern that came directly from the communities. Ale found that a wide variety of traditional weaving designs reflected braid-like imagery, whether intentional or not from the perspective of the artisans. For Mercedes, who works directly with the artisan communities and has been working with indigenous women and communities for decades, the best part of this collection is the collaboration with the artisans, “the fact that they’re using their designs.” That’s what makes this release special to her. She can’t help her admiration, “It’s really important work that the artisans are doing. Without them, we have nothing. This wouldn't be possible.” 

Ale agrees, on an even larger scale. This collection emphasized something indispensable about Awamaki for her: “It’s essential that we have every team player. There’s no way around it, everyone has a part here. Everyone has such an important role to play. Together, we are a big and very strong braid.”