Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
The Oaxaca fabrics we work with come from Teotitlan del Valle, a small village outside Oaxaca established in 1465; it was one of the first villages founded by the Zapotec people in this area. The name Teotitlan comes from Nahuatl and means “land of the gods”, it’s Zapotec name is Xaguixe. This village is known for it’s hand-woven textiles, especially rugs, which are woven on pedal looms, from wool obtained from local sheep and dyed mainly with local, natural dyes.
In Teotitlan del Valle we work closely with family Bautista Martinez who have specialized in textile making for 50 years. While working with wool is one of their specialities they also work with organic cotton to make lighter fabrics that can be used as comforters, tablecloths or in our case clothes. They acquire their cotton regionally and proceed to make their fabrics on pedal looms in their local work-shop. We met the owner Antonia during our first sourcing trip to Oaxaca in 2017 and ended up purchasing the fabrics for our first collection from her family business. Today we work together in order to create a platform for their work and give their textiles a more unique and personal use.