WEAVING PARTNERSHIPS
DE LA SIDRA REPRESENTS
ONE-OF-A KIND HANDWOVEN TEXTILES MADE FOR WOMEN BY WOMEN
De La Sidra was born from a childhood dream to give back to the country that raised me with love, respect, and courage. I am passionate about connecting the impact conscious women with the traditional Mayan storytelling weaving skills and craft, in a way that empowers, revives, and maintains the integrity of the culture. All curated products uphold the fair trade values and design.
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Every traditionally handmade product represents the skillfully woven story of the Guatemalan woman who created it. The unique patterns and artisan-made designs bring life to the values and traditions of her family and community. Each product preserves ancestral weaving techniques that reflect the weaver's dreams, visions, and heritage; emboldened by the colors and ancient dying-techniques specific to her community.
Our Global Mission & Local Cause
We rise up to create opportunities that alleviate social inequalities, illiteracy, and poverty, by empowering the women weavers and artisans through their traditional market-based handmade products, and facilitate a sustainable impact of independent wellbeing to their personal lives and communities while fashionably connecting to the globally conscious consumer.
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With every purchase, the women are empowered with the right to make a living off their craft, while preserving old skills passed down from generations of weavers.
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At De La Sidra, we treasure the fair trade values and ethically-sourced material above all. That’s why every product is woven with high-quality textiles that have been reused and refurbished, and every sale flows back to the talented women who created our handmade products.
A Vision Where Traditional Craft Meets Modern Taste by Weaving Empowerment, Creating Change, Styling Impact.
De La Sidra textiles takes special care to appeal to today’s style, while preserving the integrity, identity, and individuality of the woman behind them.
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We want every woman who buys a piece of De La Sidra to feel happy knowing that their purchase is not only a culture-rich piece of tradition, but also part of a greater platform designed to weave life back into the communities who made it.
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Our handmade products celebrate the talent of each beautifully-skilled Guatemalan woman and men, in a modern-crafted design that can be thoroughly enjoyed by all!
WHERE WE WEAVE PARTNERSHIPS
FROM ARTISAN TO IMPACT STYLE
MANOS PRECIOSAS | PRECIOUS HANDS
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De La Sidra Founder, Liliana Molina-Novoa is grateful to have partnered a few years ago, with Irma Yolanda Zuleta, Founder of Manos Preciosas/Precious. Irma Yolanda is committed to creating a positive impact in the lives of many artisans and their families, since its inception over 18 years ago.
Precious Hands works jointly with the artisan women in their rural communities to earn a living while taking care of their families. Providing guidance for innovative designs, Precious Hands also assists with the production and marketing of the artisans’ handmade products, thus generating economic sustainability.
Precious Hands makes small loans possible through its Micro-Loan system for continued training and education, the purchase of sewing machines, or start their own business while preserving their ancestral weaving traditions.
TOTES BY LOURDES
“¡Me encanta todo lo que está hecho a mano...y más cuando se trata de nuestras artesanías de Guatemala, siempre están hechas a mano
con tanto amor y dedicación!”
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“I love everything that is made by hand...and even more when it’s about our Guatemalan artisan products, they are always handmade with so much love and dedication!”
Welcome! ¡Bienvenida! Lourdes M. Méndez Hernández to weave her personal and community story to the storytelling of many colors, and many threads with De La Sidra Partnership! Lourdes Méndez Hernández is a sought out Artisanal Designer, Business Manager, and a Community Leader in her town of Antigua.
It is also with gratitude, that today, at De La Sidra, we are honored to celebrate Seño Lourdes, as she is fondly called by weavers and artisans around Antigua, as our Assistant Buyer!!!
Innovating for good and moved by her creative passion and entrepreneurial spirit, Lourdes started creating her unique and stylish women’s huipil and corte totes. These fashionable totes have become so popular, that conscious consumer clients do not mind joining a waiting list to order one of these exclusive ethical high-fashion totes.
“Me inspiro a través de la personalidad del artesano o tejedora al combinar diferentes huipiles y cortes para cada canasta. El último detalle es siempre la borla, y mágicamente, la bolsa adquiere su personalidad única. Por eso solamente hay una y es exclusiva”
In Lourdes’s words: “I get my inspiration from the personality of the artisan or the weaver when combining different “huipiles and cortes” for each “canasta” or basket tote. The last detail is always the pom pom or tassel, and magically, the tote gets its unique personality. That is why there is only one and it’s exclusive.”
WHAT IMPACT LOOKS LIKE BY TOTES BY LOURDES
Lourdes’s meaningful actions take her tote creations to another level. It is that of uplifting other artisans and weavers like Don Juan Alvarado from Momostenago. He creates the beautiful totes by weaving them from recycled plastic lines and turning them into a functional, environmentally friendly, and income sustainable product.
COMING SOON - THE LOURDES TOTE COLLECTION!
TEJEDORAS DE CONCEPCION | CHIQUIRICHAPA, QUETZALTENANGO
Nestled in the highlands of Quetzaltenango, three groups of artisan women weavers “tejedoras” are in collaboration with De La Sidra to create designs soon to be emerging the style for the hip and modern! These beautiful artisans weave a life like no other; they are up before sunrise to tend to the corn or potato harvest, sun up come home to chores, children to ready for “la escuela” if privileged with that opportunity, and get themselves behind the backstrap loom and weave their one-of-a- kind creations.
WEAVING FROM THE HEART WITH EMI
Emi is a gentle and kind hearted artisan, diligently caring for her close knit family! Established on the hills of San Antonio, Emi not only tends to the family shop, she is the master designer of the products with practicality and uniqueness of each one of the recycled “huipiles” and “cortes” used and purchased from other weavers from other remote villages. Her husband tends to the workshop where employs two other assistants in the production of their unique handicrafts. Emi, a weaver herself, and her family have created a place where ancestral traditional weaving meets modern fashion while sustaining other artisans and their families.
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KNOW YOUR IMPACT STORYTELLING PURCHASE
Fair Trade Wages: In collaborating with doña Emy, and whose voice of design is handcrafted in her products, every curated handmade product is immediately paid for based on the original asking price set by doña Emy. There is NO bargaining or discounts on the part of De La Sidra. We are committed to empowerment by creating an impact for complete transparency while upholding the Fair Trade pillar of Fair Wages.
KNOW YOUR CONNECTION TO THE COMMUNITY
Fair Labor: Every purchase allows for sustainable investment back into doña Emy’s community. Her husband, don César is able to give employment to two assistants at his workshop, don Luis Cabrera y Rodolfo Gómez. The ample and airy workshop is built as a second story to his home to maximize collaborative design and production. It also increases pay opportunities for fair wages to don Luis and Rodolfo, and to change their livelihoods for good.
Don Luis Cabrera has worked side by side don César for 15 years. He was able to raise two children, provide them with basic health care, and pay for minimal education.
Rodolfo Gómez, is an aspiring young man, who works part-time as an Athletics Teacher at the local school. Rodolfo is also studying at night at the university campus in Antigua to become a History teacher in the near future. Don César has become his mentor, his friend, and unconditional supporter of his dreams for the future.
KNOW OUR PROMISE TO SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable Community Economy: Proceeds from purchases are reinvested back into the community of San Antonio by doña Emy and don Céssar. Through the livelihood of their business, they are able to sustain the cycle of reinvestment and economic progress in their town.
Likewise, by supporting her own family business, doña Emy can continue purchasing the huipiles and cortes from the indigenous women from many villages to recycle and upcycle for product innovation and production. By connecting and meeting the economic needs of other indegenious women, doña Emy is empowering them and expanding the impact for change for other women, their families, and their villages.
Empowerment through Education: Doña Emy is economically independent and enjoys the freedom to contribute to her grandchildren’s education and support the education program at her church in San Antonio. Both, don César and doña Emy recognize the value in education for a brighter future for their own grandchildren.
Eco-friendly products: By recycling and upcycling previously worn indigenous clothing, such as the huipiles, cortes, fajas, tzutes, into ethical fashion, there is zero waste of materials. The huipiles and cortes are made from Guatemala’s homegrown cotton and natural dyes from the surrounding village’s environment.
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WHAT SUSTAINED IMPACT LOOKS LIKE
TIMELESS TOTES BY DON JUAN
Don Juan is from the faraway highlands of Huehuetenago. He works with his two sons and their families. Each family member creates and weaves a different and unique style of “Timeless Tote” adding their own love and passion for their craft passed on for generations.
WEAVING TRADITION WITH LEATHER BY RODRIGO
Don Rodrigo’s passion for working with leather and textile distinguishes his hand sewn leather goods! With the help of his wife, Lila, he creates unique, hip and practical styles that connect with any fashion taste. Don Rodrigo also extends employment to other leather master artisans, weaving his own positive impact on his community’s economic sustainability.
WEAVING EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EDUCATION |
INSTITUTO "INEB" BIBLIOTECA PROJECT IN QUETZALTENANGO
At the heart of De La Sidra’s mission for creating a positive impact in the lives of those with the most need in Guatemala, are our brave High School students at the INEB Instituto in Concepción, a thriving Mam village of gifted women weavers 18 km. from Quetzaltenango, the second largest city in Guatemala. With their Teacher and Mentor, María Telma Jiménez, we are working for a future library especially geared for this age group. Creating change by weaving empowerment through education.
De La Sidra is committed to donating, for now, 10% of proceeds from all sales will be donated to making the "INEB" Instituto Biblioteca/Library Project become a reality and for the students to begin weaving their own dreams for a promising future with dignity!
