Awamaki Lab Ties The Knot With Quechua Textile Traditions

by: Abigail Doan

Wouldn’t it be progress if just about every fashion label moving forward was structured like a lab, or at least a cross-cultural incubator for exploring rich artisan traditions, economically viable production models, and smart fashion initiatives? Awamaki Lab epitomizes a design strategy that works for both the cultural and geographical landscape as well as the genius of place. Structured as a four month fashion design residency that offers invited designers the opportunity to develop a capsule collection in partnership with the non-profit Awamaki and indigenous Quechua weavers in rural Peru, Awamaki Lab is revitalizing endangered weaving traditions while also providing a reliable source of income to the residents of these communities.

The goal of Awamaki Lab is to create value-added channels of growth for the Awamaki Weaving Project, sustainable opportunities for the women in the district of Ollantaytambo, Cusco, Peru, as well as demonstrating the modern stylistic appeal of traditional weaving techniques and pattern motifs. As described in their mission statement, “Fashion designers cultivate their unique vision through mentorship with leaders in the sustainable design sector, and showcase their aesthetic versatility by combining vibrant, hand-spun Andean textiles with their own contemporary patterns and silhouettes. Their work, in turn, will both support the weaving association by augmenting textile sales and help us to finance a sewing cooperative in Ollantaytambo to create a sustainable enterprise for local women.”

Awamaki Lab’s Season 2 collection features the artistic skills and talents of local weavers and fiber artists as well as the collaborative ideas of fashion designers, Andria Crescioni and Courtney Cedarholm. With designs that reference the traditional dress of the Sacred Valley of Peru, the vintage sportswear of explorer Hiram Bingham III and the weaving and knitwear concepts of both Crescioni and Cedarholm, these colorful and geometrically bold pieces demonstrate a thoughtful fusion of placed-based craft and innovative storytelling. Awamaki Lab represents the best of contemporary life and fashion overlapping in very real ways. The two designers came away from this experience enriched by the dialogue created with artisans who are, in essence, keepers of extensive textile knowledge – while also broadening definitions of how and why fair trade and ethical style are very much a part of a believable and translatable fashion vocabulary.