Les Tisseuses de Poulay

In 2019 Emilia Rota met a group of Guatemalan artisan weavers. Gathered in the village of Poulay, these twenty-five women make huipils, a traditional garment whose hand-weaving — unique in the world — is disappearing. The work was to preserve that knowledge by letting the weavers live from it: access to money and to sales channels remains difficult for native communities, and more so for native women.

Emilia Rota spent a year working with them to develop a brand identity, an advertising campaign and packaging, to create new products such as the Home line, and to teach a hand-sewing course on site, paid for by funds she and other volunteers raised. The course was designed to be followed by people who cannot read. Hand sewing lets the weavers invest in thread alone: they can then weave, finish a garment without paying for machine making-up, and sell it directly.