Kakaw Designs

Kakaw Designs - named after the cacao tree

Supporting traditions with roots as deep as the chocolate tree

Supporting traditions with roots as deep as the chocolate tree. Focused primarily on textiles, incorporating other handmade traditions. We currently partner with 10+ local artisan groups throughout Guatemala to make our and custom designs come to life. Since 2020 offering independent products direct from our artisan partners on our site.

Thank you, Stephany Wilkes, the author of Raw Material: Working Wool in the West. What an honor to receive this review!"...
07/12/2024

Thank you, Stephany Wilkes, the author of Raw Material: Working Wool in the West. What an honor to receive this review!

"Absolute treasure
These are the finest clothes I own. No exaggeration, my hands were shaking when I tried them on. The fabric, colors combination, fit are top the heft of the fabric, the color vibrancy and dimension, spectacular. I am an amateur sewer and natural dyer, and have taken weaving and embroidery classes, so I have a small idea of how much labor, creativity and care went into these. The price is not high enough! I will treasure them."

By the time December rolls around, we’re busy preparing for our upcoming Textile Travel adventures. Truth be told, selli...
03/12/2024

By the time December rolls around, we’re busy preparing for our upcoming Textile Travel adventures. Truth be told, selling products has never been my (Mari here 🙋🏻‍♀️) favorite part of the business. But your purchases are what enable us to sustain our partnerships with talented artisans in Guatemala. Each sale helps us create meaningful work opportunities, especially in rural communities where access to income can be limited.

To make holiday gifting easier, I’ve curated a collection of my personal favorites from our website. Everything in this Gifting Favorites collection is 15% off for orders over $100 through the month. I’ll be sharing more about these items and their incredible stories in the coming days.

Thank you for supporting us over the past 11 years, whether through purchases, shares, reviews, or kind words that warm our hearts. Your support makes all the difference.

With gratitude,
Mari

https://kakawdesigns.com/collections/gifting-favorites

What a week, an embroidery journey! Full of gratitude to our teachers Doña Claribel and Doña Anita, who are so patient, ...
29/11/2024

What a week, an embroidery journey! Full of gratitude to our teachers Doña Claribel and Doña Anita, who are so patient, kind, and welcoming of our interest in their heritage art form. (Yes, I was one of the students!) We all have some more work to do, poco a poco, to finish our güipiles, but we’re all well on our way! 🧶 🪡

Our next session for this course is confirmed for March 3-7, 2025. 3 spots left and registration is open.

One of our favorite recent additions, an all-indigo cotton jacket accentuated with brocade from San Juan Cotzal handwove...
28/11/2024



One of our favorite recent additions, an all-indigo cotton jacket accentuated with brocade from San Juan Cotzal handwoven with matching threads. Check out the incredible fringing - macramé and added tassels. Truly a OOAK work of art.

Veri .hart_intuitive_healer reached out to us some months ago to schedule a variety of workshops for her time in Antigua...
27/11/2024

Veri .hart_intuitive_healer reached out to us some months ago to schedule a variety of workshops for her time in Antigua Guatemala. We’re glad to have been able to fit in a warping session, a weaving session, and an embroidery session, too 🧶 It was a pleasure to host you, and we hope you’ll come back to visit us soon!

You may have noticed that our latest batch of handwoven pikbil blouses features a different look. That’s because these s...
27/11/2024

You may have noticed that our latest batch of handwoven pikbil blouses features a different look. That’s because these soft color combinations were chosen by the lovely ❤️ Our Operations Manager and all-around cheerfully joyful friend and talented teammate. We would be lost without her organizational skills, shining through production management, class facilitation, and even travel planning. And now add to that list co-designing! What a beautiful mini collection. They shine just like Cheekys!

Each garment handwoven by a talented weaver in Alta Verapaz. Five garments, five weavers. From warping to hand-stitching of the two panels, it takes 4-6 weeks for a single weaver to finish a blouse.

What a great start to our Embroidery Week! We began with a visit to Sumpango, where our instructors Claribel and Anita a...
26/11/2024

What a great start to our Embroidery Week! We began with a visit to Sumpango, where our instructors Claribel and Anita are from. We'll be stitching our own güipiles throughout the week 😀

Casually letting y’all know that we’re running a 15% off jackets and vests sale. Code JACKETSALE is valid through Saturd...
25/11/2024

Casually letting y’all know that we’re running a 15% off jackets and vests sale. Code JACKETSALE is valid through Saturday, November 30th.

We’re taking a step back from general discounts and aligning promotions with our production capacity, inventory, and margins. All very slow made with mucho amor, from designing, dyeing, weaving, sewing, packaging and sending off you to. 🤚🏽 🤚🏽 🤚🏽

"This set of earrings are gorgeous. The detail is exquisite . They are a gift for myself. Very happy indeed!" Thank you,...
21/11/2024

"This set of earrings are gorgeous. The detail is exquisite . They are a gift for myself. Very happy indeed!"

Thank you, Tina, for this review!

As the holiday season approaches, please remember that we have lovely gifts, including carefully handmade earrings.

https://kakawdesigns.com/search?q=earrings

A rural textile adventure is more than *just* textiles. Maybe we should have titled the upcoming itinerary to the Cobán ...
20/11/2024

A rural textile adventure is more than *just* textiles. Maybe we should have titled the upcoming itinerary to the Cobán region “Chiles, Cacao, and Gorgeous Textiles, Too” 🤣

This trip is now full and we hope everyone is ready to try new flavors on the adventure. I can’t wait! Yummmmmmm chile cobanero 🌶️ here we come! Images by taken during a recent community visit.

I head back to our sweet hometown, la Antigua, tomorrow. It’s quite a voyage from Austria, but we’re so looking forward ...
13/11/2024

I head back to our sweet hometown, la Antigua, tomorrow. It’s quite a voyage from Austria, but we’re so looking forward to taking in some sunshine and color. This will already be kiddo’s third season in Guatemala — how time flies! We first traveled when he was 3 months old, when he was basically just a potato. And then the next season, he was much more active and took his very first steps while in Antigua. Now, he’s walking around and I am curious where he will like to spend his time around town. ¡A ver! Much to figure out. 🥑

PS: we are *finally* releasing this outfit!!! This beautiful collaboration with .rigs coming live on our website on Sunday.

This image was taken back in August, when we were finalizing the prototyping process. It took several rounds, but it was all worth the work and wait. We’re so excited to share the results with the world.

Some recent captures from Alta Verapaz by , who went to the communities to confirm details with our partners for our upc...
12/11/2024

Some recent captures from Alta Verapaz by , who went to the communities to confirm details with our partners for our upcoming trip in January. One last spot still available for the adventure 🧶 🌶️ 😋

Aaaand here is the final result after a week of weaving! Jaime accomplished so much in just five days. All with master ...
11/11/2024

Aaaand here is the final result after a week of weaving! Jaime accomplished so much in just five days. All with master weaver Doña Vilma’s instruction. Three students, three teachers… one-on-one is the best way to learn backstrap weaving, just like how a mother, an aunt, or a grandmother passes on the heritage tradition to the next generation. Generally-speaking, this is how this art form is taught and learned.

Thank you for joining us, Jaime. We’re so glad you could make it. ♥️ 🧶

Truth is, I’ve been waiting for the elections in the US to pass. It’s been an exhausting time and I know that many peopl...
09/11/2024

Truth is, I’ve been waiting for the elections in the US to pass. It’s been an exhausting time and I know that many people haven’t had the bandwidth to even dream about international travel.

Well, the dust is settling. And if you’re now dreaming of a vacation away, immersed in cultural exploration, full of hands-on textile opportunities in good company — we’d love to host you. Select spots available for:

🌱 Cobán Textiles + Cloud Forest: January 9-17, 2025

🧶 Sumpango Embroidery Course: March 3-7, 2025 hosted in our beautiful Antigua Guatemala

🌸 Weaving and Culture during Semana Santa: April 12-20, 2025 in our beautiful Antigua Guatemala

Today is Day 4 of our Backstrap Weaving Week. Jaime from has already warped her design, set up her backstrap loom, and ...
07/11/2024

Today is Day 4 of our Backstrap Weaving Week. Jaime from has already warped her design, set up her backstrap loom, and started weaving. We can’t wait to see how her project progresses!

🧶 🧶 Meant for weavers looking to really absorb this traditional art form, this intensive week features 15 hours of one-on-one instruction from master Kaqchikel weavers. This week’s session is led by Doña Everilda 🙏🏽 and participants started the week with a home visit that included a home-cooked meal (and a wonderful view from her house!) 😋

Today, we wish our one and only Sucy a very happy birthday!!! May it be a special day full of love, weaving fun, and of...
06/11/2024

Today, we wish our one and only Sucy a very happy birthday!!! May it be a special day full of love, weaving fun, and of course, cake 🎂 😆

Sucy preps all our online sales shipments, handles a lot of the coordination for classes at our studio, and is one of our main models for our website ♥️ That’s all when she’s not studying law in university 📚 She is such an integral part of the Kakaw team!! (And I still remember her as a little girl, haha it makes me feel old but it’s great to pass on the torch a bit!)

!!!

We had a great time hosting the Barriletes Embroidery Class with Doña Claribel yesterday 😊 please share your progress...
27/10/2024

We had a great time hosting the Barriletes Embroidery Class with Doña Claribel yesterday 😊

please share your progress when you can! We’d love to see your stitching 🧵 🪡

Dirección

1a Avenida Sur #4B
Antigua

Teléfono

+50251911991

Página web

https://linktr.ee/kakawdesigns

Notificaciones

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Videos

What an end to a fantastic time. Thank you International Folk Art Market! Hasta pronto, until next year, Santa Fe! #IFAM2024

We're getting started with IFAM activities today. I had a last-minute thought that we should document these beauties all together, while we still can. Rebozos made just for the market. Five new color ways, only 3 units of each... Come and see (and get!) these treasures while they last! Booth 82 this weekend at the International Folk Art Market. #IFAM2024 #naturallydyed #ikat

Indigo Dance!
Indigo Dance!

Indigo is the most magical of all the natural dyes... And we think we've figured out an important key to its practice... Dance! 💙 Next chance to learn and practice these steps is this December during our Colors of Guatemala trip, all about - you guessed it - Natural Dyes. Gracias, Aiko!

Backstrap weaving setup in Antigua Guatemala
Backstrap weaving setup in Antigua Guatemala

Master weaver and teacher Doña Everilda patiently guides the backstrap weaving student as she prepares the string heddle (called "chocoy" locally) in our studio garden in Antigua Guatemala. We love the beautiful spring hues the student has chosen for her loom! 🌸 🪻 🌷 #backstrapweaving #telardecintura #antiguaguatemala

Setting up the chocoy / string heddle on a backstrap loom
Setting up the chocoy / string heddle on a backstrap loom

In my opinion, this is the hardest part of setting up a backstrap loom! And because of the details, the most challenging to capture for online classes. That’s what we found out when we launched online weaving classes on in 2020. Learning and practicing in-person with us in Guatemala has its advantages 😉 This video was taken during last month’s From Fiber to Fabric itinerary at Lake Atitlán 💙

Our studio opens up to a lush garden 🌱 which is where we hold our workshops! You can see Doña Everilda demonstrating here, and Sucy greeting visitors ♥️ A fantastic mother-daughter duo that we’re lucky to have on our team! #antiguaguatemala #kakawdesigns

Spinning Day 🧶 It’s always a pleasure to work with Doña Marta, but I must say today’s traditional malacate spinning class was extra special with all participants REALLY getting into it ♥️ The energy is contagious when we have spinner Alisha from Fiber Circle Studio as the facilitator! #textiletravels #fiberlovers

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Kakaw Designs

Supporting traditions with roots as deep as the chocolate tree. Handmade in Guatemala by talented textile, leather, and silver artisans using traditional techniques.