INDIGART Designs founder María de León was born and raised in the Guatemalan highlands among the beautiful colors and patterns of Mayan textiles. Her love for this indigenous art coupled with her admiration for Scandinavian design led her to the conception of this unique collaboration with Swedish fashion designer Nathali Elfström. For Nathali, designing for INDIGART meant reconnecting to her Latin American roots and honoring the endangered art of Mayan weaving.

This collection was designed with great love and respect for indigenous patterns and weaving techniques that represent the heritage of the different indigenous groups that we work with. Each piece of this collection has been carefully woven by indigenous women in Guatemala using a backstrap loom. INDIGART partnered with weaving cooperatives of indigenous women in Guatemala to make sure that they are benefitting directly from this collection. We want to honor these women by bringing to the world the intricate weaving skills they learned from their mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers.

INDIGART Designs LLC, a U.S.-based limited liability company, exists thanks to the passion, creativity and dedication of human beings located in different parts of the world who joined this adventure without knowing the outcome of this beautiful experiment. Women like Viktoria Roussina, who is advising on our sales and branding strategy for the European market. Viktoria’s Latin American background and her desire to work with businesses that align with her values motivated her to join our team. Men like award-winning Guatemalan photographer José Manuel del Busto Miralbés, who lent us his evocative photographs of Guatemalan people and nature. Last but not least, each one of the pieces of the Nathali Elfström for INDIGART collection would have not been possible without the weaving and embroidery skills of Mayan women in the Guatemalan highlands.

The Nathali Elfström for INDIGART Designs limited collection is available online. Click here to visit our online boutique.

A Guatemalan-Swedish collaboration…

The photographs of our new collection were captured through the lens of Swedish photographer Angelica Hvass, whose artistic fashion photography has been featured in PhotoVogue Italia. Angelica was able to capture the essence of each thread of Nathali Elfström’s collection for INDIGART Designs. The face of Nathali’s collection is Swedish-Chilean model Lisbeth Estrada Perez, who also wanted to be part of this tribute to indigenous textile art. Lisbeth’s natural beauty was highlighted by Swedish make-up artist Pernilla Tiensuwon.