Kakaw Designs

As a social enterprise set-up in 2013 by Guatemalan born Mari Gray, Kakaw Designs focuses on supporting and developing artisan textile traditions, through the production of high-quality, ethically and sustainably produced fashion and fashion accessories, and interior textile products. Driven by a desire for the meaningful and long-term development of Guatemala, Gray and Kakaw Designs recognise the skilfulness and craftsmanship of their artisans - supporting creativity and innovation, providing fair pay, and raising awareness and appreciation of handmade goods. Working in collaboration with artisan groups and individual craftspeople in Corazón del Lago, Cobán, Antigua and Sumpango, they seek to represent and remunerate skill and hard work, with an emphasis on talent, value and quality rather than charity – “They are skilled, they are talented, they work hard, we create things together”.

The Artisan Business Model

Kakaw Designs offer a range of fashion and interior textile products, a custom small-batch design and production service, along with “experiences” comprising: textile tours, dyeing, weaving and embroidery classes, and backstrap weaving looms and kits. Sold through local stores in Antigua, direct to customers via their website and to a small number of wholesale clients, Kakaw Designs’ products feature Jaspé dyed and handwoven textiles, decorative embroidered finishing and leatherwork. Designed by Gray and developed in collaboration with artisans, the predominantly naturally dyed cotton textiles draw upon the traditional techniques and aesthetics of traje (traditional Maya dress), with rebozo (shawl) and corte (skirt) fabric designs and techniques applied across the product range.

Appreciating the inherent difference and uniqueness of hand dyed and woven textiles, Kakaw Designs nurture and promote the individual nature of products through the marketing of “one-of-a kind variations” and their approach to production:

“[…] we just send them the threads and say send me what you can, make what you can send it to me, I will sell it in certain general specifications, and we just dedicated more time and energy into representing those pieces.”

However, investment in training and relationship building, along with the establishment of colour standards/codes and monitoring of quality, has facilitated growth in the production of small custom batch orders, of “12 and 48 units maximum”. This is something that Kakaw Designs’ founder Mari Gray considers advantageous both for the business and for the artisans, as it increases orders as well as providing opportunities for innovation, skills development and diversification - “we want this to be creating paths where artisans can explore their own designs” - through exposure to new ideas and aesthetics. Gray explains the benefits, challenges and implications for the company and their artisans:

“[…] it’s a very difficult environment for people to try to be innovative because you’re just going to be copied. And also, I think when people from outside the Guatemala context design something it’s different because their aesthetics are different, their experiences are different […] I see the benefit in trying new creative things and we don’t ask for exclusivity from our artisans. We do ask that they don’t make the same thing, but they can make something similar certainly, and we don’t sign anything with our clients as far as exclusivity either - we don’t want to promise that.”

COVID | The Artisan Experience

Like communities across Guatemala, Kakaw Designs’ artisans were impacted by local and national lockdowns, curfews and travel bans, with their ability to sell goods to tourists via local markets diminished. Recognising the opportunity Kakaw Designs’ existing online presence provided, as a platform for direct online sales, the artisan groups requested the company support them in selling their independently produced textiles. In response, Kakaw Designs set-up Artisan Direct – an area on their website dedicated to selling the artisans’ work. More traditional in their design than Kakaw Designs’ products, and being one-of-a-kind, the company invested time in selecting, photographing and promoting the work. By facilitating sales, Kakaw Designs were able to overcome some of the barriers that artisans face when attempting to sell directly to consumers online.

“[...] there are still barriers that without training they won’t be able to overcome - simple things like photography or language barriers [...] being able to accept online payments - this is difficult. PayPal doesn’t connect to Guatemalan bank accounts, and I think it would have to be an extraordinary shopper who is willing to do an international bank transfer to an unknown person that you discovered through social media - this requires so much trust […] without this sort of professional representation and transparency and all these systems in place, I think these items would not sell.”

Independent making and selling of masks locally, alongside production of masks for Kakaw Designs, allowed some of the artisans to supplement their income. Though Kakaw Designs’ orders for leatherwork were reduced due to decreased demand for fashion accessories and bags during the pandemic, one of their leathersmiths was able to sell enough masks to purchase an overlocking machine, “because of that investment, he is able to work on more complicated constructions for us, so he’s making clothes for us.” Provision of online weaving classes to replace Kakaw Designs’ face-to-face “experiences” also provided development opportunities for individual artisans, as Gray outlines:

“The master weaver who is teaching the online classes, she has done really well with us since Covid, because she’s in charge of making the material, the looms and she receives, I think, good compensation for the classes.”

COVID | Business Impact and Pandemic Response

The company’s existing online presence, retail sales focus and size, aided responsiveness and enabled the testing and trialling of ideas during the pandemic. The cancellation of a small number wholesale orders, was off-set by an increase in direct online retail sales; augmented by the introduction of Artisan Direct and supported by founder Mari Gray returning to the business full-time. The investment and workload associated with Artisan Direct even necessitated the recruitment of a new employee.

Although the pivot to online classes to replace face-to-face tours and classes was challenging, due to technological complexities and unreliability, the provision of supplementary documentation/resources along with the goodwill and understanding of participants, meant that “the experience was worth it” and the participants “appreciated a direct video interaction.”

Both the online classes and Artisan Direct attracted new audiences – crafters and artists, and those wanting to support the artisans. Though Gray has her reservations about the artisans being perceived as in need of “charity”, she also recognises the tangibility of the connection between consumer and artisan through the sale of traditional Maya designs:

“Their [consumers] main goal might be to support artisans and I just happen to be the mediator. It’s more socially driven - we can certainly see this with clients who buy Artisan Direct products. So, products I had nothing to do with, and they prefer to buy that because I think the benefit is a little bit more obvious somehow, and that’s perfectly fine. Then there are people who prefer a different aesthetic and purchase products where we have been involved in the design process.”

THE FUTURE

The pandemic experience has, for Gray, highlighted the value of the Mayan approach to household income and the resilience of the artisans and their communities:

“Nobody is dependent on a single source of income, this just doesn’t really happen in Guatemala, in rural Guatemala, and so this has been really helpful for people to be able to shift their energy somewhere else. Also, family units are so tight they can support each other much better than perhaps in other places. So, I think that’s a big strength that I have seen.”

It has also confirmed the value of small-batch production over the standardization of larger scale production models that “leave out a lot of groups that are not able to fill such quantities”. Gray states: “I think the pandemic really helped me gain perspective and accept one-of-a-kind beauties as they are.”, whilst acknowledging the hard work, commitment and costs involved in the preparation, marketing and sale of unique items.

Going forward, Kakaw Designs will continue to develop Artisan Direct and deliver online classes in combination with face-to-face experiences “for people who can’t come for example or for people who are worried about carbon emissions and footprint”. Continuing to build on the foundation of trust established between Mari and the Kakaw Designs consumer, telling the artisans’ story and shifting perceptions of artisan production remains a priority for the company. It also offers a model for meaningful sustainable development of the artisan sector, whereby promotion of skill and talent, rather than neediness and charity, is central to marketing strategies.