This is from a mesmerising and exclusive range of handwoven scarves and neckpieces, by designer Margarita Cantú, made by highly skilled artisans in Chiapas with their rich textile tradition. There are many villages in Chiapas, each of those having different nuances and traditions in their textile techniques and skills.

One scarf takes approximately one week to do. They are worked on backstrap looms.

This is an important social design project by the designer, where the intention is to preserve the rich textile skills in those villages for the next generations to come. All scarves are fairtrade with artisans being paid top and fair fees. The project is destined to create an ecosystem to preserve skills, conserve indigenous societies, nourish their environments, and make them sustainable for the future.

It has become a huge problem all over Mexico, and also in Chiapas that Chinese production has come in to mimic handmade artisanal making and has sadly already eroded a lot of traditional artisanal crafts. For artisans, it has become easier to buy cheap Chinese fakes, rather than produce their own pieces in days and weeks of work. Here we have a social design project that supports those communities and the generations-old craft traditions and fights the erosion through fakes.

The technique of the backstrap loom weaving is very common in artisan and indigenous populations, as it allows to carry out the weaving anywhere and stay mobile. The artisan straps one side of the loom around the body and just needs one opposite point to fix it.