It is important to us that we give credit to the weavers. We are not the designers. We are conduits that give a face to the weavers behind each of our dresses.

The weaving men and women know in advance the amount that they require, have requested and been paid 50% before they even start. This is their livelihood and business. To work towards a piece for a specific buyer is something which brings each of them pride.

For any fashion item, the design is at the heart. At Mimi Designs, we see the weavers as our designers. They bring with them years, generations, of design creativity. They may not always use stencils and sketches in the way that we are used to with modern designs, they have their designs in their mind’s eye and at the tip of their fingers. They know exactly when a new color or thread should come in. Each weaver’s personality, mood even, goes into each piece. This is what we believe makes our Mimi Designs pieces so creative: the depth of intuition and feeling that goes into every single piece.

Cotton for our threads and yarn needs to be harvested from the local wild Oaxaca cotton fields. Cleaning the natural cotton, releasing seeds and removing dirt is a long process. Even in its raw state cotton is strong.

In the process of preparing the raw cotton into thread, the softer cotton fibers are selected and twisted into usable thread.  Only once this spinning process is complete is the cotton ready for the loom.

The loom is the framework across which threads are stretched to weave cloth. It is attached to the weaver by a back strap.

The weavers tie the bottom of the loom around their lower backs using a wide leather belt and fix the other end to a sturdy object like a tree.

To create tension she/he leans back, forwards, or to the side. This process requires skill and patience as each new row is completed, tightened with a flat wooden sword.

The dresses (huipils) are created as our weavers painstakingly separate each thread, pass the yarn through by hand and tighten each row.

The signature open weave pieces are often woven together with multiple different colored threads all in use at the same time. This process can take years to master the intricacies of the designs.

Spacing and adjustments are made, often with small sharped animal bone tools, to ensure that the pieces have no gaps or holes.

Once the piece is complete, the weaver ties it and removes it from the loom. As only narrow strips can be made using this technique the vertical panels are then sewn together sometimes using a local macramé technique.

A single panel can take a week to weave. Once joined, the pieces are washed in cold water and hung to dry so as to tighten and shrink the weave into the desired final shape.

The result is a sublime, airy textile that is as durable as it is beautiful and ideal for the hot local climate.