Fin de Semana

Weekender Bag

The weekender bags are here and they are beautiful. The colorful textiles from Chiapas, combined with the rich leatherwork from Jalisco create a unique one-of-a-kind travel bag. These bags are perfect for weekend trips, an overnight-get-away, and as a carry-on.

Detailed image of the bag

The textiles being made on a waist loom

Textiles: Hand-woven on a waist loom in Chiapas, this form of weaving is known as "telar de cintura". The textiles used for these bags are incredibly durable due to the high thread count and thickness of the cotton string. Traditionally, weavings such as this have been used for clothing in the Chiapas area and they were made to ensure that a shirt (huipil), skirt or shawl could endure the rough climate of Chiapas for years at a time. For this reason, the tradition and culture of "telar de cintura" in Chiapas is a hidden art-form that creates some of the most vibrant and durable textiles in the Americas. 

Molly with the bag

The bags!

Leather work: From Jalisco, the tradition of fine leatherwork draws from generations of Charro (cowboy) culture. In a region filled with ranches, cattle, elegant horsemanship, and lots of Tequila, it's only natural that leather is a major part of their artisan culture. 100% cow hide, this leather is made to last for years, ages beautifully, and lines our bag to ensure it's durability.

We simply can't get enough of this bag!

Thanks Outblush!

Our San Angel Tote was recently featured in Outblush, an online fashion blog and we couldn't be more excited. We love that they envisioned this bag as a perfect accessory for a college student or hip professional! 

Product Sneak Peak...

We just received word that our new weekender bags are being shipped from Jalisco TODAY! This is exciting news. 

We've combined our vibrant textiles from Chiapas, with the leather work of our skilled artisans from Jalisco to bring you an amazing bag that is perfect for overnight trips, as a carry on, or for a fun weekend.

The textiles used are hand-woven at a women's cooperative in Chiapas. Each textile is created on a loom that is anchored by the women's waist, as shown at right, and slowly woven strand by strand to ensure that the weave is tight and thus durable. Weaving is an important part of the Mayan culture in Chiapas. Most garments are hand woven and by necessity, from living in jungle like areas, are durable - lending themselves beautifully to the creation of these bags and the preservation of this art-form. 

Responsible ~ Sustainable

Can it get any better?

Mariza & Company is excited to be offering teak cutting boards from the state of Nayarit. The wood (teak) from these cutting boards is responsibly harvested from sustainable, certified, teak forests and manufactured (with fair wages) at a near by plant. Proteak, the company responsible for this work, planted their first teak trees in 2000 on reclaimed ranch lands around the state of Nayarit (near Puerto Vallarta). Today, the forest is growing quickly and like all good farmers know, in order to ensure strong healthy plants, you must thin out the smaller ones. Well, that's exactly what Proteak is doing and the trees that are being thinned out are being turned into stylish cutting boards that, thanks to teaks natural properties,  are durability and will last for years!