Concepcion Aguilar and her family in Ocotlan, Oaxaca, have been creating wildly fantastical insects (among other themes) for more than 30 years. She, her husband, and three daughters produce these delightfully inspired bugs, each completing their own collections from lumps of locally mined clay.

Paty is one of the cornerstones of Abrazo. She was an embroidery student in our workshops before Abrazo officially came to be. Now, she is our head embroidery manager in charge of making drawings on paper come to life on fabric. This is her studio at home with books of Abrazo designs and color keys.

Sarai manages our Oaxaca team and by all accounts is a magician in the way she keeps track of everything and everyone. One of our senior members of the team, she is adored and respected by all, most importantly for the kindness and respect she shows everyone.

When artisans complete their work it is delivered to Eugenia, "la reina" of quality control. She carefully checks each piece and returns to the maker anything that does not meet our standards to be redone. After approval, apparel is washed, ironed, tagged, and packaged for export.

When embroidery managers deliver the work from their groups to our studio in Oaxaca, occasionally a correction or amendment is necessary to the product. If it's a quick fix, the group leader (Naty), will often fix it on the spot. Here, we see a pin cushion of thread colors with different calipers of needles and combinations of thread to make the job quicker.

A number of embroiderers with their new reading glasses donated by a member of our community.

A gathering with some of the women we work with in Oaxaca. Each was given an Abrazo blouse to embroider in their own design...a very fun project.

A social gathering of some of the Oaxacan women we collaborate with to create our embroidered apparel. 

 Talented embroiderers of Oaxaca realize the intricate designs of the Abrazo collection. Each piece is a form of wearable art, bearing the signature style of each woman.

Some of our team enrolled in a pattern-making class. 

Master embroiderer Rebeca working on one of our favorite summer tees.

Generations of women and girls learn the craft.

Artisans take great pride in their traditions and love to wear their own designs.

Rebeca and Paty checking thread colors on a new design.

Carmen and her husband José collaborate with Abrazo to create virtually all of our hand woven products. She comes from a long line of weavers in Mitla, Oaxaca. It is relatively rare for women to weave on the pedal loom due to its physicality. Here she is weaving our Carmen scarf.

Their home workshop in their shady garden is filled with traditional floor pedal looms which require a great deal of time to thread and prepare for the actual weaving process.

José is filling spindles with thread, used in the weaving process. They combine thread colors to create unique tones and effects in the weaving.

Paty, expert embroiderer and indispensable Abrazo team member, manages an embroidery group and creates finely embroidered products for our socially conscious customers.

Alex teaching a workshop for weaving our handmade Etla totes. He travels to different communities teaching the technique so that we may offer job opportunities in remote communities of Oaxaca.

Felipe from Oaxaca City has a thriving jewelry business. He creates all of our natural seed and stone jewelry, collecting many of the seeds himself. His designs can be found in stores along popular pedestrian routes of the city.

Our original San Pablo Etla embroidery group from the early days.