For Gloria, With Love

In celebration of Mother's Day, we are revisiting a beautiful moment for MZ and the Santiago artisan family, whom we've had the honor to partner with for over a decade. 

A few years ago, on a lovely spring day in Teotitlan del Valle, Maria Luisa Santiago quietly placed a folded piece of paper into the hand of MZ's marketing manager, who was visiting. Her mother was on the other side of the patio preparing food, unaware of the exchange. 

She had written beautiful words in honor of her mother, Gloria, who is the matriarch of the Santiago family. Gloria passed down the Zapotec weaving tradition to her children, and no less than 10 of her artisan daughters and sons partner with MZ. 

Maria Luisa asked if we would publish this testament to love and legacy, and it is our honor to share the translation with you again. 

For Gloria 

One of the most special bags in the MZ collection is the "Gloria." The name of this bag is in honor of my mother, Gloria, as well as all the artisan mothers who transmit their love through their weaving. 

Gloria's story is translated through each one of our weaving, of our bags, and it's the story of all the artisan mothers of past generations. We are artisan weavers thanks to them. It's what they always dreamed of, and now it's become reality. 

They gave us the most invaluable knowledge, that you cannot learn just with the eyes, or with the hands. It takes heart. This is the heritage of my mother, passed from one generation to the next. We've done it!

Now it's our commitment as artisan mothers to give future generations the best we have to offer. We are the daughters of the great generations of Zapotecs, who never disappeared because they live in each design, in the threads and colors of our weaving. 

Thanks to the great team at MZ for supporting the dream of Zapotec artisan mothers. Thanks to all those who support this great project through buying our bags. Thanks for carrying so close to your heart my "Gloria" tote ... and from the bottom of my heart, thank you to my mother for being the inspiration. 

You can see the Gloria Tote here and read more about Maria Luisa here. 

Thank you for letting us share this special moment with you. We wish all the nurturers out there a happy Mother's Day - no matter if you are biological or adoptive, aunties, teachers, mentors, best friends... maternal love is universal.