INTERVIEW: FROM GUATEMALA TO ITALY. ANDREA INSUA'S BAGS

Identity as the meaning of being: I am. Awareness as a synonym of knowledge and thus, culture: knowledge. These two parts of our being are studied together, by Andrea Insua, a young Guatemalan-born designer who, at the end of her studies, in 2012, started the foundation of her eponymous bags brand. Here, then, that the heart of Italian craftsmanship goes to melt with fabrics and special processing of some of the most talented Maya’s craftsmen. The result is a personal luxury and unique vision.

Andrea, how did your brand born?

It all started when, during the degree course in Industrial Design, I chose the address in Fashion Design. I had the opportunity to do a dissertation called: “Fabrics of the Indigenous in Guatemala – Draft a Collection”, where I studied all of these tissues: their history, the symbolism, the materials and the construction methods. In addition to this, I created a collection inspired by the traditional costumes of Guatemala and the collections of French designer, Paul Poiret. After my graduation I got a Master in Fashion Communication at the Academy of Costume and Fashion in Rome. Thanks to my passion for fabrics of Guatemala and for the accessories, I decided to create my own brand. I therefore chose to specialize and so I attended a prototyping bags class, where I learned a lot and I began to appreciate the work of Italian artisans.

You’ve created your brand with the idea of merging two cultures: the Italian and the Guatemalan. What are the aspects that generally differ and which, instead, you think they have in common?

Both cultures have different traditions but are also similare because they have always been in the world and have been passed down from generation to generation. In Italy, the Tuscan tanneries use the same prehistoric techniques to get the vegetable tanned leather. The leather processing is a tradition of this country that is recognized worldwide. In Guatemala we have a very rich textile tradition handed down from the ancient Maya’s civilization. Thanks to the fusion of these cultures we get unique bags in their genre with a production process made entirely by hand.

From here the decision to have an Italian production, but choose to use tissue from your country of origin. How do you then develop the production?

High quality materials and selected leather are chosen in Italy. The details such as fabrics or other Mayan handicraft products are handmade by skilled indigenous craftsmen in Guatemala. The bags are handmade in Italy by skilled Italian artisans, resulting, again, a single bag and unrepeatable.

The collection for next summer is inspired by the “Lake Atitlán” and by how it is represented by the local Maya on the “huipiles” (traditional clothes of the place, ed). What has so evocative that place and what are the reasons that led you to choose it as a muse?

It is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, Aldous Huxley wrote of Lake Atitlán, “Lake Como, it seems to me, I touch the edge of the picturesque, but Atitlán is like Lake Como with embellishments of several immense volcanoes. Truly exceptional”. “The bird house”, the new collection for next summer, is inspired by the life at the lake that the Maya of Santiago Atitlán represent on their typical clothes; water, mountains, flowers and colorful birds are the main elements. For the Maya, the lake is the place of creation, the entrance to the world of the gods and ancestors. The birds symbolize the connection between the physical world and the metaphysical. Their clothes, with their rituals, are a way to go back in time and re-establish a connection with the ancestors. This collection combines Italian leather and accessories with details of beads and handmade woven by craftsmen of Santiago Atitlán.

What are your future plans?

Right now I’m getting ready to present the spring/summer collection 2017 at the fashion week in Guatemala and I’m starting my search for winter 2017 that I will present in Milan in February 2017. In the short term I intend to open up new sales channels in the US and in Europe. In the medium term, however, I intend to create an association to help the indigenous artisans to preserve Mayan traditions in Guatemala.