In the last post I wrote, I said I was going to keep you up with our design process for our new collection.  A lot has happened since then. It may seem that we are still in the same place that before. But I like to think something has changed.

I would say that during these few months everything, from who we are as personal individuals to who we are as professionals and what we do as members of the Wakami team has been questioned. It definitely hasn’t been easy, but it has allowed us to think of our non-negotiables. Why we do, what we do?

For us our non-negotiables are taking care of the citizens of the world and of the earth. At Wakami that means creating opportunities for artisans in Guatemala by creating products that generate sources of income to those who make them and that inspire and nurture the ones who receive them, while taking care of the earth.

Our newest collection has been pushed, moved aside, shortened, and reevaluated multiple times. But again, this has allowed us to think about what we are bringing to earth and to the citizens of the world. What materials are we using? (The ones that are in inventory, definitely!) What techniques are we utilizing? What does that mean in terms of the artisans making them? What specific products are we making? What story are they telling? Why are this product important for the citizens of the world? As I said, mostly asking the questions we had already asked. Just thinking about them differently.

For every collection we create, we spend most of the time doing samples and developing the actual product. But this collection is different, as, really, we have spent almost all the time thinking, analyzing and questioning. Usually we do this with the design team, and then we share our ideas to the Marketing and Sales Team. This time we really did all this analyzing as a one big team. We sat in Zoom meetings with at least one member of each team to discuss the concepts, the ideas, the products, the price points, the materials, and the goals.  The process was by itself a journey of understanding.

Now we are finally ready to start developing the samples and the products. We have our mind and our values clear. We now know what we are looking for in every single product we are creating, and we know it’s non-negotiable.

That itself has been pretty refreshing. Taking full responsibility for our actions and choices. So, for now, that is what we have been up to. Questioning. Analyzing.

Now it´s time for…

Creating.

Just one last thing, as I wrote on my last blog and as we have learned during all the Zoom meeting with the team, when we come together and co-create magic happens. So let us know what you would want to see? What is that you need as a citizen of the world?  How would you like to co-create with us?

Hope to hear from you all!