How Maria's Bags are helping the women of Guatemala

When I was traveling for Miss Guatemala, I wanted to spread my culture around the world. I wanted everyone in the world to know more about Guatemala and how much our textile influences fashion. I decided on handbags because it is a very important part of an outfit. Moreover, it represents each person's identity. I started Maria's Bags in 2011 – I worked with three ladies who happened to all be named Maria, which is how I came up with the name.

But Maria's is more than a luxury handbag. While all of our leather and hardware is imported from Italy, our bags are manufactured in Guatemala. Each brightly coloured textile on them is created by a female artist with a waist loom and can take up to six months to create, making each piece bespoke and very special. No bag can be reproduced. The fabric is called "huipil" and comes from the traditional embroidered blouses worn by Mayan women.

The art of creating each huipil has been passed on from generation to generation and is widely considered a precious tradition to be appreciated and preserved. Each textile can take from three months to a year to be made. Each region has its own unique huipil, featuring distinct bold, geometric shapes, animals, landscapes, flowers, all in vibrant bright colours such as pink, green and orange. In some cases the textile even narrates stories and legends.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Chajul, in El Quiche, is part of the three municipalities that make up the Ixil Triangle and is considered the only municipality that has retained its cultural and natural wealth, despite the passing years. Each of its huipils is hand-embroidered in various shapes and colours to represent several themes, including man's relationship with nature and the creator of the universe, all expressed by small figures, animals and plants.

Colours play a very important role in our culture. Colour is like a language, it has different meanings - yellow represents corn and red represents blood. Each region has its own and the artisans use the different colours on the huipil to tell their stories. Maria's is helping keep this special tradition alive.

You can see each region's speciality here.

We have more than 500 women weaving for us at home while they look after their children. These women are paid fairly for each of these couture pieces. I am very involved with the artisans. I go to their communities every now and then and I know almost everyone by their names. They also come to our headquarters in Guatemala and I'm always in touch with them - especially now, when we are creating a new collection and will always keep in touch with the artisans to show them our designs. That way they have an idea how the collection will come out and be creative with their weaving. I've seen these women grow so much and become more confident and happier. Most importantly, I've seen a big improvement in their lives since they started weaving for Maria's.

I have also been contributing to and helping a school for their children so they can have a proper education. A good education means a lot to these families. Not only does it change the child's life, but also it influences their parents, friends and their next generation.

Maria's Bags exhibits Mayan culture - they're also very colourful and can easily fit in with anyone's style, no matter where they live. If you're a more conservatively dressed lady, the bag will pop out more thanks to the colours and the texture. Maria's are a perfect fit for everyone and anyone. They are a one-of-a-kind luxury bag and no one will ever or can ever have the same style as yours. They are the most unique accessory on the market.

ALIDA BOER was Miss Guatemala 2007 and is a former Ford model. She created Maria's Bags in 2011 to help contribute to the development of Guatemalan communities and carry on their ancient traditions, using hand-embroidered textiles created by women working from their homes. mariasbags.co.uk