From the mayan dialect kak’chiquel, Xe’: Root. Xe’ brand was the result of an investigation in the world of Guatemalan artisans and the leather industry. My main goal in this project was to take a common, typical Guatemalan craftwork and transform it to be able to sell it to a bigger market. I chose men’s wallets as a starting point, wanting to design a handmade leather goods brand, to be made by local artisans. 

After investigating the leather industry, I was completely disgusted to find out the conditions on which leather is processed, using toxic chemicals to denaturalize it, and then in countries like Guatemala, this toxics will be thrown in a river or lake nearby, contaminating and killing everything around it. 

I still had the challenge to create handmade goods, and now to find a different material. After exploring with plastic, fungi and plant based textiles, cork fabric was the winner. 

Cork was used to replace leather in this projects, as I wanted an eco-friendly product. 3 gender neutral accessories were designed, two wallets and a glassed case. A minimalist and simple design, using Guatemala’s identity as being colorful, fun and green.