If we’re being honest, Oaxaca, Mexico has never been at the top of our travel bucket list. Until fashion designer Laura Siegel gave us a BTS peek of her trip there, that is. Siegel, a Toronto-bred NY-based designer, works with artisans around the world to create the soft yet textured, flowy, handcrafted pieces that she is known for. A Parsons graduate, Siegel works with artisan families in both Asia and Latin America, and her most recent trip brought her to the textile-rich city of Oaxaca (where she has been dying to go for quite some time now). After taking a scroll through her iPhone photos, we confirmed two things: 1) Siegel’s work is not only impressive, but also admirable, and 2) We need to book ourselves a flight to Oaxaca, stat.
“Given my lifelong love of surf culture and textiles (and mezcal), Oaxaca was inevitable. I’ve been working with families and co-ops through the deserts of India, the mountains of Peru, Laos, Kenya, Indonesia, and Vietnam, but throughout all these journeys and time spent roaming our planet, I’ve been aching to work with the crafts of Oaxaca. Hand-weaving, dyeing, ceramics, painting—the list goes on. In Oaxaca, the craft mind-set extends to all aspects of everyday life beyond textiles. Everything is artisanal, including food, mezcal, architecture, and the home.
“After landing in the mountains of Oaxaca, walking three miles, hopping on the bus for two hours, and grabbing a tuk-tuk to take me up to the village, I found myself deeply immersed in ancient Oaxacan craft and culture. I spent time in the mountains with Josephine and a few other families, getting to know how textiles and natural dyes are woven into their daily lives. By the end of my time there, I was beyond excited to bring a new roster of artisans into the LS family.
“Consuming mezcal, mole, fresh sopas, and elotes on the daily, paired with surf, ocean, and the most talented, loving families that opened their homes with so much heart, all gave me enough reason to be coming back here many more times in the not-so-distant future.”
