Maya women receive 238 pesos ($13 US) for embroidered bags sold for 28,000 ($1,560 US)

International designer Christian Louboutin reaps profits from sale of handbags from Yucatan in his stores abroad, reports El Universal newspaper.

MAXCANÚ, Yucatan —  Maya women from southwestern Yucatan worked for three months to give the prestigious designer 2,000 embroideries typical of regional mestizo costumes, with multicolored flowers, which adorned the bags that are now sold internationally.

The artisans did not know the price of the bags that carry their embroidery and were happy to have obtained a job well paid for their work.

The collection of the women’s handbags is called Mexicaba and was launched on May 3. The handbags were assembled in Italy. All the pieces are different and a total of 2 thousand bags were made with a price of 28 thousand pesos each.

The bags are made in waist loom, flower base of birds, precious stones and pieces of horn.

Louboutin gave them the thread, looms and all the necessary raw material; the women only made the 2,000 embroidery to decorate the bags. Artisans from other communities, such as Xohuayán, Oxkutzcab, Canek, Tekax, and the municipality of Maní, all in Yucatan, also participated. In all, 100 women were involved in this work.

The Maya World Haciendas Foundation and the Taller Maya Trade Company, based in Mexico City, were the bridge for the women, the majority with children and whose embroidery profits contribute to maintenance of their home, to enter into the deal with the designer.

The women are part of the foundation and sell their bags between 500 and 1,000 pesos, using a pedal loom technique. They are distributeded in nearby towns and on the Internet.

Each of the women earned approximately 7 thousand pesos for 3 months of work

However, the Haciendas del Mundo Maya Foundation reported that 10% of each bag sold in Christian Loboutin boutiques will go to the foundation’s social enterprises program, which supports these indigenous people with infrastructure, material, accompaniment and logistics.

“The range [of profits] that reaches each artisan member of these companies varies depending on each product and the investment of labor involved, taking ranges from 11% for the simplest to 77% in the more complex, such as is the case of embroidery Mexicaba bag,” said the foundation.

Source: El Universal via mientrastantoenmexico.mx