We are all made out of stories, stories define us!
So if you see a fragment of my life! You will understand all the little pieces, the people, places & adventures that helped me create ZIKURI.
My name is Rocío Mena, I’m a fashion designer and the founder of ZIKURI. Natural dyes are my passion! And for me, they represent magic on earth!
Seeing the process that transforms a plant into a dye color, observing the alchemy that takes place in an indigo vat or the way a cloth turns from green to blue when in contact with oxygen! Those are the things I enjoy the most.
“Alchemy is a rainbow which bridges a gulf between the earthly and the heavenly realms, between matter and spirit. Like the rainbow, it seems close enough to grasp, but it will retreat you if you pursue it solely so that you may find a pot of gold.”
-Stanislas Klossowski de Rola-
I’m originally from Mexico City, where I studied fashion design, and then I continued a Master’s degree in Lyon, France, where I stayed for a year and a half.
In my journey, there are three main experiences that defined me and this brand:
First experience: France
While being in France, instead of doing an internship in a Fashion brand in Paris, I decided to go south. I went to a very small, charming town called Lauris, located between Avignon and Aix-en- Provence. I stayed there for almost 6 months! Learning about Natural Dyes at a Natural Dye Organization called Couleur Garance.
Being there was a dream come true!!
I was supposed to do a fashion internship! But it was amazing how I ended up involved with chemistry and botanic. I was in contact with the dye plants in the botanical garden, and I could really see the process that goes from the plant to the color in the cloth. That was very important for me, because it made me realize that sometimes we don’t know where things come from, or how they are made.
Living and growing in the city keeps us away from the essence of things.
And the fun fact is that I ended up living in a castle! Yes.. a castle! It wasn’t really a fancy castle, it was abandoned and no one lived there. But it was an amazing experience, and I had the best view in town!!
This is the place where l fell in love with natural dyes!
I made lots of friends and I learned from Michel Garcia and other amazing dyers.
Second experience: Guatemala
I was part of the Natural dyes project in Guatemala, where I had the chance to live for 2 months in a Mayan community with 5 amazing women.
The idea was to teach these women how to dye cotton yarn with different natural dyes such as: indigo, cochineal, osage orange, madder and indigo+osage orange.
So that we could sell yarn kits to weavers in the US, as a way to increase their income.
Which is less than one dollar per day.
I stayed with each one of these women, at their houses, so we became really close!
The fun fact is that their first language is actually achi (a mayan dialect), but they can also speak Spanish (some of them better than others). So most of the time I couldn’t understand any of the conversations.
These women are really skilled backstrap weavers, so while being there, they also taught me how to do backstrap weaving.
It was an amazing experience, especially living with these amazing women and being so close to their traditions and to nature.
These kits are still available if you want to check them out: http://www.cottonclouds.com/shopping/product_info.asp?id=12481&cat=&panelID=
VIDEO about the Natural dyes project:
Third experience: Japan
In 2019. I had the chance to go to Arimatsu, Japan.
The textile artist Hiroko Harada Sensei invited me to go to Arimatsu, and stay there for 2 months learning all about japanese indigo dyeing (Aizome) and shibori techniques.
It was incredible!!! My teacher spoke very little english, and of course I can’t speak japanese. But it’s amazing how communication flows when we speak the same natural dye language.
I learned a lot. From japanese culture, to shibori and indigo sukumo dyeing.
Even with the language barrier, I also met a lot of people and made new friends.
I‘ve come to realize that life is made of threads, and these threads are woven together in amazing ways, taking us to meet wonderful people & places.
We are all joined together by these sacred threads, and sometimes they take us to unpredictable places.
The most incredible experiences in my life have arrived unexpectedly.
I have met amazing people in all these places! Friendships that will last forever. And it definitely changed the way I see the world!
All these experiences are part of this project! They are the heart of ZIKURI.
There’s a phrase I learned in Guatemala, that can resume this project:
UKUX KAJ, UKUX ULEW – HEART OF HEAVEN, HEART OF EARTH.
If you want to learn more about my story, you can read a blog I wrote a few years ago while working in the Natural dyes project in Guatemala:
https://naturaldyeproject.wordpress.com/rocios-blog-english/
Or this blog, where I talk about Natural dyes & my experiences in Japan:
https://www.zikuri.co/blog-masonry/
May our paths cross one day, so we can share stories and be part of the same dream for a moment… a fragment of time in this awkward and wonderful world.
Rocío Mena
