Meet Michaela Ullmann of East Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michaela Ullmann

Hi Michaela , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
We are two friends from Germany. Michaela lives in Los Angeles. Vanessa lives in Guatemala.
We both studied Anthropology and have always been in love with Guatemalan textiles. When the Covid pandemic hit and so many of our Guatemalan friends were suffering because income from tourism was down to nothing, we decided to make our dream come true and start a small, sustainable label to bring the extraordinary craftmanship of Guatemalan weavers to the United States (and the world) while supporting the weavers in Guatemala and their families.

At Ixmuyal (Maya for Woman in the Sky or Heavenly Woman), we work with indigenous women in Guatemala to transform their traditional weaving into contemporary, meaningful, sustainable, and beautiful designs.

We work with vintage Maya textiles and also have our designs woven for us by local artisans. Each of our products is created on a backstrap loom using techniques that Maya women have used for generations. Small imperfections can occur with vintage and handmade textiles, and we celebrate these imperfections for what they are: signs that our products are hecho a mano – handmade by Guatemalan artisans.

Honoring, celebrating, and preserving the artistry of Maya textile culture is at the core of our philosophy, and each of our designs is unique: Made from pre-loved textiles or handwoven from naturally dyed, local cotton for us. Nothing is mass-produced, we only use natural materials. We believe in the slow-fashion movement and want to play our role in making this planet a little bit better.

Each Ixmuyal design comes to life by the collaboration of a small group of people in Guatemala who source and design each piece, and weave and sew the final products. All items are 100% made in Guatemala.

With the purchase of our Ixmuyal pieces, our customers support local indigenous women in Guatemala and help them build a better future for themselves and their children. Everyone involved in creating our Ixmuyal designs is being paid fair living wages and works WITH us, not for us. In addition, we regularly support local community projects which provide education and food for those in need in Guatemala.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it has not been a smooth road. First off, we started during the pandemic and with zero entrepreneurial expertise. We had to figure out everything ourselves, from shipping internationally, to creating a web presence to sell our designs, learning things like SEO, setting prices, filing for a business permit, getting into local shops and markets, etc etc.
We were lucky that we both have full-time jobs so we could build Ixmuyal slowly and take our time to learn. We are still learning. Our main purpose is to share these beautiful designs with our customers and to support the artisans we work with. We have been very lucky that over the last years, we made some wonderful local partners here in the LA area who invite us to sell during their holiday markets and in their stores. We are in no rush to expand into a huge business. We love to be a small business and to work on the local level, although we have been able to get some regular international customers as well.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I think what sets us apart is that we try to approach our business from an ethical point of view. Another reason why we started Ixmuyal was that we saw many businesses sell Guatemalan textiles and leather products and claiming that they were supporting Guatemalan artisans. When we looked closer, we learned that that often wasn’t the case but of cause it sounded good for the customers. It upset us and we wanted to do better.
Everything we do is in collaboration with the artisans we work with. It helps, I think, that we are both anthropologists by training. We would never ask an artisan to create a pattern for us, or sell us a piece, that would go against their cultural or religious perception. You will also rarely see photos of our artisans on social media. We don’t want to “use” them to sell our designs. And when you see their photo, it was always discussed with them and with their permission.
Additionally, we are very eager to operate as sustainably and ethically as possible when it comes to shipping. We only use local and small shipping companies run by Guatemalans, so that even the shipping benefits the local community. The mailers and packaging materials we use to ship our orders are bio-degradable and we use minimal packaging to help the planet. With the exception of zippers, all materials we use in our designs are either pre-loved or made from local, organic cotton dyed with botanical dyes. We work hard to be as sustainable and ethical as possible.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I grew up in Germany in a small town. My parents took me hiking a lot, so I always had an appreciation for nature. I loved (and still love) animals, the ocean, nature. I loved listening to Brit Pop and I also loved fashion as most girls probably do when growing up. Around the age of 15 I got interested in foreign cultures and quickly grew fond of the Ancient Maya culture which led me to study Anthropology with an emphasis on Mesoamerica later in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ixmuyal.com or https://www.etsy.com/shop/IxmuyalBoutique
• Instagram: @Ixmuyal
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ixmuyal