Caralarga | The Mexican Inspiration Behind Sustainable Pieces For Home

Caralarga is a Mexican brand that takes house sustainability to another level. Through its iconic handcrafted pieces, the company drives interior design in a unique and natural way. Discover here an interview with the founder, Ana Holschneider, about all that Caralarga stands for, inspires and produces.

To receive the Luxiders Newsletter, sign up here.

Ana, who is Caralarga?

Caralarga is a project that began in 2014, we are a Mexican textile design and production company that seeks to rescue the value of craftsmanship and the beauty of natural materials. We are mainly dedicated to creating pieces of jewelry, clothing, and interior design, which are handmade in our workshop located in the Old Textile Factory "El Hércules", a place that was active from 1846 to 2019 producing cotton fabrics and denim.

It is from this factory that the cotton waste was taken to produce the first pieces of jewelry, we found in these materials the possibility of rethinking and exploring waste as a means to create unique, timeless, and sustainable pieces of jewelry and clothing. Our Large and Medium Format Caralarga pieces are the result of the natural development of our initial work making textile jewelry. Venturing to create larger and larger pieces, we discovered a new way of thinking about cotton and hand-knitting, culminating in interior decoration pieces that seek to transform spaces through timeless designs that highlight the benefits of raw materials.

However, with the takeoff of our Large Format pieces, we realized that we had begun to generate new waste when cutting the pieces, we had a large amount of raw yarn trimmings that we did not want to throw away. This was a complete 360 for us since it was to once again implement one of the values that inspired the beginning of Caralarga, looking for ways to apply different techniques for the reuse and transformation of the waste that we were generating. In this way, we began to experiment with these thread cuts using the technique that we used in our necklaces, and from there, our entire “Repurposed” line was launched. We managed to rescue the waste of threads to later assemble them into fringes, from which many ideas and many possibilities emerge: mirrors, tapestries, and even cushions.

If you had one word to describe your designs, what would it be? And why? 

Timeless, all our pieces are designed to be part of your life for many years. We seek that the culture and traditions that Mexicans have preserved for generations are maintained and live in our designs. But also that each piece accentuates the qualities of the natural and raw materials we use as well as the work of the people who made them.

Are there any designers or artists who have influenced your work?

 Not specifically, but we are very inspired to see the amount of talent in Mexico and the work that creatives in the country have put in to preserve the artisanal techniques and the sense of Mexican folklore.

What is tour brand process from the beginning to the end? Like, when you first have the idea versus making it and when it is finished? 

All the time we are looking for inspiration, whether in our environment, our day-to-day, culture, or the materials themselves, from there we take care of transforming that idea into a new product, it is always teamwork from creation to the perfection of technique with artisans. Everyone on the team puts a part of themselves into achieving great results.

What are your plans for the brand? What do you hope its future will be?

We are always looking for new ways to work with cotton, to reuse all the material we work with, to generate as little waste as possible, and to work with new fibers and natural processes. And as always continue creating so that the people who follow us continue to appreciate the craftsmanship.