FOUNDING OBJECTIVES

Māya promotes environmental sustainability. As the sustainable textile line of Studio Lizane Louw, we we follow the studio motto “Designed to make a difference”. All of our products and prints are designed to have minimum environmental impact.

In our print atelier we prioritise using eco-friendly and sustainable natural materials; we support suppliers with sustainable production processes. With our products, we want to encourage and promote minimal waste creation in all our supply chains.

We focus on the preservation and promotion of heritage textile crafts.

We focus our projects on collaboration with artisans and communities; we aim to share our experiences with local textile products from lesser-known communities. We want to encourage others to support our projects and help us revive and sustain traditional textile techniques. We believe it is essential to preserve heritage textile crafts for future generations. We want to teach the wider community to buy better.

We aim to empower artisan communities with our visual and design projects.

We create fair and transparent partnerships with artisan communities. We would like to support these artists by working with suppliers who provide fair wages and safe and secure working conditions, and we also want to encourage opportunities for skill development and education. We focus on women’s empowerment and want to identify woman-owned businesses to work with; we will focus on small businesses.

We support ethical practices.

It is important for us that all parties we work with adhere to ethical sourcing and production, from the farms to the shelves. We believe in transparency. We promote the artisans we work with and share our personal experiences.

We want to foster cultural exchange.

We want to celebrate the diverse and colourful cultural heritage of textile crafts found worldwide. We aim to promote an appreciation for traditional craftsmanship, especially those seen as dying crafts or crafts that face the threat of “extinction”.

Māya is an eco-friendly, sustainable textile brand.

In the future, we want to support the research of innovative sustainable materials, print processes and technologies that reduce the environmental impact of textiles. We hope to develop ideas and new ways of thinking, creating, and working while maintaining the integrity and tradition of heritage textile crafts with which we work. We do a lot of experimentation in our textile atelier.

Education is the foundation for our brand. With education comes awareness.

We want to engage consumers and stakeholders with our stories and our products. We aim to educate the broader community by raising awareness about the importance of sustainable textiles and heritage textile preservation. We know that people love the print crafts and we aim to make the crafts accessible to the the communities we live and work in. We share our stories and innovative techniques in our Block Print Berlin Workshops and atelier experiences

We build by collaboration.

We want to collaborate with like-minded creatives, artists, businesses, and initiatives to share knowledge and collectively work towards a more sustainable future related to the textile industry.

Maya can be a catalyst for positive change.

We want to demonstrate that sustainability and heritage preservation can go hand in hand with small business success and product innovation. We will follow our sustainability goals and founding objectives and seek opportunities to develop and expand our product line with innovation and adaptation. We always choose nature first in all our projects and product developments.

Designed to make a difference.