Dallas’ online shop Cadena Collective weaves Latin American culture with commerce

From KERA News:

Lucina Montañez Mota runs her jewelry business Motcy Designs from inside her Pleasant Grove home.

At Mota’s dining table, surrounded by bags of beads and pliers, she and two other women make earrings by hand for her new bridal collection. They twist copper wiring in intricate loops around lustrous pearls.

Mota said they are artesanas who are making jewelry that can be passed down for generations.

“I think an artisan is when people make art with their heart,” she said.

Mota is one of 25 artisans selling their work on the Dallas-based online marketplace Cadena Collective. The brainchild of sisters Alejandra and Mabel Aguirre Jimenez, the platform helps connect customers with Latin American artisanal products including clothing, jewelry and handbags.

Alejandra said she and her sister saw a lack of representation of Latin American culture in the fashion, health and beauty spaces.

“Cadena is a response to that, to be able to provide beautiful, fashionable designs that represent our values, our community, our culture,” she said.

On Cadena’s website, visitors have a virtual one-stop shop where they can buy goods made by vendors, nearly half of them based in Mexico. Alejandra and Mabel manage business operations and offer marketing assistance while the collective gives artisans power to reach a wider audience. Cadena splits the sales revenue with artisans.

The artisanal goods on the website feature a modern approach to traditional Latin American artistry.

Take one of Mota’s best-selling collections, for example. Each pair of earrings features pieces of Mexican Talavera pottery. Mota incorporates this traditional artistry into modern drop earrings and hoop designs.

Also, through Cadena, modern brides can select wedding dresses that include the iconic embroidered flower designs seen in traditional Mexican clothing. The site also offers handmade huanengos, traditional blouses typical of the Mexican state of Michoacán.

Blending cultures is something Alejandra knows well. She moved from the small town of Nochistlán, Zacatecas, in Mexico to Pleasant Grove at the age of 6. Like many other North Texans, she’s felt that push and pull of belonging between two places.

It’s made her think a lot about what it means for Cadena to offer authentic designs. For many clothing and accessory brands that reflect diverse communities, “authenticity” can feel like a loaded word. For her, it means reflecting your true lived experience.

“It’s to be able to merge both worlds and to merge two cultures and to be authentically whole instead of just trying to assimilate into a new culture or trying to claim an entirely different identity of a world or a life that you didn’t live,” she said.

In her dreams, Mota said jewelry designs come to her and she’s quick to sketch them out when she wakes up. She’s passionate about creating pieces that elevate Latin American culture, especially because artisan goods in Mexico and Latin America are often viewed by outsiders as cheap souvenirs.

“You can wear it in a gala and maybe on a red carpet or people see, ‘Oh, this is a Mexican or Latin American thing and it’s elegant and it is beautiful,’ ” she said.

These days, Alejandra says she’s felt the need to lean into this work – celebrating her heritage and identity – now more than ever.

“[I] have really dug my heels in to say, this work is even more important because our community is paying attention,” she said.

Alejandra said the current political climate is also causing some customers to reaffirm their support for Cadena.

“I got a message today from someone saying … ‘I feel now more compelled than ever to purchase and specifically support businesses like yours, because it’s a direct response to this administration and their lack of empathy for immigrant communities and communities of color.’”

She’s excited to see the way many of Cadena Collective’s customers are reclaiming their identities through what they wear.

“I always say the pair of earrings or the dress won’t change the world, but the individual wearing them will.”

Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.

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