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It was about time Wynwood got an artisan-fueled shop. Enter Malaquita Design, a clothing and home store that works with Mexican designers and artisans to create unique, ethnic infused goods. It recently opened next to Mimo Market and Wynwood Letterpress inside Wynwood Block.
In 2013, founders Ana Karen Cervantes and Claudia Martínez went on a field investigation to discover how to support artisans on preserving their traditions. The result, they found, was that they needed to reinterpret these products for a contemporary market, and so Malaquita Design (the name stems from malachite, a fragile stone worked by craftsmen) was born.
It's authentically Mexican, from the fabrics and available resources they find and use in Mexico to the designers who work with the artisans to create and produce the goods you see. Headquartered in Mexico City, Malaquita works as a collective, and credits each individual who participates in creating an object, from genuine hand-embroidered button-down shirts to wooden and fringed chair stools inspired by a Mexican folklore dance.
Prices are fair too. Home good can range from $10 for a set of rustic, hand painted bowls to $60 for a steel, triangular lamp, and all the way to $800 for a chair that resembles a Mexican hammock. The jewelry and handbag selection is solid as well, with handcrafted metal hexagon rings, genuine floral embossed Mexian handbags in the $100 or less range, and embroidered tunics and billowy blouses form women that would so be paired with a pair of espadrilles, which you can find here as well.
Malaquita Design is open on Monday through Friday from 11am to 6pm, on Saturdays from 11am to 9pm, and on Sundays from 12pm to 5pm.