WHO
Behind everything that is Kum-Mará is Cristina Alvarez. A Colombian fashion designer with a single vision in mind: the creation of weareable -functional-, pieces of art.
She started the exploration through leather goods in 2012, and she devoted the next ten years to make "obras de arte para el día a día" (works of art for every day life), by incorporating through localized textile design, her artworks into high quality, leather goods. She worked hand in hand with leather craftsmen from Colombia and collaborated with local artists to make out of leather bags and wallets literal pieces of art sold, until 2022, in her gallery boutique in Bogotá.
In 2018 she discovered the world of traditional leather craftmanship, redirected her attention into further exploring the endless possibilities of the craft when imbued with the essence of art and design.
And thus, Kum-Mará was born.
In 2024 she was elected to represent Colombia in the "Homo Faber Fellowship" program, organized by the Michelangelo Foundaiton in partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre
Now back in her country, Colombia, she seeks to further apply her knowledge and experience to create and explore, within Kum-Mará, the making of high end, weareable and funtcional pieces of art.
Kum-Mará is a brand, a workshop, but above all else a space.
A CREATIVE SPACE
It has been thought into existence with the vision of endlessly exploring the boundaries between traditional craftsmanship and the (somewhat structured and methodical) freedom of design.The vision of making out of each product an experience. The vision of expressing creativity freely, through art and culture by connecting with master artisans around the world, and collaborating in the making of funcitonal pieces of art.
WHERE
WHAT
Weareable, nay, functional art.
Every product is created to imbue within itself, the concepts of: art, tradition and design.
Every product a handmade, saddle stitched high end leather good, that not only honors the origins of the leather craftmanship tradition, but also leads to a personal experience through the use of color and texture, of interventions derived from techniques such as embroidery, leather weaving and marquetry
WHY
Why not? Exploration and self expresion are the joy of life. And taking it to the limit makes for exceptional experiences for everyone involved. Exceptional projects. Exceptional collaborations. Exceptional works of art.
